The day after losing 11-0 to the Dodgers in what Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle called the team’s “worst patch of play probably this season,” the players decided to take charge and hold a player’s only meeting before taking on the Dodger’s ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
Hurdle, who has held multiple positions in professional baseball, said it’s just the players doing what the players do.
“I think it’s all part of players having ownership of what they do and how they do it,” Hurdle said. “I’ve been a player and have been on that end of it and been a coach, manager; I think it’s all part of the growing up process.”
Hurdle wouldn’t say how many times the Pirates have had these meetings before, but he said he feels the timing of their meeting is appropriate.
“Who is to say how many times they’ve taken place or when they’ve taken it,” Hurdle said. “I think they’re appropriate with their feelings and appropriate with the timing; they have been throughout the season. I trust them.”
With these types of meetings, especially with this team, Hurdle said the team more often than not comes out positive.
“It all depends how you define positive reaction. I think they say what they need to say, there’s always a couple of individuals that try to take the initiative to get it moving in that direction and try to get feelings out, thoughts, observations and comments,” Hurdle said. “More or less, it’s just kind of a self-cleaning. Honest evaluations from others, the players can be helpful at times. I think it’s always, at least the group I’ve had here, have come out in a much better place.”
So far, it has seemed to work. Despite going 3-6 so far on their longest home stand of the season, the Pirates are staying loose and positive. During batting practice today, they were seen joking around with each other and weren’t ready to give up on the season. They are however, tied for one of the wild card spots.
Hurdle said to put things in perspective, if someone would have told them they would be 12 games over .500 on August 15, he would take it.
“If you just look at our record, if somebody said, ‘Here’s where you’re going to be on August 15,’ you say, ‘this isn’t too bad, we can work with this,’” Hurdle said. “Then you add in what is going on at the time, momentum. You say you’ve got to find a way.”
Despite putting in waiver claims on various players and with 16 days to still trade for a player that would clear waivers, Hurdle is adamant on the far the players he has on the team now will be able to right the ship.
“The guys that are here, the core group of men here, have gone out on the field and played extremely well for the bulk of the season. We’ve got the people here,” Hurdle said. “I kind of correlate it to talking to some guys earlier that you are what you eat. What are you putting into your mind coming into the clubhouse before you take the field. Are you putting in good information, anxious information, are you putting in doubt? Those kind of things.”
Hurdle said he challenges his players throughout the season by continuing to ask what they are thinking as they arrive to the ballpark.
“What are we thinking about when we walk in? Everything starts with a thought when you walk in. That’s one of the things I’ve continued to challenge them with throughout the season,” Hurdle said. “Sometimes these things get moved in the wrong direction, but they can get moved in the right direction, but it’s got to be a concentrated effort and it’s got to be a complete focus from pitch one until the end of the game, regardless of what happens during that process. That’s the way you dig yourself out of a hole.”
As he often does, Hurdle dished out a quality quote following the teams loss last night. So far this season, he’s referenced Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” Liam Neeson from “Taken,” Popeye and Dr. Seuss. This time, he wen with the classic movie “The Godfather” to describe where the team is right now in this tough time.
“What does the guy say in the [movie the] Godfather? ‘This is the life we’ve chosen.’ This is the life we’ve chosen,” Hurdle said. “It’s hard right now. Figure it out. We’ve got to play better. That’s it. This is the time that’s going to get your attention.”
Photo Credits: Getty Images
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