BUFFONE: Hurdle Extension is Smart Move

by John Buffone

The Pittsburgh Pirates officially extended manager Clint Hurdle through the 2014 season with a club option in 2015. The Pirates are 151-173 during Hurdle’s two seasons in Pittsburgh and tied their best finish in almost twenty years last season with a record of 79-83. While the Buccos have kept our interest longer than we are used to, some people still think that Hurdle should be on the hot seat and potentially fired if the Pirates don’t produce a successful 2013 season. After all, the Pirates were leading the NL Central in august, were 16 games over .500, were mailing out playoff ticket order forms and occurred for the Pirates in Hurdle’s first year in 2011. Does Hurdle deserve some of that blame? Absolutely. Should he be on the hot seat this season? No. What Hurdle has been able to do in the last two seasons is get the ball rolling towards a culture change in Pittsburgh baseball. He’s a mentally strong manger that actually wants to be in Pittsburgh while reinvigorating the fan base. If anyone should be on the hot seat, it’s team president Frank Coonelly and GM Neil Huntington since they are the one’s putting the team together. Hurdle has more or less done all he can do with what he has been given. We can’t be mad at a chef when he’s asked to make pasta marinara out of ketchup and egg noodles.