Hire Jim Essian

If Mike Quade wanted to endear himself to Cubs fans, perhaps he should have avoided using the same unoriginal rallying cry that the infuriating Dusty Baker used during the 2003 season. "Why not us?" asked Quade at his introductory press conference. Well, Mike, I think I can take a crack at that. You don't have a first ... 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

The joke is on me. I sat through that disaster of a game last night along with a bunch of other idiots. I don't want to relive the nightmare in my head, but I do want to know from you guys. Is this team better or worse than you expected? I think I said on Kaplan's ... Read More

It's early in the season, but it's never too early to fire up the HATEWAGON. The Cub bullpen is, basically, split down the middle. GOOD: SeanBearPig Marshall, James Russell, Esmailin Caridad, Carlos Marmol GODAWFUL: John Grabow, Jeff Samardzija, Justin Berg They blew a late lead against the Braves the other night, and we won't even mention the Opening Day meltdown ... Read More

When we last left the Muskbox, she was spinning cliches, raising Ed Hartig from the dead, and boring us with contract information. This week's Muskbox goes Milton Bradley crazy, continues to pound the non-issue of Spring Training relocation, and sets a record for the longest Muskbox this once-innocent earth has ever known. After the 2008 season, there was an argument ... Read More

Since "everyone" on the "staff" at HJE has managed to achieve social perfection, "we" decided to (not really) ask for the New Year's resolutions of your favorite Cubs (including new Cub Marlon Byrd). And your least favorite Cubs. And some other people. Jim Hendry: Sign a player to a deal for fewer than three years that doesn't include ... Read More

Did anyone catch the pregame show before World Series Game 5 last night? Jorge Posada was being interviewed, and he said, "It's been since 2000 since we won the World Series, so I think the fans have waited long enough." Fuck you. With that, here's this week's Muskbox. How much influence does the Ricketts family have on the ... Read More

At the Mathematical Elimination Party this Saturday, one of my friends told me she was rooting for the Cardinals to win the World Series. "Why the hell would you do that?" I asked. "Because you have to root for the NL Central when your team gets eliminated," she replied. "Why the hell would I do that?" I ... Read More

This is apparently the time of year when most of your favorite Cubs blogs have abandoned talking about baseball for talking about football, and I can hardly blame them. But HJE is going to keep covering baseball, dammit. Look, after this week's sweep of the Pirates, we're only- Let's see- STILL ELEVEN AND A HALF GAMES ... Read More

No, not really. It's just our old pal David Kaplan at it again! Russ Kelly pointed out Kaplan's latest Cubs fix entitled, "The Cubs Need to Sign the #1 Free Agent This Winter." Hey, give Kaplan some credit for the headline. There isn't a single exclamation point in the entire thing. Sorry about the infrequency ... Read More