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.

The drive was deflected slightly by Zambrano’s glove before striking him just below and to the right of his mouth.

The Cubs say they’ve heard Zambrano, who had the best of his three winter starts Friday, was doing well Saturday. He reportedly told his winter team that he plans to make his next start on Friday.

Coaches wanted

Cubs manager Dale Sveum said he has a few names in mind for his pitching coach, but he added that the position probably will take the longest to fill on his new staff. Some major-league sources expect him to hire former Brewers teammate Chris Bosio, who has coached in the majors and minors.

Contract for Castro?

Shortstop Starlin Castro, who was in town last week to meet with team president Theo Epstein, could be in line for a contract extension that buys out some of his arbitration years. But his agent, Paul Kinzer, said Castro is in no rush. ‘‘He’s going to get paid well soon enough anyhow,’’ Kinzer said.

Cubs eyeing Cubans

While the Cubs are widely reported to be working out hot commodity and Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes in the Dominican Republic this weekend, sources said the team is focusing more on another power-hitting Cuban outfielder who’s being worked out, Jorge Soler.

At 19, Soler is a younger version of the athletic Cespedes, 26. Asked about Soler, Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer only said that the team is looking at multiple players during this trip to the Dominican Republic.

Sun-Times Cubs brass vows Dale Sveum is his own man BY Gordon Wittenmyer

Dale Sveum is nobody’s puppet.

If you didn’t already guess that from the Harley-riding, son-of-a-Marine’s blunt-talking news conference Friday, his new boss made a point to say so.

‘‘The idea that you want someone that you can control — not at all,’’ Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. He was responding to public perceptions that by avoiding managerial candidates with bigger names and more experience, the Cubs wanted somebody they could push and shape and count on to take lineup “suggestions.’’

‘‘I certainly never did that in two years in San Diego, and [Cubs president] Theo [Epstein] didn’t do it in Boston,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘You want someone that’s well-prepared. We’ll probably offer some input on some stuff, and he’ll probably offer some input on player transactions. You should have that kind of relationship, but the idea that you want someone that you can control is the farthest thing from the truth.’’

In fact, you get the impression just listening to Sveum, the Cubs’ new manager, that he’s not only prepared but also focused, tough, even-tempered, intolerant of ‘‘crap’’ and as steeped in baseball education as anyone in the room.

During a series of lengthy Q&A sessions with various media outlets, Sveum never broke stride, never broke character, never sidestepped a question, never seemed caught off-guard and was so forthright and, at times, blunt, that the questions just kept coming.

On whether handling a player such as Carlos Zambrano requires a short leash or long leash, he said, ‘‘I don’t think he’s deserved a long leash. He’s created that monster himself. Is there a short leash anymore? Three, four, five, six strikes — it’s enough.’’

On whether Carlos Marmol is still his closer: ‘‘Sure. Right now that’s what we have. .Ԝ.Ԝ. We don’t have another closer.’’

On industry speculation that he’ll hire Milwaukee icon and best friend Robin Yount as his bench coach: ‘‘That’s not going to happen.’’

Nothing he said came off as flip (except maybe the suggestion he’d stick Zambrano at first base and put him in the middle of his order).

Sveum plans to meet Zambrano face-to-face as a first step in any evaluation process. He thinks Marmol has leaned so hard on his slider that hitters finally stopped looking for a fastball in 2011, which contributed to a downward spiral with effectiveness and confidence in both pitches. And he said he and Yount have talked about the possibility of reuniting in Chicago, but several factors play against that happening.

He talked so long after Friday’s formal podium session that he eventually needed a dip break.

‘‘He’s extremely comfortable in his own skin,’’ said Epstein, who saw that first-hand as the GM in Boston when Sveum was the Red Sox’ third-base coach in 2004-05.

Sveum, who has spent the last six years on the Brewers coaching staff, has a reputation as a communicator and motivator, not to mention he’s enough of a regular guy that he’s the best man in a Brewers clubhouse guy’s wedding this weekend.

But he also vows a firm hand, even with high-priced veterans, in this whole ‘‘culture change’’ thing.

From recent seasons watching the Cubs 18 times a year, he said: ‘‘Running balls out on a consistent basis, playing the game hard for three hours — you just don’t see that looking over on the other side.

‘‘And that’s my job, to make each and every one of those guys accountable for what they have control over. My biggest pet peeve is seeing guys not play the game hard on a consistent, daily basis. That’s just not acceptable.’’

Daily Herald Up next for Cubs: finalizing coaching staff By Bruce Miles

The Cubs probably won’t finalize a new coaching staff until after Thanksgiving, but they began the process Friday of putting together a staff for new manager Dale Sveum.

Team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have begun calling the incumbent coaches. Three coaches have contracts for next year: hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, bench coach Pat Listach and bullpen coach Lester Strode.

It’s possible any or all of those three will be back, but the bosses want Sveum to be comfortable with his staff.

“It’s ultimately Dale’s call,” Epstein said. “We’re going to have good baseball discussions about the coaches. I think you’re set up to fail if you force coaches onto yourself that the manager is not comfortable with.

“Dale’s looking for coaches who are difference-makers, who are going to help us win games.”

It’s almost certain the Cubs will have a new pitching coach to replace Mark Riggins, who served one year under former manager Mike Quade.

Sveum said he’d like someone with whom he is close as his bench coach, but he all but ruled out his best friend, Brewers Hall of Famer Robin Yount.

“Experience is very huge, but he’s got to be very close to me and is a friend,” Sveum said of the bench coach. “If we do get into a little argument, we’re still going to be best friends after we get into that argument about a decision I made or maybe something that he didn’t catch.”

The rest of the Cubs coaches from this year are Ivan DeJesus (third base), Bob Dernier (first base) and Dave Keller (special assistant).

Lots of talk:

Shortstop Starlin Castro was scheduled to come to Chicago from the Dominican Republic for a get-to- know-you meeting with the new Cubs regime.

Dale Sveum got an eyeful of Castro when the Cubs played his former team, the Brewers.

“He can flat-out hit,” Sveum said of Castro, who led the National League in hits with 207. “We had a pretty good pitching staff, and he swung the bat pretty well against one of the better pitching staffs in the National League, consistently. I wasn’t comfortable when he came up to the plate.”

Castro made 29 errors in the field, and he’s still a work in progress on defense.

“He needs a lot of polish,” Sveum said. “I’m sure he knows that. Whoever I bring in as infield coach will get started right away on that because there’s a lot of things I see just watching him.”

Sveum said he hopes to speak with wayward pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who was sent home after walking out on the team in August. Theo Epstein said he will give Zambrano a chance to “earn” his way back to the Cubs.

“He knows he has to win back the respect of players as well as management,” Sveum said. “At some point, we’ll sit down and talk, whether it’s over the phone or whether it’s face to face ... He’s out of strikes.”

Maddux issues statement:

Mike Maddux, who interviewed for the Cubs’ managerial job but did not wish to leave Texas because of family considerations, issued a statement thanking the Cubs. Maddux remains the pitching coach of the Texas Rangers.

“Dale is one of the best baseball people I know and will make a fine manager,” Maddux said of Dale Sveum. “His tireless work ethic, commitment, and communication skills give him the recipe to succeed.

