The first game of the post-Clint Hurdle era did not go the Pirates way, as they'd lose, 3-1, to the Reds at PNC Park Sunday in the season finale.
The clubhouse that morning was filled with music. Christmas music. Michael Bublé covers of old classics. It was Trevor Williams' idea, playing on the idea that the last day of the season always brings different emotions.
"We were looking forward to being done with this day and putting this year behind us," Williams said.
Hurdle rolled with the change in music.
"I think there's a part of every day that does feel like Christmas, and if you lose sight of that... shame on you," Hurdle told reporters before the game.
That would be the last time he addressed the media as a member of the Pirates. Somewhere between that talk around noon and 1:53 p.m., when the team announced via press release that he had been removed of his managerial duties, the Christmas spirit died.
"It's not a very good day for us," bench coach and Sunday's interim manager Tom Prince said. "... It hurts a little bit. Those guys in there, they hurt a little bit too."
In the clubhouse, even with non-Christmas playing and people packing up, the hurt was easy to spot.
"Very sad, man. Very sad news," Starling Marte said through translator Mike Gonzalez. "Probably some of the hardest news I've received, especially because Clint was a huge part of my career. He was an individual that was always in my corner, believed in me. Moments where I was challenged, moments where I struggled, he was always pouring into me, speaking life into me, uplifting me. He was huge for my career, and I'm always going to love him and appreciate him for that."
"He's done a lot of good here in his time in Pittsburgh," Williams said about "our skip."
"He was huge for me," Kevin Newman said. "He believed in me. He helped take my game to the professional level. Really gave me encouragement, advice, throughout big league spring trainings before I got to the major leagues, and he then continued while I was here."
"To be able to get to know him over the years and get closer to him," Jacob Stallings offered. "[The way he] really poured into me, especially from a leadership perspective. It's just been fun for me, a fun relationship that's grown."
"For me, personally, he's the only manager at the big league level to ever put me in the lineup," Josh Bell said. "He's always gonna be close to my heart."
Before he left, Hurdle addressed the team as a whole and individually.
"He thanked us for our heart, he thanked us for the work that we put in over the past few years," Williams said.
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