Hire Jim Essian

The Cubs are currently in the process of securing a replacement for the late Ron Santo, and several candidates have emerged. Before I get to nakedly campaigning for good ole� #53, let�s first explore the �other� candidates. Though Pat Hughes� Ford Frick-worthiness for Cooperstown was likely cemented thanks to the visibility he enjoyed mostly setting up Santo for fifteen years, ... Read More

Of all the obscure former Cubs who were once traded for Kyle Farnsworth and Steve Trachsel, and who you didn't even realize were reacquired by the Cubs, Scott Moore is that specific one. And he's actually the subject of a question in this week's Muskbox. Scott. Moore. I'm stunned the Cubs would spend $10 million on Pena and ... Read More

Just last night, I was discussing the absurdity of the Mark DeRosa love that even the San Francisco Giants had for the scruffy utility dope. I was amazed at how the Giants pretended he was instrumental to their World Series Championship despite the fact that he played only 26 games and had only 93 at-bats with them in 2010. ... Read More

Sorry for the late Roundup. Thanks a LOT for dying, Ron Santo. Number ten will be missed. Not as much as your BROWSing tips would be if they suddenly disappeared, though. I regretted not having more time to celebrate Theriot's departure, but Dolan took care if it, anyhow. Bull Durham is awful, but I like how Rob Neyer's list ... Read More

I've poked a lot of fun at Ron Santo over the years, and I don't regret it. As a broadcaster, he went from homeristic and bad to whiny and totally unlistenable. His Hall of Fame self-campaign was shameless and embarrassing. He gave the fans who believe in a curse an excuse to continue saying stupid things like, ... Read More

The headline of today's Chicago Breaking Sports article is "Cubs 'surprised' by Big Ten rule changes." (HT: Ned Ryerson) Well, no shit. The Rickettses are surprised when the sun comes up in the east every day. They're surprised that Milton Bradley was an asshole. They're surprised that the state of Illinois laughed at their bid ... Read More

If you're a former player for the Chicago Cubs, it's been a rough week for you. Unless you're Ivan DeJesus or Bob Dernier. Or Mike Fontenot and Shawon Dunston. But if you were one of the most powerful offensive players in the history of Cub baseball, you were either unceremoniously dumped, or no one craved the bat ... Read More

Hey there, gang! It's time for another Comment of the Week. This one is Santo-esque in its brilliance. Blueslacker brings us this gem from the Ronversation post: You failed to meet your contractual obligation to mention at least once what an injustice Ronnie�s exclusion from the HOF is. Way to drop the ball. Why do we ALWAYS drop the ball ... Read More

We've always had our fun with Ron Santo at HJE. Or, actually, we've always been infuriated with the Cubs' bumbling radio color commentator. So it only makes sense to put the second-most-annoying Cubs mascot named Ron in a series of conversations with me. Our first conversation takes place at the grocery store. ME: Great idea to come ... Read More

You're so predictable, Cubs fans. More predictable than the Cubs losing the first two games of every single series. More predictable than Randy Wells getting lit up in the first inning. More predictable than Ryan Theriot swinging at a first pitch. The five people who are still watching Cub baseball all wrote in to the Muskbox ... Read More