Hire Jim Essian

There's a reason I like to pick on Ryan Theriot. That reason is because he's not a very good hitter. In case you were fooled by Theriot's "awesome" start to the season, when he put up a .337/.370/.386 line good for a .757 OPS, you probably weren't fooled by his May. Because it was awful. Theriot just finished ... Read More

Folks, we have reached a new low, even by Muskbox standards. Someone actually took the time to write in and complain about Starlin Castro. Starlin is currently sporting an excellent .328/.386/.469 line. As Dolan recently pointed out, he has reached base at least once in every single game he's played. All seventeen of them. He ... Read More

If you were wondering why Jeff Baker had several consecutive days off at the end of April and beginning of May, Son of Jim Essian Edelweiss may have discovered the answer. By the way, there is a reason Baker has not been starting until today. I know someone in the Cubs organization, who informed me last week that Baker and two ... Read More

I kid you not. The new Muskbox image was barely altered. Yes, there was a giant amount of white space where the HJE logo now sits. I like to imagine when Carrie saw it, she let out an exasperated sigh. Anyhow, I love it, I have adopted it, and I am embracing it. I completely ... 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

Yesterday was a glorious day if you're a Cubs fan, a Notre Dame fan, and a fan of Chip Caray getting leprosy. I am all three of those. Charlie Weis' removal as the head football coach at Notre Dame was expected, but Chip Caray's dismissal from TBS was a pleasant surprise (thanks to all who alerted me to ... 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

Anyone still paying attention to this team is probably aware that, after a very slow start, Jeff Baker has done a pretty incredible job with the Cubs this year. The second baseman has put up a .329/.380/.476 line in a Cubs uniform, with 19 RBIs in 170 at-bats, to boot. Last night, he had an incredible at-bat against ... Read More

I apologize for interrupting your regularly-scheduled Friday HJE, but this is just too stupid to ignore. Last night, Derrek Lee was on second base when Jeff Baker hit a two-strike, two-out home run off of closer Brian Wilson to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead over the Giants. During the dugout celebration, Angel Guzman slapped Lee on the ... 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