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Rockies' Hurdle Keeps Game In Perspective

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By TIM DAHLBERG, The Associated Press

Published: October 13, 2007

PHOENIX - It was late in August, a time before the Colorado Rockies began their magical run and a time when fans still were debating whether their manager was worth his latest contract extension.

The Rockies were at home, and the playoffs seemed another world away. On this Monday night, Colorado would lose in 11 innings to Pittsburgh.

The mood in the locker room was somber, and Manager Clint Hurdle seemed irritable. He cut his postgame news short when he was repeatedly quizzed about whether the loss was 'debilitating' or 'crushing.'

'It was just kind of funny at that time because that day I had gotten a call from a mother at Children's Hospital that wanted me to come by and see her son before he was going to pass that night,' Hurdle said. 'That was debilitating.'

And crushing?

'Crushing was when a doctor told me my little girl was born with a birth defect.'

Madison Hurdle is now 5 and her father's regular date on their 'Saturdays at Starbucks' trips. She suffers from seizures and a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi Syndrome that causes low muscle tone, morbid obesity and other problems.

Hurdle is a national spokesman for Prader-Willi Syndrome, which, though little known, affects one in every 12,000 to 15,000 people. He's also a frequent visitor to the Children's Hospital in Denver, where his daughter has been treated for Prader-Willi.

As manager of the hottest team in baseball, he hopes his team's success will bring some attention to the disorder. But he had another reason for bringing it up just a few hours before the Rockies met Arizona in the first game of the NLCS.

This was about perspective, the kind that's often hard to find in this sports-crazed country. Hurdle was making clear this wasn't life, and it wasn't death.

'Baseball is a game. And I've learned that,' he said. 'I've embraced that, and I've tried to share that with my players. It's a great challenge and a great opportunity for a lot of things. But let's keep it a game.'

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