“I would like to thank the Cubs for the flattery and opportunity to be considered a managerial candidate. Possibly in the future a managerial position may come to fruition for me.”

Roster moves:

The Cubs picked up the contracts of four players and added them to the 40-man roster: left-handed pitcher Jeff Beliveau from Double-A Tennessee, infielders Junior Lake and Josh Vitters from Tennessee and outfielder Matt Szczur from Single-A Daytona.

The Cubs released right-handed pitchers Esmailin Caridad and Kyle Smit and outfielder Lou Montañez off of the 40-man roster, bring their roster to 34 players.

Daily Herald For Cubs’ Sveum, stats are help not law By Barry Rozner

When the Brewers drafted Dale Sveum with the 25th pick in 1982, there was no such thing as “Moneyball.’’

But by the time he retired in 1999, sabermetrics had become a crucial part of professional baseball for many major league teams.

And now Sveum has been hired by one of the game’s foremost authorities on — and proponents of — new-age statistical analysis.

Yet even though Theo Epstein subscribes to the numbers, he is not married to them, and it says quite a bit about his approach that he hired a manager who is not a prisoner of statistics.

“When you’re talking about the ‘Moneyball’ thing, I’ve never seen (the movie). I’ve never read the book,” Sveum said Friday morning when he was officially introduced as the newest Cubs victim. “There’s times you have to create runs.

“If you have a lineup that just hits home runs and you have great hitters, then of course you don’t want to run into outs and give up outs. But sometimes when you have lineups and you’re trying to create runs then you have to try different things to do that.

“That’s just the bottom line. If you’re not gonna hit home runs then you create runs, so you have to do it by running and pushing the envelope sometimes.”

That’s a blasphemous notion to orthodox sabermetricians who believe in only the objective philosophy of baseball statistics. Just as many don’t and are realistic about the effects of numbers, balanced against scouting.

Conversely, any manager or GM who didn’t investigate all the information available to them — and there have been some on the North Side of Chicago — would be derelict in their duties.

Sveum sounds like a guy willing to look at anything, but won’t become captive to a piece of paper.

“All the numbers and stats, we’re very accustomed to them now. They’re part of the game,” Sveum said. “They can help you win games and they give you a lot of options. It’s not a go-to thing.

“It’s not a, ‘Gotta do this.’ You’re using this stuff as options, whether it’s matchups, whether it’s a huge sample or a small sample to get to the bottom of things. Maybe it’s (helping) make out a lineup.

“Maybe it’s, ‘Do I bring in this pitcher because of the numbers he has against this guy?’ It’s all options you have.”

But he doesn’t swear by the stats and will use his gut feeling if that’s what he believes is right. None of this, naturally, is a surprise to Epstein, who had to hear all this from Sveum during his days in Boston and again in the interview process.

Clearly, Sveum is old-school, but not so old-school that he can’t see how some of the newer stats and proprietary Epstein information could help him as a manager and help the Cubs as a team.

“When it gets down to it, you’re still doing baseball stuff,’’ Sveum said. “But you just happen to have all this information that you can use now to help you make those decisions.

“A lot of it’s good and a lot of it you have to be careful with because it’s too much if you try to give too much to the players. It’s way too much to rationalize how good it is and how bad it is. You can’t do that in your brain.

“Sometimes you just have to go out and play baseball.’’

This is undoubtedly one of the most impressive aspects of Epstein’s personality. He is on the one hand a poster boy for youth in the front office and an advocate of everything the computer can offer.

But at no point does he suggest that a computer knows more than a scout, and he still trusts boots on the ground more than a printed chart. He uses information to point him in the right direction, and uses his eyes to make a decision.

They don’t come any more new-school than Epstein, and yet he hires an old-school manager who won’t accept at face value everything Epstein or his computer tells him.

It’s a confident man in Epstein who isn’t afraid of someone who might disagree, and it’s a self-assured man in Sveum who isn’t afraid to lose an interview by telling the truth about how he intends to manage.

If that doesn’t speak to a new era of Cubs baseball, nothing does.

Daily Herald Sveum loves what he sees from Prince By Bruce Miles

There was just no ignoring the 275-pound Prince in the room.

Shortly after the Cubs introduced Dale Sveum as their new manager, talked turned the Fielder, with whom Sveum worked in Milwaukee in his role as the Brewers’ hitting coach. The two are said to have gotten along famously.

It also just so happens that the wide-bodied Fielder is a free agent, and the Cubs have an opening at first base. Whether they open their wallets is another story.

Fielder, 27, came off a season in which he hit 38 home runs, drove in 120 and had an OPS of .980. The Brewers are unlikely to come up with either the years or the money to satisfy Fielder, who is represented by super-agent Scott Boras.

“I hate to comment on individual guys in free agency,” said Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer. “I will say that (Sveum) speaks incredibly high of him. We talked about him a lot during the interview process. It was all very positive. One of the things he likes most about Prince is this guy plays hard, runs every ball out every single day. It’s not something a lot of superstars can say.

“As far as him coming to Chicago, I won’t comment. They have a great relationship. I think he really respects the way Prince plays the game.”

Those who’ve seen Fielder play regularly say that he never wants to come out of the lineup, perhaps in reaction to criticism of his weight. He played in all 162 games this season after playing in 161 in 2010 and 162 in 2009. His defense is poor, and he won’t save many errors with scoops at first base, but he’d likely put up huge offensive numbers at Wrigley Field.

Boras alluded to such this week at the GM meetings in Milwaukee. As one person put it, if the Cubs don’t call Boras, he’s certain to call the Cubs.

“It’s nice to watch a guy play and want to play every single day,” Sveum said. “The last six years, I’ve seen the guy play the game exactly the same every day. If he hits the ball to second base, he’s running as hard as he can. If he pops up to the infield, he runs every single day. Catchers, look out if he’s going to score.

“We were very fortunate for the most part. We had two of those guys: Rickie Weeks and him. They played the game as hard as anybody who ever played the game. He definitely plays harder than anybody who plays the game now. When you get one, two, three, four guys who play that way, everybody falls into the way you want to play the game.”

The Cubs have holes all over the diamond, including first base. They also need to find at least two qualified starting pitchers for their rotation. Team president Theo Epstein said the Cubs will look at 2012 and the long term.

“It’s competitive landscape out there,” Epstein said. “If we’re forced to choose between something that furthers our long-term interest or maximizes our short-term at the expense of the long haul, I’m going to usually defer to the big picture.”

Given Fielder’s relative youth, he could fit both scenarios. Let the speculation begin.

Daily Herald Sveum ready to change Cubs culture By Bruce Miles

Bathroom breaks are underrated.

It was one such break during the Cubs managerial search that all but sold the team on Dale Sveum.

The Cubs introduced Sveum as their 52nd manager during a news conference Friday at Wrigley Field. He has a three-year contract with a club option for 2015.

Sveum, most recently the hitting coach of the Milwaukee Brewers, beat out five other candidates during an intense and exhaustive interview process with Cubs president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.

“I think the passion that he has for the game is so obvious, and the knowledge that he has,” Hoyer said. “I can tell you that during the process, maybe an hour into the interview, we took like a 10-minute break. He walked out of the room and had to go to the bathroom or whatever. We were like, ‘Wow,’ just because he captivated the room with his baseball knowledge and passion.

“It was so clear. It wasn’t that he prepared for the interview. This is what he had done his whole life.”

If being a big-league manager wasn’t a lifelong dream, it certainly was one that Sveum harbored for some time. Although this is his first full-time gig, he did serve as interim manager of the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of the 2008 season and led them into the playoffs.

Sveum beat out a field that included Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux along with former Red Sox manager Terry Francona (who ultimately said he didn’t wish to manage in 2012), Pete Mackanin, Sandy Alomar Jr. and DeMarlo Hale.

The new Cubs management team wants to establish a “Cubs way,” one that is different from the previous way of poor fundamental baseball and a perceived lack of accountability.

“The thing that needs to be addressed right away is playing the game a certain way on an everyday basis,” said Sveum, who turns 48 next week. “We have to address some of the problems that caused that, which is (if) the defense isn’t very good or not enough power. There are a lot of things when you lose that many games that you have problems with.

“This organization’s got to change as far as the game is played on an everyday basis. It’s got to go in another direction, to play this game like it’s the seventh game of the World Series every day.”

Sveum is a former big-league infielder whose playing career was set back after he suffered a broken leg in 1988. He played with the Brewers, Phillies, White Sox, Athletics, Mariners, Pirates and Yankees. Sitting on major-league benches allowed him to observe the game.

His coaching career included stops in Boston, where he served a team that won the World Series in 2004, and with the Brewers. He has been a bench coach, a third base coach and a hitting coach.

Epstein became impressed with Sveum while he was the GM of the Red Sox, and he beat his former team to hire Sveum, who had lunch with the Red Sox as recently as Wednesday.

“He’s as comfortable in his own skin as anyone I’ve ever been around,” Epstein said. “That’s a good sign, because when you have to deal with adversity, you end up falling back on who you are and how you feel about yourself.

“The thing that stood out about Dale was that he was able to hold the players very accountable, to high standards, get in their face at times to disagree with them, drive them, get them to be their very best. At the same time, earn their respect and admiration. He’s universally loved by the players he’s had without enabling them in the slightest degree. That’s a hard thing to pull off in this game. It makes him a very impactful person in the clubhouse.”

The Cubs finished the 2011 season under manager Mike Quade with a record of 71-91. They were last in the National League in defense and third from the bottom in pitching. The Cubs sent pitcher Carlos Zambrano home for the season after Zambrano walked out on the team in August. Quade also had to get after star shortstop Starlin Castro a number of times about “playing the game right.”

Epstein said one goal of the Cubs is to play the game the right way. Recent Cubs managers such as Don Baylor, Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella burst into town talking of changing Cubs “culture.” All did to some degree, but not enough to get the Cubs to the World Series.

Next up is Sveum.

“The way you handle anything is man to man,” he said. “Communication. If anything gets out of whack, you have to treat every individual as if they’re your own son ... Changing culture, a lot of that is getting guys to be accountable and getting them to understand that, ‘This isn’t OK.’

“Losing isn’t OK. Not running a ball out isn’t OK. It’s not acceptable. There are certain things that you have to hold people accountable for because they have control over it. They don’t have control over popping up with the bases loaded. They tried their best. That’s part of the game. They don’t have control over booting a groundball with the bases loaded. They tried their best.

“Now, if they’re booting balls and doing things because their work ethic isn’t right, then you have to hold them accountable for that.”

Cubs.com Big Z to be examined after line drive to face By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Carlos Zambrano will be examined on Monday after taking a line drive off his lip, which required 10 stitches.

Zambrano had his best outing in the Venezuelan Winter League on Friday, giving up one unearned run on two hits and two walks over five innings for Caribes, but had to leave the game after being hit in the face.

Zambrano was taken to a local hospital and needed 10 stitches, according to reports. He told the Caribes manager that he intended to make his next start, which would be Wednesday or Thursday. However, Zambrano will be examined again on Monday to determine when he can pitch again.

Caribes beat Magallanes, 3-1, but Zambrano did not get a decision. He faced 19 batters and struck out four before he was hit by a line drive by Ezequiel Carrera.

This was Zambrano's first start after his meeting in Chicago with Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.

Epstein and the pitcher had lunch at a restaurant near Wrigley Field on Monday, and were joined by Zambrano's agent, Barry Praver, and Oneri Fleita, the Cubs' vice president of player personnel.

The message to Zambrano: He has to earn his way back.

"I told him we'd give him the right to earn his way back to being a Cub," Epstein said after the lunch. "Nothing would be given to him but he could earn his way back from very hard work this winter, through rebuilding relationships, man to man, with all of his teammates, and through some other steps that we discussed."

Zambrano is under contract next season for $18 million, and has a full no-trade clause.

Cubs.com At Wrigley, Cubs make Sveum hire official Search culminates with introduction of club's 52nd manager By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- About one hour into their first interview with Dale Sveum, both Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer had a "wow" moment.

Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations, and Hoyer, the general manager, had been peppering Sveum with questions, and then took a quick break. Sveum was prepared, but it wasn't as if he had scripted his answers and practiced in advance.

"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 [Hoyer and I] looked at each other and said, 'Wow.' This was not the type of thing you could fake.

"It wasn't that he prepared for the interview," Epstein said, "but [Sveum] spent a lifetime as a very intelligent person observing the game with an open mind to come up with his own baseball philosophy on how to win, and it was very impressive."

It paid off, as Sveum, who was the Brewers' hitting coach, was introduced on Friday as the 52nd manager of the Cubs.

"I think the passion he has for the game is so obvious -- and the knowledge he has," Hoyer said. "It wasn't that he prepared for the interview; he prepared for this [job]. This is what he had done his whole life."

Sveum, who will turn 48 on Wednesday, received a three-year deal with an option for a fourth year. His managerial resume includes a stint as a Double-A manager in the Pirates organization, plus 12 games in September 2008 with Milwaukee and four more in the National League Division Series that year. He has 30 years in the game, and that's what counts.

The Red Sox also pursued Sveum, who had lunch last week with the Boston ownership.

"I sensed [they would offer the job]," Sveum said of the Red Sox. "I met with the owners, so you sensed it, but it never happened. The Cubs offered me the job, and it was irrelevant at that point."

A few Brewers players, unhappy their hitting coach would be leaving to join one of their rivals, jokingly sent texts to Sveum, saying, "Anybody but the Cubs."

"It's all been kind of the same thing," Sveum said of the response he's gotten. "Probably the best [text] was Ryan Dempster texting me, telling me, 'Your first day on the manager's job, I'm going to try to stay out of jail.'"

Sveum inherits a team that went 71-91 and finished fifth in the NL Central, 25 games behind the Brewers. Any concerns taking the job?

"I think when you take a managing job, there are no concerns," Sveum said. "No matter where you're taking the job, you're going to have issues, obstacles, things in the past that have a chance of coming up again.

"Obviously, it's a new year and there are new challenges all the time. Things in the past, you hope they don't pop up again, but we all know that's not the case with some people. We have to deal with that as it comes along."

Things like dealing with volatile pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Sveum joked that Zambrano would make a good power-hitting first baseman. However, the Cubs need Zambrano the pitcher.

"We all know his nine [lives] are up," Sveum said. "Talking to Theo, [Zambrano] realizes that and he knows it, and he knows he has to win back the respect of his players as well as management. At some point, we'll sit down and talk. Hopefully, it's face to face."

Epstein and Hoyer both knew Sveum when he was a Red Sox coach from 2004-05 but still did their homework, talking to as many players as they could about him.

"Players know best," Epstein said. "This is about the players in the end. The thing that really stood out with Dale is he was able to hold the players very accountable, hold them to high standards, get in their faces at times if necessary, disagree with them, drive them to be their very best, but at the same time also win their respect and admiration.

"He was universally loved by the players he's had, without enabling them in the slightest degree," Epstein said. "That's a hard thing to pull off in this game. It makes him a very impactful person in the clubhouse."

Sveum won't let anything fester. He believes in man-to-man communication, face to face, and says he'll treat the players as if they're his sons.

"In all my dealings in baseball, 99.9 percent of all players want to be looked in the face and told to get their crap together, so to speak," Sveum said. "Whether it's a singled-out incident or just not getting it done, they appreciate that, and a lot of times if they've done something not so good, they'll apologize and get back to work."

That's what Epstein and Hoyer want to change when it comes to the culture of the Cubs -- players to know, Sveum said, that losing isn't OK, not running a ball out isn't OK.

"This organization's got to change, as far as how this game is played on an every-game basis -- play this game like it's the seventh game of the World Series every day," Sveum said.

Cubs fans don't know what that's like.

Sveum may be a little unconventional. He believes in a five-man infield in certain situations. He may use his closer in the eighth if that's the best matchup. He's prepared and very thorough, which is what impressed Epstein and Hoyer.

"It's about winning the game," Epstein said. "Everything with Dale, when it comes to baseball, is well thought out."

Sveum, who played parts of five seasons in Milwaukee from 1986-91, a tenure interrupted by a major leg injury, had been on the Brewers' staff since 2006 as a third-base coach, bench coach and most recently as hitting coach.

He does know the Cubs well. As for young Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, Sveum said the Brewers couldn't figure out how to get him out. But his defense? Sveum admitted Castro "needs a lot of polish there."

One of Sveum's approaches in Boston was to have players take 100 ground balls. Castro may get quite a workout.

"There are different ways to skin a cat," Sveum said. "Everybody's not the same guy. That's what makes coaching so unique. Some guys you overpower with hundreds of ground balls and other guys are more technique and making them understand."

Being named the Cubs' manager will give Sveum one more reason to celebrate this week. He was planning on going to Milwaukee even before the Red Sox asked him to come for the interview because he's the best man for one of the Brewers' clubhouse attendants, who is getting married. Part of the festivities include a Packers game on Sunday.

Sveum may have to switch allegiances now that he's in Chicago.

"I'll still be rooting for the Packers," Sveum said. "I'll just have to root for the Bears, too."

Deep down, he's a Raiders fan.

There's another thing you need to know about Sveum, whose nickname is "Nuts:" It's the tattoos. He has five, all but two related to his father, who was a Marine and died in 1992.

There's one of an American eagle with "Thanks" in honor of the sacrifices by the military.

"Each day when I see it, it reminds me to say 'Thanks' to all the troops and everybody who has fought for this country to give me the ability to have something like this happen and play baseball," Sveum said.

There is a message his father would give him when he went to play football or baseball, and that is to "Give 'em hell." That, Sveum acknowledged, was a big one.

"The other one is something he always said: 'Pain is inevitable, suffering is just an option,'" Sveum said. "You're going to go through pain, whether it's physical or mental. Suffering is your option. You don't have to suffer. It's your own option if you want to whine or cry about it."

There's another tattoo that should endear Sveum.

"I've got a tattoo on my wrist to remind me of my wife and my anniversary that I tend to forget every once in a while," Sveum said. "I said, 'Heck, I'm just going to tattoo it on my wrist.'"

Now, it's time for the Cubs to focus on their roster. The Red Sox are still looking for a new manager while Sveum joins the Cardinals' Mike Matheny and the White Sox Robin Ventura as the new kids on the block. It was a hectic week for Sveum as he considered the Cubs and Red Sox openings.

"The head was probably spinning, but I think the arrow fell on the right spot," Sveum said. "Whenever you've got two places like that and you're in the running, your head is spinning. When it came to it, this is the better fit."

Cubs.com Sveum to start process of assembling staff Finding right bench coach important to new Cubs skipper By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- New Cubs manager Dale Sveum's first task is to name the coaching staff, and he made some preliminary calls on Friday, just a few hours after being introduced at Wrigley Field.

Rudy Jaramillo, Lester Strode and Pat Listach are coaches from the 2011 Cubs staff who have contracts for next year. Listach and Sveum both played for the Brewers, but not on the same team. Sveum played for Milwaukee from 1986-91, while Listach was there from 1992-96.

There were reports that Hall of Famer Robin Yount would join Sveum's staff. Yount was Sveum's bench coach for the final 12 games of 2008 when Sveum took over after Ned Yost was dismissed by the Brewers.

"That's not going to happen," Sveum said of Yount. "He's my best friend in the world, but that's not going to happen."

So, what is Sveum looking for in a bench coach?

"I think they need to be very close to me personally," he said. "It has to be a very good friend of mine, somebody I respect, baseball knowledge-wise, somebody who can slow the game down, especially the National League game, and the ability to tell me to get my [stuff] together.

"At the same time, we have to yell at each other and still be friends," Sveum said. "That has to be somebody really close to you, who you have a lot of confidence in and are very good friends with."

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Sveum needs to pick coaches who the manager is comfortable with.

"Dale will hold his coaches to a very high standard," Epstein said. "If he's going to be a leader of men with respect to the players, he'll be have to be a leader of men with respect to the coaching staff."

Sveum said he had some names he would interview for the pitching-coach job, and filling that spot may take the longest.

As for the incumbent coaches, Sveum planned on contacting them, as well.

"I need to talk to them about their philosophies and get to know them a little better," he said. "I don't know any of them that well."

Sveum has been a bench coach, a hitting coach and was even a bullpen catcher with the Yankees in 1998. He was released by the Yankees on Aug. 3 that year, but because the team was headed to the postseason and because the Minor League teams' seasons had ended, he stayed on in the bullpen.

"At that time, I'd never been in the playoffs in any way, shape or form," Sveum said. "I stayed on and sat back and caught bullpens, not that I was done [playing], even though it came out that I 'retired,' but it was a unique situation. We won the World Series and it was a blast."

Sveum did play one more season with the Pirates in 1999.

As for whether Sveum will have a say in the roster, Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Sveum will be consulted.

"The way we try to think about it is the manager manages the team with input from the front office," Hoyer said. "The front office puts together the team with input from the manager. We'd be crazy to put together a roster without discussing it with him."

Cubs.com Sveum brings unique insight to Cubs' roster New skipper had opportunity to scout from opposite dugout By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- For the last six seasons, Dale Sveum has seen the Cubs from the visitors' dugout at least 15 times a year during Cubs-Brewers games. The new Cubs manager has a few opinions on his new players.

For example, there's Starlin Castro, who led the National League in hits with 207 but also led all Major League shortstops with 29 errors.

"He can flat-out hit," Sveum said. "He impressed me. We had a pretty good pitching staff, and he swung the bat really well against one of the better pitching staffs in the National League, and did so consistently.

"When he came up to bat, I wasn't comfortable," Sveum said. "I'd rather have [Aramis Ramirez] up there than him. There's no way to pitch Castro. He doesn't have a whole lot of holes. You'd talk in advance meetings, 'I don't know what to do -- just throw over his head and maybe he'll swing at it.'"

Castro, in Chicago for an autograph show, met on Friday with Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer. Castro did hit .328 against the Brewers this season, including two home runs and four doubles. But Sveum, a former big league shortstop, looks at more than Castro's bat. How about his defense?

"He needs a lot of polish there," Sveum said of the young shortstop. "I'm sure he knows that. Whoever I bring in as the infield coach will get started right away on that.

"I'm an infield guy, and I watch and see a lot of things that are broken down and why those mistakes are happening," Sveum said. "There are things with his feet and positioning that will help him out a lot."

When Sveum was with the Red Sox, he would put some players through extensive drills. Epstein recalled that.

"There are different ways to skin a cat," Sveum said. "Everybody's not the same guy. That's what makes coaching so unique. Some guys you overpower with hundreds of ground balls, and other guys are more technique and making them understand.

"A lot of guys get so good off the bat that they stop coaching them," Sveum said. "[They'll say], 'Oh, he's a great player.' No, he's a good hitter."

Sveum said he noticed some things with Castro's footwork and preparation that might make a difference.

OK, what about Carlos Marmol? He's coming off a rough season in which he was 34-for-44 in save situations, picking up two of those saves against the Brewers.

"One, [hitters] finally just decided all they have to do is sit there and look for a slider," Sveum said. "They don't have to worry about the fastball, because even if he throws it, it's probably a ball. He has to get back to some kind of fastball command.

"When you have that kind of breaking ball, you have to use your fastball as a weapon as well," Sveum said. "You've already established the breaking ball in so many hitters' minds that now it's a surprise attack to throw fastball strikes."

Sveum said Marmol is still the Cubs' closer, adding that there wasn't anyone else on the roster to do that job.

As for catcher Geovany Soto, Sveum said the Brewers would test his arm.

"Soto's an average thrower," Sveum said. "He's gotten better; his accuracy has gotten better. We're probably [running] on the pitcher more than anything."

Sveum said the Brewers felt they could run against Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells, but that Matt Garza and Carlos Zambrano were tough on potential basestealers.

Speaking of Zambrano, Sveum joked that he would use the right-handed starter as his power-hitting first baseman. But Sveum is aware that Zambrano has some steps to take to be accepted back by the Cubs after his early exit from Turner Field on Aug. 12. Epstein met with Zambrano on Monday in Chicago.

Cubs.com Cubs add four to their 40-man roster By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- The Cubs selected the contracts of left-handed pitcher Jeff Beliveau, infielders Junior Lake and Josh Vitters and outfielder Matt Szczur, and added them to the 40-man roster on Friday.

In addition, the Cubs outrighted outfielder Lou Montanez and right-handed pitchers Esmailin Caridad and Kyle Smit off the 40-man roster.

Friday was the deadline for teams to set the 40-man rosters in anticipation of the Rule 5 Draft, which will be conducted at the Winter Meetings on Dec. 8.

With the changes, the Cubs' 40-man roster is now at 34 players.

Beliveau, 24, was named the Cubs' 2011 Minor League Pitcher of the Year after going 6-2 with five saves and a 1.57 ERA in 53 relief appearances between Class A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee. The lefty combined to strike out 89 and walked 19 over 74 1/3 innings. He also pitched for Team USA and briefly in the Arizona Fall League. In four Minor League seasons, Beliveau is 17-9 with 10 saves and a 2.69 ERA.

Lake, 21, hit .279 with 21 doubles, six triples, 12 home runs, 38 stolen bases, 80 runs scored and 51 RBIs in 116 games between Daytona and Tennessee.

The shortstop was named a 2011 Arizona Fall League Rising Star, batting .296 with eight doubles, three triples, five home runs and 18 stolen bases in 28 games. He is a career .267 hitter in 476 Minor League games over five seasons.

Szczur, 22, batted .293 with 22 doubles, three triples, 10 homers, 46 RBIs, 75 runs and 24 stolen bases in 109 games for Class A Peoria and Daytona this past season. A fifth-round Draft pick out of Villanova in 2010, he participated in the 2011 All-Star Futures Game and was a midseason Midwest League All-Star.

Vitters, 22, batted .283 with 28 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 81 RBIs in 129 games with Tennessee, his first full season at Double-A. He followed that with a strong season in the Arizona Fall League, batting .360 with six doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs in 24 games.

The Cubs' first-round pick in 2007, Vitters is a career .277 hitter with 95 doubles, 47 home runs and 229 RBIs in 419 games covering five seasons.

Tribune Epstein immersing himself in Cubs' background He's looking to determine what's good in organization and build upon it By Paul Sullivan

Theo Epstein has had a month now to try to figure out this Cubs thing.

From the Wrigley Field offices to a Ukranian Village bar, Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have debriefed the former manager, players, secretaries, board members and just about everyone else in an effort to learn about the Cubs' culture.

"We've been in research mode with everyone," Epstein said. "Uniform or suits."

Have there been any surprises, anything that differentiates running the Cubs' baseball operations department from his duties as the Red Sox's general manager?

"In a way, it's all baseball, so it's all the same," he said. "But there are 30 silos out there in this industry. Every organization has evolved independently. Galapagos Islands — that type of thing."

So the Cubs are the Galapagos?

"No," he said with a laugh. "You said that, not me. There are 30 different ways of doing things. If I came in here and thought I had all the answers, you guys should laugh me out of town. Priority one was finding out exactly what's going on here, including a lot of good things. 'Do no harm' is the first rule. Discover who the great people are, what things we already do well."

If baseball truly resembled the laboratory of Darwin's theory of evolution, the Cubs probably would be considered an endangered species for their long-standing futility.

Former general manager Jim Hendry, an alleged dinosaur, was cast off by the Ricketts family in August and replaced with a new regime of deep thinkers. But instead of cashiering Hendry's staff, Epstein has added front office employees and made holdovers feel wanted.

"There are a lot of good people here who are going to contribute to World Series down the road," Epstein said. "When I got to Boston, if I had cleaned house I would have gotten rid of several future general managers.

"There are a lot of things that are done well here. At the same time, I have a pretty clear vision for how I want things to be. Marrying those two things is going to help us win."

The first phase of the Epstein game plan worked out smoothly. The Cubs got the manager he wanted in Dale Sveum and the fallout from the Ryne Sandberg snub was relatively mild in comparison to when Hendry passed him over for Mike Quade.

But now the degree of difficulty increases in fixing the 91-loss team. Holes at first base, third base, right field and in the starting rotation need to be filled, and with Aramis Ramirez, Kosuke Fukudome, Carlos Pena and Carlos Silva among the high-salaried players off the payroll, Epstein and Hoyer will have much more financial flexibility than Hendry had in his last two offseasons.

