The Cubs front office shake up continued Friday as the team released two bat boys and a bat girl, citing “differing philosophies on the direction the team was headed.”
Joe Maddon reportedly delivered the news to the three staffers personally, pulling them out of their classes at nearby elementary schools Friday morning for a meeting in the principal’s office.
“It’s just … not … fair,” said one of the terminated bat boys, 11-year-old Jimmy Cole Lakeview, while fighting back tears. “I tried so hard to do everything right. They act like it’s my fault they could only score on homers in the NLCS and haven’t done anything with runners in scoring position for their last 90 at-bats.”
Maddon had previously issued a vote of confidence for all the team’s bat boys and bat girls but said he “purposely left a false impression” when asked to answer what he called “an awkward question.”
“Look, these are the livelihoods of pre-teens we’re talking about here,” said Maddon. “Sure, I knew we’d be firing some of them but said I wanted them all back.”
Added Maddon: “I was in a tough situation. There’s really no other way to describe it. Except maybe as a lie. I guess you could say that I lied.”
Idea suggested by Heckler reader Paul H.
