Pirates First Baseman Lyle Overbay Needs To Trust Clint Hurdle
Trust Clint Hurdle, was the message Pirates first baseman Lyle Overbay sent his teammates at the Pirates voluntary minicamp in January.
"One of the first questions Clint asked me, and he asked everyone was, 'Do you trust me?' Overbay said. "You have to trust him because he's honest. He tells you where you stand with him. I'm a grown man and if he says something I might not like, he's not out there to hurt men, he's out there to make me better. I understand that and that's a big part of what is going to be the atmosphere around here -- you have to trust Clint."
Hurdle and Overbay met awhile back to discus the need for Overbay to begin producing. According to Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Hurdle stated Thursday that if Overbay does not start producing, he will find himself out of a job.
"That's where we are right now," Hurdle said. "Lyle had a large volume of at-bats. We had a heart-to-heart coversation a while ago, back when he took three days off. He has enough experience in this game to understand there is a need now."
"Is there time to catch a spark? Yes, but we need to get something done sooner rather than later."
Sooner came Saturday when the Bucs announced they acquired first baseman Derek Lee from the Baltimore Orioles, leaving Overbay's status up in the air.
Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com reported Overbay and Hurdle met in Hurdle's office Sunday morning. What was discussed was not revealed.
Lee is scheduled to join the Pirates today and is expected to get the bulk of the playing time at first.
Both Hurdle and team president Frank Coonelly believe Lee's bat was a needed upgrade in the line-up.
"We believe that he has productive baseball left in him," Hurdle said. "The reports that we have been getting are very encouraging he has been swinging the bat extremely well the last few weeks."
Since July 8, Lee has batted .309 with 11 extra-base hits and 19 RBI.
"We thought it was very important to upgrade the offense, and we feel like Derek Lee, hitting from the right side, veteran presence, that we've given Clint an additional weapon," said Coonelly.
"Pittsburgh is geting a good man, a good person and a guy that's starting to play pretty well, said Baltimore manager Buck Showalter. "So it's a good move for them and a good move for us. We like the guy we got back. But it's bittersweet for us."
Overbay could very well be on his way out. That would surely be very disappointing for him.
At the January minicamp, Overbay said. "Things are changing here and I want to be part of something special," Overbay said. "Things are changing, confidence is here, people here are not accepting losing. It doesn't take long around these guys to realize it."
Lyle, you said, you have to trust Clint Hurdle, he is honest and is there to make things better.
