When the Pirates win, they dance.
At least that’s been the case in the 2018 season, when post-game dancing celebrations, largely publicized on outfielder Gregory Polanco’s Instagram page.
With the Pirates and Cubs embroiled in a three-day long feud through the media over how far Javier Baez flipped his bat after he popped out on Wednesday, it’s a bit of an interesting dichotomy.
But Pirates manager Clint Hurdle doesn’t see a problem with the Pirates celebrating their victories in the clubhouse in whatever fashion they see fit.
“The more music, the better off you’re going,” Hurdle said. “I enjoy it because most of the time, I get people in here and they go, ‘Don’t you have a volume control?’ No, I don’t. I’ve got nothing. I don’t even know how to work (the TV in my office), let alone the music out there. I enjoy it.”
Hurdle said that in fact, he doesn’t mind if the Pirates do what they want in the clubhouse, win or lose.
“That’s their domain. There’s actually a time when I got some players together after we’d played poorly for a while and said, ‘If you guys want to put some music on after a loss, you’re not going to flip me out. That’s your call. I want you to know.’ Sometimes, there’s a stigma that you can’t play music. That’s really not the deal. ”
After the series-clinching victory over the Cubs in Chicago on Thursday, base coaches Joey Cora and Omar Moreno joined in, too.
Time to dance!
In many ways, that makes Hurdle the lone holdout. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t celebrate. He just does it in his own way.
“I believe the coaches might,” he said. “I know we don’t do it in (my office). I wait until I get home.”
So when Hurdle gets in a celebratory mood, what’s on Hurdle’s playlist?
“I’ve got all kinds of things,” he said. “Right now, I’m listening from Little Village. 1992. John Hiatt, Ry Cooder. That’s a big one on the playlist right now. I had to drop back to 1992. Look it up. It’s fantastic.”
If you haven’t heard of Little Village, you’re probably not alone. Their lone album was No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 200 in 1992. Here’s a sampling for the unfamiliar:
https://youtu.be/JnnSp0GO2wo
That’s certainly a different vibe than that of the players, but it’s celebratory nonetheless. That’s been a big theme of the early part of the 2018 season for the Pirates. Sitting at 9-4 with a 2.5-game lead in the NL Central has the team in a pretty good place, and that’s made for lots of music.
“That’s one of the things I try and ask the visiting clubhouse manager Kevin Conrad, ‘No music, right?’” Hurdle said.
So far, there’s been a lot more music and more dancing from the Pirates than their opponents.