Pirates extend the contract of manager Clint Hurdle

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that they have exercised the club option for the 2014 season in manager Clint Hurdle's contract and have added a club option for 2015. The announcement was made by Pirates Senior Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.

Hurdle, 55, inherited a club that won 57 games in 2010 and led his 2011 squad to 72 victories before improving to 79 wins in 2012.

The 22-game improvement from 2010 to 2012 marked the ninth time since 1900 that the Pirates increased their win total by 20 games or more over the course of two seasons.

"I feel privileged to have the opportunity to continue and finish what we started," said Hurdle. "There's no place I would rather be than in a Pirates uniform."

With 685 wins as a big league manager, Hurdle enters the 2013 season 15 victories shy of becoming the 11th active manager with at least 700 wins in the Major Leagues.

"Clint Hurdle has played a significant role in the transition of an organization that has improved at the major league level by 22 wins over the past two seasons," said Huntington. "Clint's leadership, infectious positive energy, passion and knowledge transcend the clubhouse and we believe he is the right man to help us return championship caliber baseball to Pittsburgh."