So what is the point of firing a guy that did a good job for 20 years?

Is Theo anti-oldguy?


The Cubs fired longtime traveling secretary Jimmy Bank, continuing the change of direction in the organization’s inner office.

Bank, who spent 20 years in the organization, was notified of the decision Thursday. He was one of the longest-running traveling secretaries in the sport, having spent four years with Oakland and 10 with Milwaukee before joining the Cubs.

“I had 34 years in the game, and consider myself extremely fortunate and privileged to have been in such a great business,” Bank said Sunday. “It was an honor to be one of 30 (traveling secretaries) in that close-knit fraternity, because we all know what baseball means to this country.”

As traveling secretary, Bank dealt with charters, hotels, tickets and assorted other day-to-day issues. He began receiving texts and calls from former players and Cubs employees, including Nomar Garciaparra, immediately after the news spread.

Bank said he was appreciative of the Cubs for the opportunity and wished them well in the future.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

That's not one word...

...

...anyone wondering how the conversation between Theo and Jimmy went?

"So, Jimmy, we're gonna have to let you go. We appreciate everything you've done for us and wish you nothing but the best in the future. Jimmy is gonna take care of your travel...oh, wait...oops."

Jimmy, you always want things both ways. Clean house, but don't get rid of long time guys. Rebuild but sign guys off the scrap heap each year.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

C'mon,what harm does it do to keep the guy who books Hotels? That's just cold,man!

As far as the team goes,let's see what happens for next season. Are you fine with two 100 loss seasons? That's OK to you?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

We have no idea the whole story here. Maybe the dude was bad at his job. Maybe he was an asshole. I just do not get why people bitch at everything. I trust Theo & Co right now to do the best job possible. If that means axing a long time guy, then so be it.

I do not want another 100 loss season, but I am prepared for next season to not be much better. It is going to take time to rebuild this thing the right way. I am content letting that play out. I would rather them take their time and do it right than waste money by signing scrap heap guys that are not part of the big picture.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

The guy was a Travelling Secretary.

Outside of a Seinfeld episode, what does such a person actually do in a modern organization?

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

Jimmy isnt happy unless he can bitch about Theo. Theo could deliver a brinks truck and park it in Pasta's garage and he would complain it was too loud.

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Jimmy, similiar to the Dennis Saved hiring, you'll look back on this move as the turning point towards multiple championships


This team has been a quality travelling secretary away for decades

He only kept his job because Harry thought it was funny how Asian he was

What a ridiculous thread. So you know absolutely nothing about this guy, but have the conviction to draw a conclusion that Theo might be an asshole for firing him? Next, I'd love to hear thoughts on the election.

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Team Cutler.

Well, regardless of whether it's the Cubs or any other corporation, I think anyone should have an issue with a twenty year employee being fired if he hasn't committed a crime.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

huh? what exactly is the cutoff point where the only time you can be fired is if you have committed a crime? if that is the way it works i can relax a little about job performance.

Theo's bringing in an assistant traveling secretary from back east who uses advanced reservation metrics to capitalize on inefficiencies in the hospitality market. Got his MBA from Dartmouth. Big. Boy. Booking.

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Do you really think a guy who has done his job well enough to be there ten or twenty years suddenly starts slipping in performance?

The biggest problem we have in this country is that the middle class guy thinks he has more in common with his overlord than he does with the homeless guy in the street.

We see such a situation in different ways. You see it as a likely problem with the employee. I see it as a rich guy fucking with a poor guy at worst and a rich guy trying to blame a poor guy for his own mistakes at best. Why is it so easy to reflexively take the side of the corporate master?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

After 20 years of doing the same job, I think it's perfectly reasonable that a certain amount of apathy sets it and you don't give it the same effort that you once did. Is it enough for this guy to be fired? We will never know the whole story, but to speculate that Theo fired him to bring in his own guy is just as speculative as assuming this guy does great work.

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Team Cutler.

It's the difference between staying at the Pfister v Intercontinental when staying in Milwaukee.

Pfister, the classic facility, but very old.

Intercontinental, all new slick, nice little niteclub

Jimmy Banks made the wrong choice.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

That may be, but I think responsibility lies with his supervisors to keep him motivated and moving forward. If they can't, maybe they're the problem. Corporations like to pay lip service to loyalty but they'll replace a high-priced twenty year man with a cheap 23 year old as quick as they can. Obviously, I'm not saying that was the case in this situation, I'm talking about a larger viewpoint.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

it is not unusual for an employee to slip into complacency or for job performance to decrease. it is hardly an unusual phenomenon. what is unusual is to see an employer do something about it.

who knows, the guy may have been awesome at this job and is getting screwed, he may have sucked at his job and deserved it. i just didnt realize a team traveling secretary was a lifetime appointment.

The point is, if he sucked at his job, how did he get twenty years in?

Most jobs aren't lifetime appointments. People work at the pleasure of their employers. There's a balance to that. It's called a Union.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Come on JORR, lots of people make it through a company for a long time that cannot do their job. In fact at every job I have had I could point to a guy that has a long tenure that really could not do their job. But they always found a way to work the system or they kissed the right ass, etc.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

There is always somebody here to take the opposite view no matter the subject. I'll stick with the theory of a rich exec out of touch with the common man forcing his will on a harmless old timer.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Only the Cubs could have a thread about a damn secretary getting fired.

Who cares?

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My point is that none of us know the story here. Some of you just like to bitch about anything Theo does. Why do you assume that Theo is the one being an ass? You really think a guy running something as big as the Cubs is just going to go out of his way to be an ass to a traveling secretary?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Fire em all, total house cleaning is needed..the guy had a gravy ob for a long time...

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wow. i agree with frank.

Don't you see, it is day baseball that makes them lose at home and the traveling secretary that makes them lose on the road? If they could only find the statistically optimal mix of player racial makeup, temperatures, time of day to start a game, etc. then the curse will be broken.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

It would be nice if something came out on this. Guys like Grobstein speak highly of the guy but that doesn't mean much of course. If it turns out to strictly be a cost cutting measure, that is pretty cold. If the guy simply was only average in his job and the new person is an upgrade, then so be it.

What is wrong with bringing in your people when you take over? that is what Epstein is being paid handsomely for..remove the current clowns and bring in his people..top to bottom.

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Sure, but shouldnt the blame really be on those who allowed that to occur?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Sure, but if this is the reason here, then those people are not around. Should Theo just sit back and do nothing then?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."