Hire Jim Essian

I'm getting old, so I can't remember if I announced it here or on Twitter, but if you hadn't heard yet, Jim Essian was hired away from the Cubs. You snooze, you lose, Epstein. He'll be the manager of the Fort Worth Cats this upcoming season. (HT: MGRW) ROAD TRIP!

Like a fine wine, Skip. Happy 61st birthday to the patron saint of HJE.

Considering that everyone has been talking about Mike Quade's replacement since the hiring of Theo Epstein, it was really no surprise that today the Cubs announced that the bald incompetent won't be back next season. (HT: Pre) Quade did more than enough goofy, nigh-indefensible things this season to merit his dismissal, and his reign as Cubs manager was ... Read More

It's going to be a sporadic week for posting, as I unexpectedly have to head out of town on Wednesday. But what sort of Hire Jim Essian would this be if I didn't acknowledge August 29 as the 42nd anniversary of the day the Philadelphia Phillies took a chance on an Armenian lad named James Sarkis Essian? On ... Read More

The Comment of the Week comes from the Muskbox, which is a gold mine of comments from not only stupid questioners, but also the HJE faithful. This week's comment has a little of both! In regards to one of the Muskbox questions, Eric commented as follows: "I was at the Cubs game Aug. 9 in Pittsburgh. In the first inning, Darwin ... Read More

Yo, Washington! I hear you need a new manager. (HT: Martin) So, your old one was such a dope that he got your team back to .500 baseball with a nice little run, then had no idea what to do with himself, panicked, and made the worst bluff in managerial history. Jim Riggleman is the guy ... Read More

Yesterday marked the- Let's just say the, uh, 34th anniversary of the birth of HJE's patron saint, James Sarkis Essian, Jr. As if you weren't hungover enough from your New Year's Eve celebrations, I can only assume that they carried over into the celebration of Skip's birthday. HJE extends its warmest belated birthday wishes to Skip. ... Read More

Hey, gang! Skip here again. I understand that the Cubs officially took my name out of the running for their managerial opening and named Mike Quade the manager for 2011 and beyond. I, for one, would like to extend the most heartfelt congratulations to Mike. It must be nice to have that "interim" tag taken off the front ... Read More

So, Mike Quade is off to a pretty good start as interim manager. He's won three games in a row and swept the mighty Nationals. Wow! I'm sooooooo impressed. What were the Nationals? 53-71 going into Monday night's game? And they had to face whom? Livan Hernandez? Hell, that guy was practically ... Read More

Good afternoon, Cubs fans! We take a brief break from HJE's active campaign for me to be the Chicago Cubs' next manager to look back on one of the highlights of the Jim Essian era. It's the 19th anniversary of my win over Lou Piniella and his Cincinnati Reds that I chronicled well enough for you three years ago. Today's even ... Read More