"I'm going to look for moves that make us better in the long run but don't negatively impact us in 2012," Epstein said.

But Epstein added he would "err on the side of the long haul" over 2012 if it comes down to it.

"I think that's the position we're in right here," he said.

That would seem to suggest tying up payroll with an eight-year deal for Prince Fielder is unlikely. And though the Cubs will have Cuban refugee Yoenis Cespedes work out, it's hard to picture them getting into a bidding war for the five-tool outfielder.

Epstein prides himself on being "unpredictable (because) being unpredictable is a competitive advantage."

All we know is he's taking copious notes about the Cubs thing, hoping to learn from the organization's past mistakes.

"The past forms the future," he said. "If you don't learn the lessons of history, you're doomed to repeat them. A baseball culture is a very tricky thing to get your hands around."

Tribune New managers bring excitement along with fresh approaches Ventura and Sveum each exude quiet confidence that could bode well David Haugh's In the Wake of the News

If Chicago's solid but unassuming new managers already have bored the city into baseball oblivion by the City Series in May, perhaps they can stage a footrace to liven things up.

Not that White Sox manager Robin Ventura thinks he necessarily could settle a 19-year-old score with Cubs manager Dale Sveum. Ventura's memory remains sharp from the 37 games Sveum played at shortstop next to him at third base after he joined the Sox via trade Aug. 10, 1992.

"Dale was always faster than me, even with a broken leg, and that always bothered me,'' Ventura kidded over the phone.

Ventura might say Sveum had an aerodynamic advantage, even then.

"Robin used to bury me about my bald head and, of course, I was a lot younger,'' Sveum recalled with a chuckle. "He's a real cool guy when you're around him.''

Nearly two decades later, both agree Ventura still has better hair. Beyond that, no other fair conclusion can be reached yet on two managers whose collective inexperience promises to fill a fun 2012 baseball season in Chicago with as much possibility as a blank scorecard.

We only know it will mark the first time in 20 years, and only sixth time ever, that the Cubs and Sox start the same season with new managers, according to Baseball Almanac. The last time it happened — with Jim Lefebvre on the North Side and Gene Lamont on the South Side — was 1992, when Sveum and Ventura shared a Sox clubhouse for eight weeks.

We also can suspect Cubs President Theo Epstein and Sox general manager Ken Williams could be fans of Oscar Wilde, who once wrote, "Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.'' Instead of pursuing Terry Francona or Bobby Valentine or any other manager who has filled out a major league lineup card, Epstein and Williams bucked baseball convention to follow their gut.

The same dynamic played out in St. Louis, where the Cardinals hired former player Mike Matheny, and still might unfold with the Red Sox.

"Everything's case by case and goes in cycles,'' Ventura said. "My relationship with the White Sox is easy to explain. Dale was in Boston so he was comfortable with Theo and Theo knew what kind of person they were getting. Relationships are what make it happen, not just faith in throwing a first-year guy out there to magically do it.''

Baseball typically recycles managers like aluminum cans — but not this offseason. The Cubs needed a culture change hiring someone with no managerial past would hasten. The Sox philosophically hit the reset button before Ozzie Guillen reached the Miami city limits.

The similar approaches were risky but equally refreshing, daring yet defensible. Interestingly, they mirrored recent decisions of the Bears and Bulls, who proved teams in a major market can get to the playoffs with first-time head coaches.

"It's the man that matters more than the experience,'' Epstein said. "Everyone got a first chance. Sometimes it pays to try to find the next great manager.''

Even to an open-minded, enthusiastic observer it remains too early to tell if either the Cubs or Sox found that man.

Still, both exude quiet confidence. Funny how the similarities between Sveum and Ventura go beyond the time they both played for Lamont. Start with style. Both prefer dealing with players directly and behind doors rather than using the media to send messages. Both possess a dry, disarming sense of humor often more effective in small groups than mass gatherings.

Neither will make pregame dugout sessions must-see TV or the 7-second delay necessary. When CSN aired Sveum's news conference live Friday morning, I wondered if it pre-empted something more exciting to watch, like poker. But a good manager need not be riveting to fans as long as he stays real with players, a perceived strength of each understated leader.

"I think part of the reason both of us got the job is Kenny and Theo know what they're getting and it's not going to change just so we can make it sound better,'' Ventura said. "It doesn't matter what it sounds like. It matters inside the clubhouse how it's presented and how we feel and how you treat players and those relationships.''

Ventura's relationship with his ex-Sox teammate makes him believe Cubs players can expect the same from Sveum.

"Knowing Dale, he's not going to change, and I'm not going to try to be somebody I'm not either,'' Ventura said. "I'm not going to be Mr. Personality when I'm not. For the most part, I would look at both of us kind of the same. You're going to get what you see.''

Spring training looks more compelling than ever, no matter how much quieter it may sound.

Tribune Zambrano receives 16 stitches after being hit in face by liner By Paul Sullivan

Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano was recovering Saturday after being hit in the face with a line drive during Friday night's start for Caribes de Anzoategui in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Zambrano was removed from the game after the liner hit him below the right bottom lip in the fifth inning.

A source said Zambrano received 16 stitches to close the wound at a local hospital.

"He's a bull," Caribes general manager Sam Moscatel said. "He's OK. We spoke (Friday) night after he had the surgery, and he said he wants to make his next start on Friday."

Zambrano had his best outing of the winter, throwing five strong innings against Navegantes del Magallanes, allowing one unearned run on two hits with four strikeouts. Zambrano got his glove up on the liner, which glanced off his face. He still managed to pick up the ball and throw to first for the out.

"He said to me, 'Oh my God, I've waited for 14 years to get a liner off my face,'" Moscatel said. "'Fourteeen years and it finally hit my house.'"

The Cubs have given Zambrano their permission to pitch in winter ball, despite the risk of injury to the veteran, who is owed $18 million in 2012. They want him to get in a better frame of mind for spring training after Zambrano missed the last two months of 2011 due to his one-month suspension and the subsequent decision by Chairman Tom Ricketts not to let Zambrano return to the team for the last two weeks.

Baseball operations president Theo Epstein met with Zambrano in Chicago last week and laid out instructions for Zambrano to follow to return to the good graces of his organization and teammates. Zambrano told Epstein he wants to remain a Cub and would do whatever possible to make it happen.

Tribune Sveum brings no-nonsense approach to Cubs New manager eager to get down to business of being all business By Paul Sullivan

Dale Sveum's attitude about baseball very well could be the same as his way of life:

"Pain is inevitable, suffering is an option."

That was a favorite saying of Sveum's late father, a Marine veteran, and it's tattooed on his arm as a reminder to stay strong.

"You're going to go through pain, whether it's physical, whether it's mental," Sveum said. "If you have to suffer, it's your own option. If you want to whine and cry about it …"

Pain and suffering long have gone hand in hand for the Cubs, but Sveum is hoping to provide a cure-all as their manager. He mentioned "whining" more than once Friday during his introductory news briefing at Wrigley Field, which he plans to turn into a whine-free zone.

Day games? Cramped clubhouse? Not enough indoor batting cages?

Deal with it.

"You have to create an environment that this (environment) is a plus for us, still get your work in on day games and don't use these things as an excuse," Sveum said. "Everybody has excuses. They don't go too far. That's just a cop-out for your own insecurity if you're whining about things."

The Cubs said they found the man they wanted in Sveum, a veteran coach with only a cup of coffee as a major league manager in the final two weeks of the Brewers' 2008 season. Baseball President Theo Epstein called Sveum "internally driven" and the perfect fix for what he's looking for in a leader.

"He just wants to win," Epstein said. "He's going to not get caught up with the trappings of the job. He's going to connect with 25 players. He's as comfortable in his own skin as anyone I've ever been around. That's a good sign.

"When you have to deal with adversity, and in a market like this you have to deal with some form of adversity on a daily basis, you end up falling back on who you are and how you feel about yourself. When Dale falls back on that, he's going to like the answers he sees."

Sveum hit all the right buttons Friday, stressing accountability and playing every game like "it's the seventh game of the World Series." He called it "unacceptable" not to hustle down the line from the batter's box and vowed it will not happen on his club.

"That's my biggest job, and my biggest pet peeve is to see guys not play the game hard on a consistent daily basis," he said. "It's just not acceptable. You have control over that. You don't have control over striking out and giving up a home run or whatever. You're doing your best. You don't want to be embarrassed, but you're embarrassing the rest of the organization, the people who pay your salary and the city that comes out 35,000 strong every game to watch you walk down to first base and not give everything you have."

The Cubs offered Sveum a three-year deal with an option Wednesday afternoon. He already had met twice with the Red Sox, whom he felt were going to make him an offer for their managerial vacancy.

"I sensed it," he said. "It was getting to that point. I had the second interview, met with the owners … but it never happened. The Cubs had offered me the job, so it was irrelevant at that time, once the Cubs offered me the job."

Epstein said he wasn't concerned about the Red Sox, his former team, jumping in and signing Sveum before the Cubs could get their shot.

"The integrity of the process was important," he said. "That said, in the end, it's all about getting the right guy. If you go through the process and identify the right guy and don't bring him into the organization, then you've failed. So we had to be cognizant of things going on around us. … We were prepared, from ownership on down, to act quickly once we had identified the right person."

Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, who withdrew from consideration for family reasons, sent a statement congratulating Sveum, an old friend. Sveum understood Maddux's reasoning.

"Knowing where Mike came from and where he's at right now in his life, I can see why he pulled out," Sveum said. "He's doing really well in Texas. He lives there now. His girls are going to college there, and family is very important. He has a nice gig. He's making really good money as a pitching coach, as well as he has the last few years. And maybe Texas has gotten so close too, he wants to be part of that."

Epstein called Maddux a "strong candidate" and said he would be a "fantastic manager."

"With Mike there were probably more factors that went into our discussions with him than any other candidates," he said. "And so in the end it wasn't the right fit, the right time."

The first task for Sveum is choosing his coaching staff. He spent part of Friday calling the holdovers. Epstein said Sveum is "looking for difference-makers" and will have total control over it.

"I need to talk to them about their philosophies and get to know them a little better right now," Sveum said. "I don't know any of them well enough. I know (bench coach Pat Listach) enough, but I want to get to know about certain specifics."

Sveum ruled out close friends Robin Yount and Jason Kendall as bench coach candidates but said he likely will choose someone who is "a very good friend of mine" and won't just rubber stamp every move.

"Somebody I respect baseball knowledge-wise, somebody who can slow the game down, especially the National League game, and (have) the ability to tell me to get my crap together," he said. "We can yell at each other and still be good friends. … That's the only way that position really works."

Tribune Choice clear to Cubs It's apparent Sveum's knowledge and drive made him stand out By Phil Rogers

Lordy, why wasn't this clear to more of us from the start?

Dale Sveum had home-field advantage from the start, and in hindsight it's no surprise he rode it all the way to the upstairs office in the Wrigley Field clubhouse. This is Theo Epstein's kind of guy, and after listening to Epstein on Friday, it's clear he has known since at least 2004 that Sveum is his kind of guy.

Exactly his kind of guy.

That is to say, Sveum is normal on the outside, just another guy living life to its fullest, but another one completely into his approach to a job — anal, driven, ahead-of-the-curve and wicked smart at giddy-up time. This was clear to Epstein watching him prepare to position the Red Sox's fielders, which was one of the responsibilities given him when he was Terry Francona's third base coach.

"Everybody goes off spray charts,'' said Epstein, referring to computer-generated graphics that show where batters have hit balls over the last two or three seasons. "Dale got the spray charts, but then he would get video and watch where every hitter had hit his last 100 ground balls. He would use a different color to circle those balls and that's what he would use to position our infield and outfield. He would do it before every series. That's just his approach to the game. …You help a pitcher get an extra out or two, that could be huge.''

Sveum and Epstein are comfortable with each other because of their two years working together with the Red Sox. Well, really, Sveum was working for Epstein but one of the beauties of his management style is he genuinely keeps a staff working together.

Sveum knew he could trust that to be the case, which is why he ultimately picked the Cubs over the Red Sox in one of the manager sweepstakes that caught all but the most knowledgeable observers off guard.

Not many people figured the Cubs and Red Sox would fight it out for Sveum, a guy who twice had been passed over for the manager's job in Milwaukee, where he learned the big-league life under Robin Yount and Paul Molitor as a player. But that's what happened, even if the Red Sox are telling people they backed away from Sveum after a Wednesday lunch with ownership.

The reality is Sveum was very close to being offered the Red Sox job before Mike Maddux's cold feet essentially made the choice for the Cubs, who had been strongly considering both Sveum and Maddux. If the Cubs had offered Maddux the job, Sveum probably would have been announced as Boston's manager Friday.

His comfort level with Epstein made him jump when the Cubs offered him a three-year deal with an option for a fourth year, shortly after he was introduced to Chairman Tom Ricketts in a 5 p.m. meeting Wednesday.

"I did some spinning,'' Sveum said. "I think the arrow fell in the right place. It was nice to have two (possibilities) like that. Your head is spinning a little bit. When it came down to it, this was just a little better fit.''

Sveum, 47, says he has been working toward being a big-league manager since 1996, his third straight season spent primarily in Calgary in the Pirates' organization. He never campaigned for a job, however, instead gaining knowledge and earning respect every time he showed up for work.

While Brewers GM Doug Melvin and many others praise Sveum for his work ethic and preparation, he didn't come to Milwaukee for his recent follow-up interviews carrying a brief case and a detailed five-year plan. He apparently figured he would just be talking baseball, and that's never a problem. Epstein calls him "a walking baseball conversation.''

Epstein praises Sveum for being comfortable in his own skin, and it was clear when he met Ricketts. Matt McClean, a Milwaukee lawyer, witnessed Sveum with Ricketts, Epstein and Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer at a bar in the Intercontinental Hotel.

"The Cubs brass was all buttoned up to the nines,'' McClean said. "Sveum was in jeans, casual, untucked shirt, and a beer bottle in hand. If he was stressed out for his big meeting with Ricketts, you never would know.''

How stressed out will Sveum be a year or two from now? That might be a better question.

"He's a strong man,'' Epstein said. "He's going to be a strong manager.''

