Clint Hurdle
Clint Hurdle
Clinton Merrick Hurdleis an American former professional baseball outfielder and current manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Hurdle played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals, and has also managed for the Colorado Rockies...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 July 1957
CityBig Rapids, MI
behind change direction front land layout marks starting
We're starting to make some marks in the right direction on the road. The layout of the land behind us is what it is. We can't change that. We can change what's in front of us.
balls guy hard hit level nice sniff spinning worked
He's hit some balls up here at this level that he didn't sniff in the past. Anything down, hard and away, anything down spinning away, he's really worked hard to make some adjustments, and it's really nice to see a guy that's worked that hard.
nice
He's had a nice (hitting) streak. Has he been hotter? Yes,
freedom fun hesitant knows nice playing smart
He's doing fine. He knows he has the freedom to play, be smart but be aggressive. We don't want to see him with a hesitant nature. We want him to play like he's 6 and playing in the backyard. He's done some nice things. He's fun to watch.
build half hope kidding nice road saw season second victory
That's a nice come-from-behind victory on the road for us. There's no kidding anybody. This is what we saw in the second half of the season and it's what we hope we can build on.
challenge guys nice ran respond situation teams
It was a nice challenge for him to be able to respond to that. We aren't in the same situation that some other teams are in. We can challenge some guys and see how they respond. That's why we ran him back out (in the fifth).
direction nice road step team tough
It's really nice for our team to get another road win, especially after a tough one-run loss. It's another step in the right direction for us, no doubt.
initially
Initially we just wanted him to be able to get healthy. And now for him to come back and be able to pitch, that's a plus.
further physically seems stretch
I don't know that we want to stretch him out further than that. . . . He doesn't have an old body. He seems to be pretty physically fit.
alarming number
His strikeouts are a little alarming for his number of at-bats,
group todd win
I think it was as important for the group to win without Todd in the lineup as it was for Todd to see the group win without him,
aware gate gotten happy roll slow
He is well aware he has come out of the gate slow and then gotten on a roll by the end of May. He is not happy with it, and we think there is better there. We know there is better there. It is up to him.
answering ball challenged hit seen talk
You talk about being challenged and answering the challenge. He has hit the ball (recently) as well as I have ever seen him hit the ball.
avoiding expect factors finishing games home last motivating record winning
Having a winning record at home or avoiding finishing last weren't motivating factors for us. When you are 27 games under .500, can we really expect to be better at home?