File this one under "things I never thought I'd see." Ricky Henderson, one of the craziest and most talented players to ever bring joy to millions of baseball fans everywhere, has been hired as the hitting coach for the New York Mets. I can just invision some of his tips for his players:

• "Ricky thinks you need to hit like Ricky."
• "When you hit the ball hard, you gotta do it like Ricky does. Even if you got a shot for third, stop at second base 'cuz Ricky can't steal third base from third base, you dig?"
• "Ricky may be in his late 40's, but he's a man who feels like he's in his late 30's and he could be doin' your job better than you!"

And so-on. I realize this has nothing to do with our beloved Cubbies, it's just that Ricky is so crazy that it's hilarious that he'll be instructing Major League hitters. Awesome.

In Cubs news, it turns out that the Cubs have been the hottest team in the NL since June 3. There might be a lot of reasons for this improvement, but Paul Sullivan suggests it may have been the fact that, after a meeting, Hendry and Lou made some changes in the team. They traded Barrett, benched Jacque and Cesar, gave Fontenot and Marmol roles on the team, and they banned Sammy's boombox from the clubhouse. (It was too weird that it was still blaring salsa music three years after Sammy left town; why did he have to put it on repeat before he left?)

The Cubs play tonight, and I'm sure we'll have some stuff for you before game time. Be sure to check back; also go back and read the Sloth's writing about Barry, and have a good day. Go Cubs!