Cubs manager David Ross left camp for a day to attend Clint Hurdle’s “Manager’s Cliché College,” a training school for new MLB managers which teaches proper responses to questions from beat reporters and fans.
The Cubs first-year skipper returned with a whole new perspective on addressing the press.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” said Ross. “You’ve got to play one game at a time.”
Asked by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times what was accomplished by attending the session, “Grandpa Rossy” responded, “That’s a great question, Gordon. Clint’s training course will help me to manage within myself and to learn how to overcome adversity.”
Ross told writers that Hurdle, let go by the Pirates after eight years as manager, was a master at making excuses and masking his managerial blunders through the use of the “cliché system.”
“Clint was the best at it,” the former catcher said. “When Starling Marte continually lallygagged getting his sorry ass to first base, Hurdle vociferously defended him saying, ‘He always gives 110 percent,’ or ‘His heart and soul is with this ball club,” or ‘He’s the consummate team player.’”
Asked what he would tell baseball writers if the Cubs got off to a poor start in 2020, Ross said, “I will tell them that I will be hiring Clint Hurdle as my bench coach.”
