Rangers hire an offensive coordinator for hitting coach

By GIL LeBRETON

glebreton@star-telegram.com

A wise baseball man once told me that ex-managers are unanimous in one thing:

They all want one more crack at being a manager.

It doesn’t matter if they currently spend their days in a bullpen, or with a fungo bat, or seated in front of a microphone. They all think they can get to the World Series, if someone will only give them another chance.

That’s probably not a fair way to introduce you to Clint Hurdle, the Texas Rangers’ new hitting coach. Hurdle is, true, a former manager — a World Series manager, at that — but nothing he said during Thursday’s introductory teleconference sounded political or suggested an eventual coup.

Ron Washington is the Rangers’ manager, and he sounded as happy Thursday to be hiring Hurdle as anyone.

For Hurdle, the job represents a chance to get back into the dugout. The Colorado Rockies replaced him as manager on May 29, and reports suggested that the Rockies had a front office position waiting for him.

"I have an itch that still needs to be scratched," Hurdle said in explaining why he chose the job in Arlington instead.

There is nothing mutinous about that. Before he became the Colorado manager in 2002, Hurdle was the Rockies’ hitting coach for five full seasons. Hurdle is only playing to his strength.

"I was looking for an opportunity where I could fit in and help an organization in the most significant way where it could win a world championship," Hurdle said.

He said he did his homework and heard repeatedly that the Rangers are poised at the lip of something special.

"At the end of the day, I’m 52," Hurdle said, "and my hardware was looking for another challenge."

He probably wasn’t the most popular choice. Former Ranger Rusty Greer would have brought a straightforward approach to the job and would have helped galvanize the local fandom. The club would be smart to find a coaching spot for Greer at Double A or Triple A.

Hurdle, however, has the kind of instant credentials that the Rangers needed to look for in replacing someone with the reputation of Rudy Jaramillo.

His style is going to be much different from Washington’s. I’m not sure yet if that’s a positive.

Hurdle said the magic words, though, when during the job interview he emphasized a less selfish offensive approach.

"He used the term 'team-oriented approach,’ " general manager Jon Daniels said. "That really resonated with us. He said it was more about being the offensive coach than a hitting coach, more than just about the mechanics of swinging the bat."

Hurdle said his job is not to come in and change some players’ swings.

"I don’t have a 'my way or the highway’ mentality," Hurdle said. "I want to try to find a way to adapt a player’s strengths to what will work best within the team concept.

"I can work with a lot of different swings. I’ve tried to become a chameleon in learning the game, because I know that hitting can be done successfully in different ways."

He looks upon the ever-expanding gamut of hitting statistics, he said, as "another tool in the tool belt" — a good answer, since the Rangers’ run-scoring problems last season ran deeper than just on-base percentage.

Hurdle said only one thing that rang conspicuous by its inclusion.

He has studied the Rangers lineup, he said, and, "The skill sets are there. It’s not something where we’ve got to go out and come up with a new recipe or get a bunch of new personnel."

It leaves me wondering if (A) he was told during the interview process that the club’s hands would be financially tied this off-season, or (B) he really thinks that this lineup, as constructed, can suddenly adapt to playing team-ball.

Some baseball people would disagree. The way you get a lineup of patient hitters who work the count and make the opposing pitcher grind — the way you get a lineup like the Yankees or Red Sox, in other words — is to go out and acquire those kinds of hitters.

"New personnel" doesn’t necessarily mean signing free agents. One or two smart trades could dramatically improve the Rangers lineup.

The last thing that Hurdle would have wanted to do, however, was be introduced at a teleconference Thursday and immediately start talking about changes.

"I think we added a great guy to what we already have," manager Washington said.

In the meantime, the new hitting coach has an itch.

GIL LeBRETON, 817-390-7760

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