A 1980s Card Part 31- 1987 Topps Clint Hurdle

Clint Hurdle is one of the more interesting baseball stories of the last half century.  He was an incredible high school athlete who had a scholarship to play baseball and quarterback for the University of Miami.  At the same time, so the story goes, he also got into Harvard since he was virtually a straight A student.  His Drivers Education teacher gave him a B. 

The Royals drafted him in the first round and paid Hurdle enough money that he chose professional baseball over Miami or Harvard.  In 1977, as a 19 year old he hit .328 with 16 home runs and a .529 slugging percentage in Triple A.  Sports Illustrated claimed him to be the next big thing in baseball.  He got put on the front cover of the magazine. 

Over the next decade, Hurdle only played more than 100 games twice.  He played five years for the Royals, three years for the Mets, and single seasons for both the Reds and Cardinals.  Hurdle's best season was in 1980 when he hit .294 with 10 home runs for the American League Champions.  While the Royals lost the World Series to the Phillies, Hurdle hit .417.  Not his fault. 

Hurdle had some noted off the field problems throughout his career.  He hit just .195 for the 1985 New York Mets, but at just 28 years old the Cardinals gave him a chance to play.  The majority of Hurdle's time with the Cardinals was spent filling in for Jack Clark at first, who was injured in 1986, but also spent time at third, left field, right field, and catcher. 

He hit .185 with a .299 slugging percentage.  Just for some context, Bob Forsch hit .171 with a .329 slugging percentage.  Hurdle still got a baseball card as a Cardinal in the 1987 Topps set. 

The picture is a little fuzzy, but I like the fact that the card has an action shot.  It is a picture that can also be tracked down to a game, and even a single at bat.  Hurdle actually only appeared in one game as a Cardinal in Shea Stadium during the 1986 season.  It was an April 14th game, he pinch hit in the eighth inning against Dwight Gooden and picked up a hit.    

It rated as one of the five most important plays in the game.  It gave the Cardinals the lead in the 8th inning of what would end up being a 13 inning win. 

The back of the card.  

When is the last time you saw a card with a player's position as C-OF?  This was Hurdle's last card as a Major Leaguer.  Hurdle went on the rejoin the Mets for the 1987 season, but spent the majority of his time in Triple A.  He played just 3 games with the Mets, with the last hit of his career coming in June 17th loss to the Expos where he came into the game for Keith Hernandez.  He did not get a card as a Met the following year.  

Hurdle managed the Rockies and Pirates for 17 years after retiring as a player.  His finest season as a manager had to be for the 2007 Rockies who advanced all the way to the World Series.  Although, Padres fans are still a little salty about Matt Holliday never touching home plate on this sac fly in a tie-breaker game that season.  

Hurdle had several good years with the Pirates too, especially the 2015 season.  I'm not sure what his head to head was against the Cardinals while he managed the Pirates, but it felt like he was always about four steps ahead of Mike Matheny.  Who wasn't?