Pirates’ Hurdle wins NL Manager of the Year award

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In this Oct. 9, 2013, file photo, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, right, watches his team warm up for Game 5 of a NL baseball division series between the Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis. Hurdle has won the NL Manager of the Year award after guiding the Pirates to the playoffs in their first winning season since 1992. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

 

by Mike Fitzpatrick
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – Clint Hurdle won the NL Manager of the Year award Tuesday after guiding the Pittsburgh Pirates to the playoffs in their first winning season since 1992.

Hurdle was a runaway winner, selected first on 25 of 30 ballots from a Baseball Writers’ Association of America panel. Don Mattingly of the Los Angeles Dodgers came in second and Fredi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves finished third.

“It’s a bit overwhelming, to tell you the truth,” Hurdle said in an interview on MLB Network. “It’s humbling. It’s gratifying from an organizational standpoint.”

It was the first Manager of the Year honor for the 56-year-old Hurdle. His highest finish had been third in 2007, when he led the Colorado Rockies to the World Series.

The only other Pittsburgh manager to win the award was Jim Leyland in 1990 and 1992, the bookends to three consecutive division titles for the Pirates.

After that, they endured a record 20 straight losing seasons – the longest drought in any of the four major professional sports – before going 94-68 this year to capture an NL wild card.

Riding a wave of excitement from a rejuvenated fan base in a city finally enthralled by baseball again, Pittsburgh beat the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card game before losing to league champion St. Louis in a division series that went the full five games.

“I said it’s the greatest coaching opportunity in all of sports – the opportunity to be part of a select group of men and women that re-bond a city with a ballclub,” Hurdle said. “Three years almost to the day that I said it, it’s starting to happen.”

Hurdle was chosen second on the other five ballots and was the only manager picked on every one. He had 140 points in the 5-3-1 scoring system to 68 points for Mattingly, who received two first-place votes after leading the Dodgers to the NL West title.

Gonzalez got three first-place votes and finished with 43 points.

Mike Matheny of the Cardinals was the only other skipper to appear on a ballot. He was tabbed second by four voters and third by seven.

 

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