Clint Hurdle #10

**Managerial/Coaching Career** Clint Hurdle was named manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Nov. 15, 2010, thus becoming the 39th manager in the organization's history. The 2014 season will mark his 40th overall in professional baseball. In 2013, Hurdle led the Pirates to a 94-68 record and their first [p]ostseason berth since 1992. He won his 700th career game on April 28, 2013 -- a 9-0 victory at St. Louis. Hurdle captured Manager of the Year honors from The Sporting News in 2013, joining Billy Meyer (1948), Danny Murtaugh (1960, 1970) and Jim Leyland (1988, 1990, 1992) as past winners in club history. In his first three seasons as the Pirates skipper, Hurdle has posted a 245-241 record. The 245 victories are the most by a Pittsburgh manager in his first three full seasons since Chuck Tanner won 282 games from 1977-79. Hurdle had his 2013 squad in sole possession of first place for 25 days from July 30 through Aug. 23, and the team occupied first or second place in the Central Division standings from June 21 through the end of the season. Hurdle spent the 2010 season as the Hitting Coach of the American League-champion Texas Rangers, a club that led the Major Leagues with a .276 batting average during the regular season -- paced by AL MVP Josh Hamilton (.359 average, 32 home runs and 100 RBIs) and Vladimir Guerrero (.300 average, 29 home runs and 115 RBIs). Prior to joining the Texas coaching staff on Nov. 5, 2009, Hurdle spent over 15 years in the Colorado organization, serving as a Minor League hitting coordinator, Major League hitting coach and manager at the big league level. He compiled a 543-625 record while serving the Rockies as manager from April 26, 2002, until he was relieved of his duties on May 29, 2009. Clint has the most wins of any manager in Colorado team history, winning his 500th career game on Aug. 29, 2008, at Los Angeles. In 2007, Hurdle led the Rockies to the World Series as the club captured its first National League pennant in franchise history. The 2007 club, which won 11 straight games in September, won 21 of its 22 games leading up to the World Series, where Boston pulled off a four-game sweep. During the 2007 postseason, the Rockies swept the Phillies in the Division Series and Arizona in the Championship Series before falling to the Red Sox in the Fall Classic. For his efforts in 2007, Hurdle received four first-place votes and finished third in the voting for NL Manager of the Year. His 2007 squad also compiled the highest single-season fielding percentage in Major League history (.989), a mark that still stands. Clint also served as manager of the National League in the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, the longest game (time, innings) in All-Star history (The NL lost, 4-3, in 15 innings in a game that lasted 4:50). Hurdle was also a coach for the NL staff during the 2004 All-Star Game in Houston. Hurdle's managerial career at the big league level began with a 4-1 victory over the Phillies at Coors Field on April 26, 2002. He replaced Buddy Bell as Colorado's skipper that day and went 6-0 in his first six games -- tied for the sixth-best winning streak by a manager following a midseason managerial change in Major League history (Joe Morgan holds the record as his Red Sox won their first 12 games in 1988). In his five-plus years tutoring Colorado's hitters, the club compiled the N.L.'s top two averages in 70 years (.294 in 2000 and .292 in 2001) and the league's most base hits since 1930 (1,664 in 2000). In 2001 alone, the Rockies established a Major League record for total bases (2,748) and the N.L. mark for extra-base hits (598). Hurdle, who doubled as the club's First Base Coach from 1997-98, remained on the coaching staff under three different Colorado managers: Don Baylor, Jim Leyland and Buddy Bell. Prior to becoming Hitting Coach in 1997, Clint served the Rockies as their minor league hitting instructor from 1994-96. Before he joined the Colorado organization, Hurdle managed in the New York Mets system for six seasons (1988-1993) and compiled a 412-418 record. In his first season as a manager, and in St. Lucie's first year of existence, he led the club to a second-half division title and the Florida State League championship. Hurdle also took his 1989 St. Lucie club and the 1990 Jackson team to the postseason, losing in the first round of the playoffs each year. After managing Williamsport in the Eastern League in 1991, Clint wrapped up his Minor League managerial career with two seasons at the Triple-A level with Tidewater in 1992 and Norfolk in 1993. Primarily an outfielder during his playing days, Hurdle was selected by Kansas City in the first round (ninth player overall) of the 1975 June Draft. After three full seasons in the Minor Leagues, which included American Association Rookie of the Year and All-Star Game MVP honors while playing with Omaha in 1977, Clint made his Major League debut at the age of 20 with the Royals on Sept. 18, 1977, and hit a two-run homer off Seattle's Glenn Abbott in his second at-bat. Hurdle played parts of 10 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Royals (1977-1981), Reds (1982), Mets (1983, 1985, 1987) and Cardinals (1986)...and compiled a .259 average, 81 doubles, 12 triples, 32 home runs and 193 RBIs in 515 career games. He appeared in the postseason twice with Kansas City, going 3-for-8 with an RBI in four games against the Yankees in the 1978 ALCS, and advancing as far as the World Series in 1980, only to lose in four games to the Phillies. After spending the 1982 season in the Cincinnati organization, Hurdle was signed by New York as a Minor League free agent prior to the 1983 campaign and played three years in the Mets system before being selected by St. Louis in the 1985 Rule 5 Draft. In his final season as a player (1987), Clint appeared in 97 games with Triple-A Tidewater and went 1-for-3 in three games with the Mets. In his big league career, he made 240 appearances in right field, 96 in left field, 92 at first base, 22 at catcher and 15 at third base. Hurdle, who hit the final home run in Minnesota's historical Metropolitan Stadium on 9/30/81, hit his final big league homer on 9/9/86 at Three Rivers Stadium - a solo shot off Pittsburgh's Rick Reuschel. **Personal:** Clinton Merrick Hurdle ... Wife's name in Karla ... Has three children; daughter Ashley (7/18/85), who graduated from the University of California-Santa Barbara, and is currently working in Business Development with TranscribeMe!, Inc., a San Francisco based company, daughter Madison (8/7/02) and son Christian (11/15/04) ... Is the Prader-Willi national spokesperson, an organization that raises awareness for Prader-Willi Syndrome, a complex genetic disorder his daughter Madison was born with ... Prader-Willi affects about one in every 12,000 people and is caused by the deletion of part of an individual's 15th chromosome (check out www.pwsausa.org for more information) ... Is a 1975 graduate of Merritt Island (FL) High School, where he lettered in baseball, football and basketball ... Batted .567 with four homers and 25 RBI in 24 games during his senior year in high school while earning All-State and All-American honors ... Was also a star quarterback and signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Miami (FL), but chose to sign with Kansas City after the Royals selected him in the first round of the 1975 June Draft ... Spent the second half of the 2009 season as an analyst on the MLB Network ... Has been ejected 31 times in his career as a manager; also three times as a coach and once as a player ... Was inducted into the Florida State League Hall-of-Fame in 2011 ... Is very active in the Pittsburgh community, which included his participation in the last three team caravans and PirateFest events ... Was named 2013 Manager of the Year by the Pittsburgh Rotary Club.