Hurdle upbeat as spring training begins
BRADENTON, Fla. — Every day is like the first day of spring training for the always optimistic and upbeat Clint Hurdle.
So, it was no surprise that the Pirates manager was in an especially good mood Thursday on what was actually the first day of spring training.
“The sky is blue, the grass is green and the clay is red,” Hurdle said after the Pirates pitchers and catchers went through their initial drills at Pirate City.
The rest of the squad begins working out next Tuesday in anticipation of the April 6 opener against the Reds at Cincinnati.
It was an especially happy day for veteran right-hander A.J. Burnett. The 38-year-old anchored the Pirates starting rotation in 2012 and 2013 and returned to the organization as a free agent in November after spending last season with downtrodden Philadelphia.
“Hearing ‘welcome back’ never gets old,” Burnett said with a smile. “It’s good to be back. I left a playoff team here at the end of 2013 and I look around now and see a team that is even better. You can’t help but be excited about what this team can accomplish.”
Of course, as the old sayings go, every team is 0-0 and a potential World Series champion on the first day of spring training.
However, the Pirates are indeed contenders after making back-to-back trips to the postseason following 20 straight losing seasons. Hurdle wasn’t shy to mention a World Series championship was among his team’s goals this season.
Not long ago — as recently as 2013, to be specific — Hurdle would have been openly laughed at to say his team dreamed of being in the World Series. However, that seems so long ago.
“It’s really pretty amazing when you think about how things have changed,” said right-hander Charlie Morton, who has been in the organization since June, 2009 when he was acquired from Atlanta in a trade that shipped then face-of-the-franchise Nate McLouth to the Braves.
October is still 7陆 months away and oftentimes that seemed like an interminable amount of time to the Pirates in February. Kevin Young knows that all too well as he was a corner infielder on nine of those record-setting 20 losing teams.
Young is in his first spring training as a special assistant in baseball operations department and was able to lend an interesting perspective in his first day back in a Pirates’ uniform.
“It’s a good time to be a Pirate,” he said. “A real good time.”