Brad Hawpe On Clint Hurdle: "Every Move He Made Worked"
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) -- When Angels 1B/OF Brad Hawpe joined Starkey, Miller, and Mueller on Friday, he painted a picture that should be extremely exciting to Pirates fans.
Hawpe was a member of the 2007 Rockies, who won 21 of 22 during a "Rocktober" run that saw them go from fringe playoff contender to National League champion while looking virtually unstoppable.
Current Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was the bench boss for that team as well.
"I think that was some of Hurdle's finest work," Hawpe said. "Every move he made worked out correctly... he had a good feel for what was going on in the clubhouse."
Hawpe explained that Hurdle's influence on that squad was about much more than just a magical touch. Like the 2013 Pirates, the 2007 Rockies were always a threat to grab a win out of thin air, and Hawpe said that there was an uncommonly genuine sense of confidence in that team's clubhouse.
"We got on a roll where we were confident, we were happy, we were having fun, everybody was feeling good," Hawpe said. "It got to the point where the mindset was... it didn't matter what the score was- by the end of the game, we were going to win. And it wasn't faked. People can talk about that a lot these days with this or that - but a lot of times, it's forced and it's faked - that was really the honest to goodness truth. We just expected to win. It didn't matter if we were down three runs in the bottom of the ninth, we were going to win."
The interview can be heard here:
