Being hired manager of a major league baseball team normally
warrants a call for congratulations. However, in the case of Clint
Hurdle, it might warrant a call of condolence.
You see, Clint Hurdle has just signed a three-year
contract to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Not only were the Pirates the worst team in the big
leagues during the 2010 season, they have not enjoyed a winning
season since 1992. Hurdle has just accepted the worst job in
America. It’s a job even Mike Rowe wouldn’t want.
Of course, it wasn’t always this way. During the 1970s the
Bucs reached the playoffs six times and won two World Series title
in 1971 and 1979. After a fallow period during the 1980s, the
Pirates won three consecutive NL East titles between 1990 and 1992.
But in the intervening two decades Pittsburgh has become the
Siberia of major league baseball.
So why would Hurdle, who spent the 2010 season as the
hitting coach with the American League champion Texas Rangers,
abandon the warms environs of Arlington for what will likely be a
harsh summer along the Allegheny River? Well, clearly Hurdle likes
a challenge. But there are challenges and then there is miracle
work.
In 2010, no Pirates starting pitcher won in double digits.
The closest thing the Pirates had to an ace was Paul Maholm, who
went 9-15 with a career high 5.10 ERA. Maholm hasn’t exactly made
anyone forget Doug Drabek. With the fewest saves in the National
League, the Pirates bullpen provides little relief. Not
surprisingly, the Bucs pitching staff had the NL’s highest
ERA.
Their offense wasn’t much better. No Pirate batter hit
over .300 and Pittsburgh’s team batting average of .242 was the
worst in the NL. They drew the second fewest walks in the NL and
had the Senior Circuit’s second worst on base percentage. The
Pirates didn’t hit for much power either. Only one player (Garrett
Jones) hit more than 20 homeruns while the team slammed the third
fewest homeruns
in the NL. Needless to say, Clint Hurdle will have a lot of hurdles
before him when the Pirates break for spring training camp in
Bradenton, Florida, next February.
This isn’t to say the Pirates are devoid of talent. Bucs
centerfielder Andrew McCutchen is a five tool player who at the
tender age of 24 is not only going to get better but might very
well end up as one of the premier players in the game. Yet chances
are he will probably fulfill that potential in another
uniform.
Unlike John Russell, who sailed the Pirates ship for the
past three seasons, Hurdle has enjoyed managerial success at the
major league level. In 2007, he led the Colorado Rockies to the
National League pennant and their first World Series appearance.
But that success has to be put in its proper perspective. Prior to
2007, the Rockies had five straight losing seasons under Hurdle.
After their stunning success in 2007, the Rockies regressed to a
disappointing 74-88 record in 2008. The Rockies would dismiss
Hurdle early in the 2009 campaign after a horrible 18-28 start.
Hurdle was replaced by Jim Tracy. Lo and behold, the Rockies
recaptured
the magic of 2007 and went 74-42 the rest of the way earning the
team its second NL Wild Card in three seasons.
Is Tracy a better manager than Hurdle? It’s possible. But
guess where Tracy managed in 2006 and 2007? That’s right. He
managed
the Pirates and had two 90 plus loss seasons to show for it. After
leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to the NL West title in 2004 did
Tracy lose his baseball smarts when he arrived in Pittsburgh only
to regain them in Denver? The answer is an emphatic no and the same
is true for Hurdle. He wasn’t a genius in 2007 nor was he a fool in
2009 and nor did he suddenly regain his genius when he joined the
Rangers coaching staff in 2010.
A manager has a limited amount to do with whether his team
wins or loses games. It obviously helps if the manager has the
respect of the players under his stewardship. But to paraphrase
Thomas Jefferson, the managers who manage best manage
least.
Yet in the case of the Pittsburgh Pirates, it seems there
is very little the manager can do be it Clint Hurdle, Jim Tracy, or
anyone else. Show me a team’s management that makes poor draft
picks and trades away what few good players they have for little in
return and I’ll show you a team that hasn’t had a winning record
since Bush was President. That would be George H.W.
Bush.
I have no doubt Clint Hurdle has good intentions and will
put his best foot forward in his new job. Yet we know all about
good intentions and where they can take us. Unless the Pirates
management works with Hurdle to put the best possible product on
the field there is little chance he will fare better than his
predecessors. Chances are Hurdle will walk a plank of hurdles of
the Pirates management’s own making. If that is the case, Hurdle
could soon wish he had jumped ship.
