Pirates and manager Clint Hurdle part ways

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today Clint Hurdle has been relieved of his duties as Pirates Manager. The announcement was made by Pirates Executive Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.

“Words cannot express how much respect and appreciation I have for Clint as a person and a leader. He was the right person at the right time to take on the enormous challenge of leading our Major League team out of an extended losing streak and piloting us to three straight Postseason appearances. We will be forever grateful for his dedication to the Pirates organization on and off the field,” said Huntington. “This was an extremely difficult decision for us. As an organization, we believe it was time for a managerial change to introduce a new voice and new leadership inside the clubhouse.

“This has been a challenging season on many levels. We are committed to assessing and improving upon our operations at all levels in order to return Postseason baseball to Pittsburgh.”

The 62-year-old Hurdle was named Pittsburgh’s Manager on November 15, 2010, becoming the 39th manager in the organization’s history. Hurdle and his staff posted a 735-720-1 record in his nine seasons with the Pirates. He finished his Pirates career fourth all-time in wins, behind only Fred Clarke (1,422 wins), Danny Murtaugh (1,115) and Jim Leyland (851).