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.
emphasize falls job player scouts
It's something we have thought about and if it falls into place, it falls into place, ... But I don't want to do it just as a novelty; I want to do it for some meaning. It think it would emphasize the job player development has done for us, and the job the scouts have done.
continues good improve offensive optimistic players reason
Our young players give us reason to be optimistic for the future. Holliday continues to improve and should become a good offensive player.
ability becoming defining game growth league major man next player slow step toughest
One of the toughest things to do as a man in anything is to slow down when we're not doing what we think we should be doing. As men, we want to step on the gas. That's a defining point. It's a growth thing for me. It's the next step into a player becoming more entrenched at the Major League level, to have the ability to slow the game down.
adding players start wrong youth
There's nothing wrong with that. Now you can start adding up the one- and two-year players and see that we've got a lot of youth on our side.
admire asset attention brought energy fed focal gone guys handled help hot kept learned lessons months others paying players point seeing standpoint team time tough transition tremendous trying valuable waste younger
He's had to have two very very big months to get him where he is right now, but he can get hot like nobody's business. He's probably learned some very valuable lessons through this year. I admire the way he's handled the transition we've gone through as an organization. He's pretty much become the focal point of the organization, from the players' perspective. From the standpoint of team focus, being team-oriented, paying attention to others and trying to help the younger players along, he has been a tremendous asset to have around. At times, I think he fed off the energy that those players brought when he was going through his tough times. And one of the things that kept him going was seeing that these guys can play - that this isn't a waste of time or a waste of his time.
difficult extended front goal hold knew onto players start task
Our goal was to give them something to hold onto over the winter. At the start of the season, we knew we had a difficult task in front of us, a lot of challenges. A lot of opportunities were extended to a lot of young players. And a lot of young players answered.
brought energy fed hot months players tough
He's had to have two very, very big months to get him where he is right now, but he can get hot like nobody's business. At times, I think he fed off the energy that the young players brought when he was going through his tough times.
bring environment perfect players
In a perfect world, you bring young players into an environment (like Atlanta),
heart held last players took
All the players took to heart the conversations that were held at the end of last season.
ball bigger certain coach confidence giving next opening players statement time
It's Jason's time to take the next step, and sometimes when players can't get to certain places, it's up to a coach to take them there. I want him to know going in that I've got the confidence in him to do that. By giving him the ball Opening Day, I can't make a bigger statement than that.
game kick last messages players sent text voice
His voice was stronger. He got a big kick out of the game last night. He sent text messages to the players after.
bottom fact gained home line opening played players respect special spring teammates zero
Obviously, he is having a special spring. He's gained the respect of his teammates and he has gained the respect of the players he has played against. But the bottom line is it is spring training. The fact is there is going to be an Opening Day and he is going to have zero home runs.
beauty ethic force humility needs next passion player unique work works
His humility, his work ethic and he has a unique passion for the game. And he's going to be what, 21 next month? So, he just needs to play, and we'll see how it works out. The beauty of any young player that can play is when they force your hand.