Midwest League Hurdle

Clint Hurdle did not spring fully formed into the manager of the Colorado Rockies. Jim Sullivan of the Waterloo Courier remembers Hurdle's time in the MWL.

Long before Big Dance, Hurdle was worth watching

Even before he reached the Big Dance, Hurdle's footwork was fascinating and painful to watch. Once considered a can't-miss prospect as an outfielder for the Kansas City Royals, Hurdle never quite lived up to the reputation that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Injuries played a role in shortening his playing career. He dealt with personal demons ranging from divorce to alcohol abuse. Later in life, one of Hurdle's daughters dealt with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes seizures, among other things.

So it's easy to say that no one saw Hurdle's early rise, hard fall and middle-aged ascension to World Series manager coming. Maybe. But a man who watched Hurdle as a 19-year-old kid play ball for the 1976 Waterloo Royals saw things a little differently. Hurdle took baseball seriously, and he proved he could regroup in trying times.

"I think he studied the game a lot," said Don Kruse, the former Courier sports writer who often covered Midwest League baseball in Waterloo. "He wanted to learn."

Kruse added, "He was really a nice kid here. I had a lot of respect for him. He signed for a good bonus. Everybody knew about him. Yet, when he was here, he didn't seem like a cocky kid at 19. Of course, when you're not hitting, you can't boast very much."

Hurdle indeed struggled early in his season with the Waterloo Royals. A first-round draft pick by Kansas City, Hurdle came to the Midwest League after spending 1975 with the Royals' rookie club in Sarasota, Fla. He hit. 274 in the Gulf Coast League. His average took a dive Waterloo. By June 1, Hurdle was hitting only .201 for a team that ranked as a Midwest League powerhouse.

"He was really struggling," said Kruse. "They were really kind of concerned about him."

Hurdle learned to make adjustments. When he the young outfielder bragged about his knack for drawing walks, Royals manager John Sullivan took him aside and said, "You don't walk to the big leagues. Swing the bat."
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Meanwhile, Hurdle kept working. His average settled at a mere .235 but the young left-handed hitter swatted 19 home runs and collected 89 RBIs. The Midwest League named him its Prospect of the Year. His team won the league title.

The story points out that one of Hurdle's teammates on that Waterloo team was Dan Quisenberry.

MWLGuide.com has a summary of the 1976 season.

Quickly: Waterloo went 78-52 for the best record in the league. Then, the swept the Quad City Angels in the Championship series 2 games to none.

The Appleton Foxes went 56-74 to finish with the worst record in the MWL that year.