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Steep fall for Hurdle not unprecedented

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By John Schlegel / MLB.com

05/30/09 3:06 AM ET

The short time span between the Rockies reaching the 2007 World Series and Clint Hurdle being dismissed as their manager Friday certainly isn't unprecedented in baseball or other pro sports.

One season and 46 games of the next one would go in the books between Hurdle being a Fall Classic hero and being out of a job. But a look at recent years in baseball, basketball and football shows it's no lock that a manager or coach who takes his team to a title will be around for years to come.

Of the 60 teams in the finals of those three sports since 1999, there have been 19 that changed their manager or coach within three seasons of vying for a title, and 16 that have done so within two seasons.

In baseball, winning the World Series definitely has its benefits. The past four winning managers (counting Terry Francona of the Red Sox once for his two championships) and five of the past six are still filling out lineup cards for those clubs. Since 1999, only Arizona's Bob Brenly was dismissed within three years of winning it all. Joe Torre left the Yankees seven seasons after their last title and four years after their last World Series berth, and Jack McKeon retired two seasons after his Marlins won the 2003 Series.

However, reaching the World Series but not winning it (a la Hurdle) has not translated to a world of job security.

Of the past 10 managers whose teams lost the World Series, four of them did not enter a third season following the league championship:

• Bobby Valentine was dismissed by the Mets following the 2002 season, two years after leading them against the Yankees in the Subway Series.

• Dusty Baker didn't manage another game for the Giants after taking Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and the Giants to the 2002 World Series, losing in seven to the Angels. Baker landed with the Cubs, but only after it was clear he and the Giants were not going to come to terms.

• Phil Garner was the toast of Houston after swooping in midseason in 2005 to lead the Astros to their first World Series, but he was gone by Aug. 27, 2007 -- one season and 131 games into the next.

• Hurdle's post-Series tenure lasted only slightly shorter than Garner's, gone before June of the second season out from glory.

In each case, job security like Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa enjoy was not part of the story. Valentine and Baker had been under fire for quite some time, and Garner and Hurdle both were in tenuous situations leading up to the end of their runs.

Meanwhile, runners-up Cox (2000 Braves), La Russa (2004 Cardinals), Jim Leyland (2006 Tigers) and Joe Maddon (2008 Rays) remain with their clubs to this day.

In the NFL, two coaches retired right after winning the Super Bowl (Dick Vermeil of the 2000 Rams and Bill Cowher of the 2006 Steelers), and another did so two seasons later (Tony Dungy of the 2007 Colts). Among runners-up, the Giants' Jim Fassel coached three seasons before being dismissed, and the Raiders' Bill Callahan coached for one more.

And in the NBA, Larry Brown jumped to the Knicks one season after winning with the Pistons, the Lakers' Phil Jackson took a year hiatus from the Lakers and Larry Bird (Pacers, runner-up) and Pat Riley (Heat) both stepped aside. On the flip side, Byron Scott was dismissed by the Nets two seasons after back-to-back Finals appearances, and Avery Johnson was let go by the Mavericks two years after a Finals appearance, making the playoffs each of the three years.

John Schlegel is a national reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, The Grind. Corey Gottlieb contributed research to this article. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.