Clint Hurdle Allen Quotations

It was a nice challenge for him to be able to respond to that. We aren't in the same situation that some other teams are in. We can challenge some guys and see how they respond. That's why we ran him back out (in the fifth).

I thought he handled a couple of challenges very well. I thought his first 10 pitches were up a bit, and then I thought he got pretty good command of the strike zone down.

Plus, to challenge him. We got to remember what we're trying to accomplish over here, regardless of what the other team's trying to accomplish. He had some adversity and I thought he bounced back pretty well through it all.

You talk about being challenged and answering the challenge. He has hit the ball (recently) as well as I have ever seen him hit the ball.

What would you do if you were manager, and you brought a man into the office and you challenged him across the board, and he answered? You're getting my answer by looking at the lineup.

We issued a challenge to him and he's accepted it. Now he's working through it and dealing with it -- and doing very well.

As far as production goes, it's at the bottom of his baseball card. But as far as leadership and the way he's rallied the team, it's at the top. This year has challenged him in a lot of different areas, made him stretch and grow in a lot of places and I think he has handled it well.

It will be a good challenge for us.

The problem you have there, and it's from my learning experience, is when you have one and you're not really sure of him, you keep using him -- and he keeps not getting the job done. You think, 'This is the right move.' Unfortunately, I've fallen into that trap.