Episode 257 Wit and Wisdom with Clint Hurdle (Part 1)

John talks with Clint Hurdle — former Major League Baseball player, coach, manager, motivational speaker, author of Hurdle-isms: Wit and Wisdom from a Lifetime in Baseball, husband, and dad. Clint was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1975 and played until age 30 before transitioning to manager. He managed in the minor leagues before managing at the major league level with the Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Listen to this episode to learn more:

[00:00] - Intro

[00:31] - Clint’s bio

[01:53] - Clint’s journey into baseball

[05:05] - How Davey Johnson encouraged him to coach

[07:22] - First coaching opportunities

[12:10] - Managing different minor league teams

[14:15] - Minor league to major league transition

[14:51] - How he became the interim manager for the Rockies

[17:21] - Clint’s family’s support throughout his baseball career

[17:52] - Story of his first home run in the major leagues

[20:42] - How baseball was overwhelming, glamorous, and difficult

[24:55] - Clint’s mantra: “Be where your feet are.”

[28:18] - His battle with alcoholism and journey to sobriety

NOTABLE QUOTES:

“The heart is the strongest muscle in the body because, no matter how many times it gets broken, it always has a chance to be stronger when it heals.”

“Baseball is designed to break your heart. But we also know that the heart is the strongest muscle.”

“Every overnight success requires years of hard work that nobody knows about.”

“The worst thing to do in baseball is be told, ‘Good enough,’ and then you gotta go pack your bag in the clubhouse and walk out in front of everybody else.”

“If you’re not leading or following, you’re basically a roadblock.”

“Be where your feet are. Today is the only day I can really do anything with. Yesterday is gone. I don't even know if I'm gonna get to tomorrow, so be present today.”

“If I have one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow… I’m basically taking a crap on today.”

“It was overwhelmingly good, then overwhelmingly hard—overwhelmingly lonely when you're not playing well.”

“Failure was a person. Later on, I realized it was an event.”

“I never realized how good my life could be without alcohol.”

USEFUL RESOURCES:

https://www.clinthurdle.com/

https://linktr.ee/clinthurdle

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clinthurdle13/

https://www.instagram.com/clint.hurdle13/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555483677175

https://x.com/ClintHurdle13?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Hurdle-isms: Wit and Wisdom from a Lifetime in Baseball - https://a.co/d/6mBDvHI

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EPISODE CREDITS

Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/