Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle becomes only the fifth manager to win 600 games with the Pirates.
When the Pittsburgh Pirates came from behind to beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, manager Clint Hurdle joined a club that includes Fred Clarke, Danny Murtaugh, Jim Leyland, and Chuck Tanner. In the 137 years, the team has been in existence; those five men are the only Pittsburgh Pirates managers to win 600 games with the team.
Among this group of five, Clint Hurdle has the third-highest winning percentage, behind Clarke and Murtaugh.
Saturday’s win was Pittsburgh’s fourth in a row and put them back on top of the NL Central, which is a spot very few people expected them to be this year. They were expected to finish behind the Cubs, Cardinals, and Brewers, but lead all three by a half-game in a very tight division. The Cincinnati Reds are a distant 10 games back.
Clint Hurdle is in his eighth season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He took over a team that had gone 57-105 under John Russell in 2010. That was rock bottom for a franchise that had last made the playoffs in 1992, the final year Barry Bonds was on the team.
Clint Hurdle guided the club to a 72-90 record in his first year with the team. They went 79-83 the next year, then finally got the monkey off their backs when they made the playoffs with a 94-68 record. Unfortunately, that season ended with a loss in the five-game division series.
Congratulations to Clint Hurdle on his 600th win as a Pirates manager! He is the 5th Pirates manager to reach the milestone.#RAISEIThttps://t.co/Xx5Jk0sJXi
The Pittsburgh Pirates three years of great success.
The Pittsburgh Pirates made the playoffs the next two seasons but lost each time in the wild card game when they ran up against Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arrieta. During this three-game stretch of playoff appearances, they averaged 93 wins per season. Clint Hurdle was named the NL Manager of the Year in 2013. He finished second in 2014 and fourth in 2015.
It’s always hard to know how much a manager is responsible for a team’s success. Managers are often judged by their results, rather than their process. If he stays too long with his starting pitcher and the starter gives up a late lead, the manager is criticized. If he takes out his starting pitcher and the bullpen blows up, the manager is criticized.
When it comes to Clint Hurdle, it looks like he has evolved from his time as manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2002 to 2009. During his time with the Rockies, he wasn’t known as a manager who embraced advanced statistical analysis.
Despite managing a team that played half its games in the best hitter’s park in baseball, Hurdle used the sacrifice bunt way more than was remotely reasonable. In fact, the Rockies led the league in sacrifice bunts in each of the last three full seasons Clint Hurdle was the manager. That’s a fireable offense for a team that plays at Coors Field.
With the Pittsburgh Pirates, Hurdle seems to have evolved from his old school mentality, at least when it comes to on-field decisions. He’s worked with a front office that is always looking for ways to compete with a small payroll, even if that means doing things on the field that are not traditional.
At the same time, part of Clint Hurdle’s job is managing people, and the team believes he’s done an excellent job in that department. They signed him to a four-year extension last September.
Clint Hurdle has moves like Jagger.
One thing to consider with Clint Hurdle is how the Pittsburgh Pirates actual win-loss record has compared to their expected record, based on their runs scored and runs allowed. In this regard, Hurdle has done well. The Pittsburgh Pirates have had an actual winning percentage that is higher than their expected winning percentage every year Clint Hurdle has managed the team.
During this time, the Pittsburgh Pirates actual winning percentage is .517, while their expected winning percentage is .502. They have won 18 more games than expected. How much of that is due to Hurdle is unknown, but it’s a good sign that he may be doing something that helps the team win more than they would be expected to based on just their runs scored and runs allowed.
If he finishes out the four-year contract he signed last November, Hurdle will likely pass the next two men above him on the all-time wins list for Pittsburgh Pirates managers. Chuck Tanner has 711 wins, along with one World Series title in 1979.
Jim Leyland has 851 wins and three straight losses in the NLCS from 1990 to 1992. The 1992 loss to the Atlanta Braves was one of the worst moments in the history of the franchise (trigger warning: don’t watch this video if hearing the name Francisco Cabrera still makes you break down in tears).
Historic season for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Getting up to Danny Murtaugh and Fred Clarke territory is a long shot for Hurdle. Murtaugh had three stints with the Pirates and finished with 1115 wins as their manager. He piloted the 1960 team to a World Series championship over the New York Yankees in an epic seven-game series that ended with the first ever walk-off home run to win a Game Seven (hat tip, Bill Mazeroski).
Murtaugh was also the manager when the Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1971 World Series. That series brought well-deserved nationwide attention to 36-year-old Roberto Clemente, who won MVP honors by hitting .414/.452/.759 and showing off a cannon in right field. Murtaugh is the only Pirates manager to win the World Series twice.
Fred Clarke was the longest-tenured manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He ran the team from 1900 to 1915, during the days of Honus Wagner.
The Pittsburgh Pirates made the World Series twice during his tenure, losing in 1903 but winning in 1909 — that season was the best in team history. The Pittsburgh Pirates went 110-42-2, with Honus Wagner leading the league in numerous hitting categories.
