November 21, 2011 Sun-Times Dale Sveum Puts Pedal To
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November 21, 2011 Sun-Times Dale Sveum puts pedal to mettle By Gordon Wittenmyer Who? That was pretty much the reaction 24 years ago by most baseball fans when a No. 9-hitting shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers hit 25 home runs with 95 RBI in his first full season in the big leagues. Through pain and misfortune, Dale Sveum hit only 37 home runs in the next 10 years. Now here we are asking the same question about the Cubs’ third manager in 15 months. The fact is, Mike Quade’s replacement wears most of the answer on his sleeve — and under his sleeve in ink. Three of the five tattoos on his arms honor his father, George, an ex-Marine who lost a fight with cancer in 1992. A fourth tattoo, an American eagle representing U.S. troops, echoes, again, of his father. One shows a rattlesnake entwined with something his father used to say: ‘‘Pain is inevitable. Suffering is just an option.’’ That tattoo might course deeper in him than any other. It rang true after he rebuilt his career following a devastating leg injury the year after his breakout season. It rang true after he watched his father fight only a couple years later. ‘‘It’s just a fact. You’re going to go through pain,’’ said Sveum, who turns 48 on Wednesday. ‘‘Whether it’s physical, whether it’s mental. Suffering is your option. You don’t have to suffer. It’s your own option if you want to whine and cry about it.’’ He got that tattoo soon after his father’s death. If anyone doubts the source of Sveum’s impatience with poor effort or unprepared players that he expressed Friday, he’ll roll up his sleeve and spell it out for you. ‘‘I think he’s extremely tough,’’ said Cubs president Theo Epstein, who percolated the idea of Sveum as a big-league manager in 2004, when they were with the Boston Red Sox. ‘‘You don’t shatter your leg and then have a 12-year big-league career by being soft.’’ It happened in 1988, when Sveum went back for a pop-up and collided with left fielder Darryl Hamilton, gruesomely breaking his shin. In November, when the leg was healing improperly, Sveum had to have it surgically re-broken. He missed the entire 1989 season. He was never the same player again. But if Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer are right about his ability and mettle as a manager, those characteristics might have started then. By the time he finished a career that took him through seven stops, Sveum was soaking up everything he could from coaches and managers, including Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Lou Piniella. As the Red Sox’ third-base coach, Sveum handled hostile public scrutiny without pause or whimper. Despite their familiarity with Sveum, the Cubs’ bosses still were blown away by his interview. ‘‘Dale provided extremely well thought-out answers to nuanced baseball questions instantaneously, answer after answer after answer,’’ Epstein said. ‘‘We came up for air and took a break and looked at each other and said, ‘Wow.’ This was not the type of thing you could fake.’’ That’s not to say he doesn’t know his limitations. That fifth tattoo reminds him of his wife of more than 25 years, Darlene — and their anniversary he has been known to forget. ‘‘I said, what the heck, I’ll just tattoo it on my wrist,’’ Sveum said. -- Sun-Times Dale Sveum is all about respect By Rick Morrissey OK, not bad. This could work. I don’t know what I was expecting from new Cubs manager Dale Sveum. Actually, that’s not true. I was expecting the sorts of things you might expect to hear from somebody named Dale Sveum. Shame on me. Or Swaim on me. The last name is pronounced ‘‘Swaim,’’ and the man behind the name made enough tough, pointed pronouncements at his introductory news conference Friday to make you wonder where this guy has been all these years. And why couldn’t he have been here earlier to cap Carlos Zambrano, like Red Adair capping an oil-well blowout? The stiff wind that blew around Wrigley Field on Friday was no match for the fresh air that the new Cubs skipper brought with him from Milwaukee, where he had been the hitting coach for the Brewers. It was the fresh air of honesty. He said things that should have been said a long time ago. Let’s not be overly dramatic here, but he said some things that managers could have and should have said often in the last 103 years. He said the Cubs don’t play hard enough. ‘‘A change in culture is .ԜԜ.