Hurst, Bruce V.
Baseball
b. March 24, 1958, St. George, UT
A clever left-handed pitcher, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Hurst signed with the AL's Boston Red Sox organization in 1976 and had brief stints with the team in 1980 and 1981. He became full-time starter in 1982, when he struggled to a 3-7 record with a 5.77 ERA.
Never blessed with a great fastball despite his size, Hurst developed a slow curve and change-up. Combined with excellent control, those pitches made him a consistent winner from 1986 on, but recurring physical problems prevented him from being a 20-game winner. The closest he came was an 18-6 record in 1988.
Hurst's best season was 1988, when he had an 18-6 record with a 3.66 ERA. He starred in post-season play in 1986, the Red Sox pennant season, going 1-0 in the league championship series and 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in the World Series, but Boston lost to the New York Mets in seven games.
With the Red Sox ahead, 3 games to 2, and holding a lead in the sixth game, sportswriters voted Hurst the most valuable player of the World Series. But the Mets came back to win the game and the series, and Ray Knight won the award.
After the 1988 season, Hurst became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the NL's San Diego Padres. He led the league with 10 complete games in 1989 and with 4 shutouts in 1990. San Diego traded him to the expansion Colorado Rockies during the 1993 season, but Hurst spent most of that year on the disabled list. He pitched only briefly with the Texas Rangers in 1994 before retiring because of continuing arm problems.