Happy Me Day, Gang!On this date in 1991, Cubs General Manager Jim Frey promoted AAA manager Jim Essian to replace interim manager Joe Altobelli, who had replaced manager Don Zimmer, who had been fired the day earlier.

To celebrate, why not do any or all of the following?


  1. Celebrate Coach Essian’s 59-63 end to the 1991 season by taking 5,963 shots at 11:37, which is the .484 mark of the day, Coach Essian’s managerial winning percentage.
  2. Grow out your mustache.
  3. Get thrown out of your kid’s Little League game for charging the mound from the third-base coaches’ box.
  4. Beat up Kirk Gibson.
  5. Hit your first Major League home run off Hall-of-Famer Ferguson Jenkins. He’s old now. You might have a chance.
  6. For one day, make everyone call you “Skip.”
  7. Ask Coach Essian’s daughter-in-law to be your friend. (Don’t really do this, you stalkers, but at least check out her photography.)
  8. Check out Jim Essian Jr.’s blog. If you join his fan club, Heather may or may not talk to you. Most likely not.
  9. Go thank TJ Brown for not only the idea for Hire Jim Essian!, but also for reminding me that today is Coach Essian’s big day. While you’re over there, harass him into writing more often.
  10. Check out the fine Jim Essian merchandise available at eBay, including these autographed ticket stubs. Jim Essian didn’t Hancock these tickets, John Hancock Essianed the Declaration.


    There are also quite a few Jim Essian baseball cards available on eBay.
  11. Check out the fine Jim Essian merchandise at Hire Jim Essian! Fathers’ Day is right around the corner, you know.

My congratulations to Coach Essian on the sixteenth anniversary of his promotion to manager of the Chicago Cubs. Here’s to hoping he’s managing again before his seventeenth anniversary!