College of Coaches

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The College of Coaches was an unorthodox strategy employed by the Chicago Cubs in 1961 and 1962. After the Cubs finished 60-94 in 1960, their eighth straight losing season and 14th consecutive nonwinning campaign, Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley announced in December 1960 that the Cubs would use four coaches as managers, rather than the traditional one-manager approach. Said Wrigley at the time, "Managers are expendable. I believe there should be relief managers just like relief pitchers."

The Cubs front office argued that under this system, players would be exposed to the wisdom and experience of four coaches instead of just one field manager. However, in practice, players were often confused by this system. It was not always clear which coach would be in charge for a given game, and occasionally the various coaches were at odds with each other. The Cubs would be managed by four different men in 1961 and three more in 1962 — two were holdovers from 1961 — and all seven had losing records, despite managing teams with future Hall of Famers Billy Williams and Ernie Banks.

In 1961, the Cubs finished with a 64-90 record, and took seventh in the National League, which was actually a slight improvement over the previous year. However, the 1962 season brought the worst record in Cubs history, as they finished 59-103, in ninth place in the expanded NL. Only the first-year New York Mets, who lost a major league record 120 games, finished lower. Chicago finished 6 games behind the expansion Houston Colt .45s in the standings.

The next year, Wrigley designated one member of the College, Bob Kennedy, to be the team's sole manager. Under Kennedy, the Cubs went 82-80 in 1963, their first winning record since 1946. However, they would sink back toward the bottom of the NL standings the next season.

The College of Coaches, which has never been attempted by another Major League Baseball team, remains widely ridiculed and is often cited as a prime example of the ineptitude of the Cubs' front office over the past 60 years.