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.
baseball defense game gets holding point smart talk win
I don't think there was any big talk or meeting. It was the culmination of holding on to a perception. When you get to a point where you pitch, play defense and play smart baseball regularly, when the game gets clean, you win on the road.
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.
freedom good hitter power run smart third
He's our third baseman. We'll give him the freedom to play. We're not going to give him any power goals. We feel he's a good enough hitter and a smart enough hitter to be a good run producer.
baseball fine line smart trying win
It's a fine line between being intimidated and trying to play smart baseball and win a game.
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?
opportunity pitches presented wasting
He's been working on an assortment of pitches to use if that opportunity is ever presented to him. I think he's wasting his time.
steps
This is just another step, and we have a lot of steps to take to get where we want to be.