ԜԜ. getting guys to be accountable and making sure that they understand that this isn’t OK,’’ he said. ‘‘Losing isn’t OK. Not running a ball out isn’t OK. It’s not acceptable. “ԜԜ.ԜԜ.ԜԜ. You’re disrespecting the owner. .ԜԜ.ԜԜ. You’re disrespecting me. You’re disrespecting the other 24 guys on the team.’’ Hard work and effort If only the Cubs could have arranged for the dearly departed Aramis Ramirez to take in the news conference via Skype. For any new man in charge, the easiest thing in the world is to come in, be tactful and offer some empty plaudits about whoever came before. On Friday, Sveum could have stroked any Cubs who will be back with the team in 2012 after a 71-91 season. He did not. ‘‘This organization’s got to change as far as how the game is played on an every-day basis,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s got to go in another direction, to play this game like it’s the seventh game of the World Series every day.’’ The Cubs wouldn’t know much about that. The only time they have played in the seventh game of a World Series was in 1945, when they lost to the Detroit Tigers. But we get it: Play the game hard. ‘‘The worst thing that happens in baseball is when we look over and [say], ‘That team, man, they’re dogs. Nobody plays hard over there,’ԜԜ’’ Sveum said. ‘‘They might be good, but you don’t respect them. You want to be respected for the way you play. You want to have catchers fear you when you’re coming into home plate, not just taking the easy way out and sliding.’’ I don’t know about the whole respect-the-game thing. The image I always get is of people kneeling, hushed, in front of one of Tony La Russa’s marked-up lineup cards. But the Cubs played a brand of baseball last season that was an insult to fielding. Defense — making accurate throws, throwing to the right base, cutting down on errors — has to do with practice and repetition. In other words, hard work and effort. For years, Cubs fans listened to manager after manager make excuses for the players. From Dusty Baker to Lou Piniella to Mike Quade, the generals protected the troops. From what, I’m not sure. Watch your step, Big Z As the excuses flowed, you couldn’t help but get the feeling that the managers’ opinion of the fans’ intelligence wasn’t very high. The Cubs shouldn’t bring back the flammable Zambrano for 2012, but part of me hopes they do, just to see how Sveum handles him. ‘‘His three strikes are up, and his three strikes are up again,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘He’s definitely got to prove his willingness to gain respect back from teammates, as well as myself and [president of baseball operations] Theo [Epstein] and the Ricketts family. ‘‘I don’t think he’s deserved a long leash. He’s created that whole monster himself. Is there any leash anymore? Like I said, three or four or five or six strikes, it’s enough. It’s time to buckle down and prove to your teammates that you can go out and be a winning player every day.’’ Sveum is the flesh and blood that complements the data-driven approach that Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer like to apply to anything that moves. There was a gleam in Epstein’s eye Friday when he described how Sveum, before each Brewers series, would watch video of the most recent 100 grounders off the bat of each opposing hitter to help his fielders know where to position themselves. Epstein loved the dogged preparation. I’m tickled that Sveum is interested in fielding. And honesty. -- Sun-Times Dale Sveum keeps Rudy Jaramillo on Cubs’ staff By Gordon Wittenmyer Cubs manager Dale Sveum has made some of his first staff decisions, including retaining well-regarded hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, one of the top-paid coaches in the game. He’s under contract through 2012. The two other coaches under contract through next year — bullpen coach Lester Strode and bench coach Pat Listach — also are expected to be asked back. Sources said first-base coach Bob Dernier and third-base coach Ivan DeJesus were informed they won’t be back. Pitching coach Mark Riggins spoke with Sveum over the weekend, according to a source, and was expected to talk again soon. ‘‘Obviously, I’m happy to be back,’’ Jaramillo said. ‘‘I’m ready to get going.’’ -- Sun-Times Carlos Zambrano hit in face by line drive By Gordon Wittenmyer Pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who’s trying to earn his way back on the Cubs for the final year of his contract, needed 16 stitches after being hit in the face by a line drive during his start Friday in a Venezuelan winter league game.