College of Coaches - Stability and One Winning Season (1963-1965)

Stability and One Winning Season (1963-1965)

Before the 1963 season, Wrigley designated one member of the College, Bob Kennedy, as sole head coach for at least two seasons. As early as the 1961-62 offseason, however, Wrigley had hinted that the Cubs might have a single head coach for an entire season.

At the same time, Wrigley borrowed from American universities the concept of hiring an "athletic director" to coordinate the system. He hired Bob Whitlow, a former United States Air Force colonel with no baseball experience, to fill the post, although team vice president John Holland remained the club's nominal general manager. Whitlow was disliked by the players for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that he decided to improve the batters' background at Wrigley Field by constructing a fence atop the wall in straightaway center field and allowed the ivy to twine its way up, thus forming a solid background of ivy. This resulted in several would-be home run balls staying in play. To the minds of players, sportswriters and fans, this was proof that Whitlow was in over his head.

Under Kennedy, the Cubs finished 82-80 in 1963—their first winning season since 1946. This led Kennedy to assert a more traditional managerial authority over the team, though he still retained the title of head coach. However, they would sink back toward the bottom of the NL standings the next season.

Kennedy was replaced by Klein in June 1965, who finished out the season. In November, Wrigley hired Leo Durocher to replace Klein. At his press conference, Durocher ended the College of Coaches experiment by declaring himself manager, with Wrigley's blessing.

The College of Coaches, which has never been attempted by another Major League Baseball team, remains widely ridiculed to this day. Despite having several Cubs legends and fan favorites in the lineup during this time—such as Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo--the Cubs never finished higher than seventh during the four-year experiment, and were never fewer than 17 games out of first.

However, the concept of a "system" throughout all levels of the farm clubs, and of a significant number of specialty coaches, pioneered by the Brooklyn Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, and other teams before the College of Coaches was created, is used by every major league club today.