Pittsburgh Pirates name Clint Hurdle as their new manager
The Pittsburgh Pirates named Clint Hurdle their new manager on Monday, confirming a three-year deal with the veteran manager. Hurdle has already guided one young team to a World Series, and the Pirates are hoping he can do it again in Pittsburgh.
“Clint Hurdle is an extremely intelligent, passionate, knowledgeable baseball man with proven leadership skills and ability to move this team forward,” said general manager Neal Huntington. “We are very pleased to hire such a quality man who will make an
immediate and lasting impact on this organization.”
Hurdle reportedly had a follow-up interview scheduled with the New York Mets, but decided to accept the Pittsburgh job rather than wait and see if the Mets were going to offer him a job with them.
He spent last year as the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers, who had the best batting average in baseball in 2010. The Rangers lost to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.
Hurdle’s managing experience came in Colorado where he coached the Rockies from 2002 to 2009. In 2007 he led the team to the franchise’s first World Series appearance, where they lost in four games to the Boston Red Sox.
Hurdle’s record as a manager in the Major Leagues is 534-625. The only winning season he had was the 2007 season with the Rockies.
Pittsburgh hasn’t had a winning record since 1992, and finished in last place in National League hitting last year with a team average of .242. He’ll be expected to make a significant impact on that.
As a player, Hurdle was drafted ninth overall in the 1975 amateur draft, and played for five different teams as an outfielder from 1977 to 1987. He had a career batting average of .259 with 32 home runs and 193 RBIs.
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