Will Sveum win two World Series in a four-year stretch like Francona, the only other big-league manager Epstein has hired? It's hard to see there from here, but the leading men have been assembled.

Oh, yeah, except for the players.

"We lead the league in press conferences,'' Epstein said. "We just extended our lead. … It's time to go do something. The next five, six weeks are going to be a sprint. There's not going to be a lot of sleep going on.''

Tribune Cubs add Vitters, Szczur to 40-man roster By Paul Sullivan

The Cubs outrighted pitchers Esmailin Caridad and Kyle Smit and outfielder Lou Montanez from their 40- man roster Friday while adding four players, including Class-A outfielder Matt Szczur and third baseman Josh Vitters.

Also added to the 40-man were left-handed pitcher Jeff Beliveau and infielder Junior Lake. The Red Sox were believed to be interested in Lake and Szczur, trying to get one of the Cubs' top prospects as compensation for letting Theo Epstein out of his contract. The Cubs' move, theoretically, puts the four out of the Red Sox's range. The Cubs are not willing to let any of their best prospects go, which is why the negotiations have dragged.

The compensation issue is not expected to be resolved until after the Rule 5 draft at next month's Winter Meetings in Dallas. All players on the 40-man roster are protected from the Rule 5 draft. The Cubs' roster now stands at 34.

Tribune Epstein on Wood: 'We want him back' Zambrano's future not so solid By Paul Sullivan

Cubs baseball president Theo Epstein confirmed Friday the process of re-signing Kerry Wood has begun.

Epstein met with Wood for a casual get-together last week on Wood's home turf in Lincoln Park. Wood made sure Epstein felt right at home, choosing a bar that caters to Boston sports fans.

"I'll leave the details confidential," Epstein said. "But Kerry Wood is a very important part of the Chicago Cubs and we want him back.

"He makes us a better team because of what he brings to the bullpen, and he makes us a better organization because of what he brings to the clubhouse, his leadership."

Epstein isn't quite as sure about moving forward with Carlos Zambrano, though he also met with him last week in Wrigleyville, where Epstein laid down some ground rules that would facilitate his return. If Zambrano doesn't follow the steps Epstein outlined, the Cubs will try to deal him.

Speaking to a group of reporters after his introductory news conference, new Cubs manager Dale Sveum conceded Zambrano is "out of strikes" with the Cubs.

How would he handle him?

"You sit down with Zambrano, face-to-face," Sveum said. "I don't know the guy. We all know that his nine strikes are up. And, talking to Theo, I think (Zambrano) realizes that. He knows he has to win back the respect of the players, as well as well as management."

Addressing his current roster, Sveum also said he doesn't plan on changing the role of closer Carlos Marmol, who struggled through inconsistencies in 2011.

"Right now, that's what we have, what we are," he said. "We don't have another closer. There are no other closers. People have to remember, not everybody is made to get those last three outs. … It's not that easy to find guys who can get those last three outs, no matter how ugly it's going to be."

Sveum mostly blamed Marmol's slider for his woes, saying it wasn't breaking as much as in past years.

"(And hitters) don't even have to worry about the fastball, because even if he throws it, it's a ball," Sveum said. "That said, he has to get back to some kind of fastball command."

As for Starlin Castro, Sveum said he rather would face Aramis Ramirez than the Cubs' shortstop when he was in the Brewers' dugout.

"There's no way to pitch Castro," he said. "He doesn't have a whole lot of holes."

But Sveum conceded Castro "needs a lot of polish" defensively and that the next infield instructor would be looking at how to fix him. Sveum mentioned Castro's footwork and positioning as two problem areas.

"Watching him in the 16 games we played them, his stuff is just a little bit off," he said. "It's not completely out of whack by any means."

Tribune Haugh: Cubs hired an authentic manager By David Haugh

A man of few words, Dale Sveum revealed more about himself explaining his tattoos.

One says, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is just an option.’’

Another conveys the message his late father, a former Teamster boss, used to deliver to him before every game: “Give ‘em hell.’’

The skin art on his wrist reminds Sveum of his anniversary with wife Darlene.

Indeed, there seems much more to the man beneath the stoic exterior on display during his introduction Friday at Wrigley Field. Cubs fans only hope their new manager lasts long enough to know every nuance.

One quick, takeaway impression from Sveum’s Chicago introduction: The Cubs hired an authentic manager secure in himself no matter how much inexperience he brings to one of the more challenging, idiosyncratic jobs in sports.

In an hour speaking at the podium and in smaller group sessions, Sveum came across as direct, understated and genuine. He values hard work and respect for the game he developed as a young Brewer on the same team as Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. He won’t leave you laughing but seems just as unlikely to leave anybody scratching his head after an odd decision.

There will be no false enthusiasm and nothing phony about a guy whose life in baseball has taught him to know better than think he can fake it. The only awkwardness came when Sveum slipped on a Cubs jersey over his dress shirt and conducted the press conference wearing it. The back of it was barren; no name, no number.

It suggested that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer really didn’t make up their mind until the last 24 to 48 hours and, well, the 9 a.m. news conference challenged the guy who makes the uniforms as much as it did reporters fighting traffic. By the way, it’s pronounced SWAYM, as in blame. Which he will get plenty of the first time he leaves a starting pitcher in too long. He worked in Boston and New York. He gets that.

But of all the first impressions the 47-year-old Sveum made, the line I still will remember when he takes the field next April for his first game in a Cubs uniform came in response to the inevitable question about day baseball and cramped quarters.

"Excuses are just copouts for your own insecurities,’’ Sveum said.

Amen. They should plaster that all over the walls of the clubhouse that Sveum says isn’t too small and the ballpark he will maintain isn’t an impediment to success. They should put that on a rooftop for everybody in Wrigleyville to absorb.

“You want to be respected for the way you play,’’ Sveum also said, referencing the way he wants opposing catchers to fear Cubs baserunners.

He added that he vowed to have the Cubs play each game as if it were the seventh game of the World Series. The best part of that statement might be Sveum actually knows from experience what World Series intensity feels like as a member of the 2004 Red Sox and 1998 Yankees.

Of all the congratulatory texts Sveum has received since being named manager, one he remembered verbatim showed he appreciates a dry sense of humor.

“Ryan Dempster texted to say, ‘Congratulations, I’m going to try to stay out of jail,’ ’’ Sveum kidded.

Eventually he will get around to responding to all the well-wishers but Sveum had to get to Green Bay for a weekend that included a bachelor’s party (for the Brewers clubhouse attendant) and a Packers game. But don’t overreact, Bears fans.

“I’m really a Raiders fan,’’ the northern California native clarified.

Good, so he realizes ultimately the only way Friday’s press conference will go down as a successful one.

Just win, baby.

Tribune Will Fielder follow Sveum to Cubs? By Fred Mitchell

The positive working relationship between new Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum and Milwaukee Brewers free agent slugger Prince Fielder has become a matter of great speculation.

Would Fielder be more inclined to sign with the Cubs after working with Sveum when he served as the Brewers’ hitting coach?

“I’m not going to comment about any free agents or anything like that, but I don’t think that (relationship) was unique. I think the relationship Dale has with Prince is the relationship he had with a lot of those players over there,” Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said Friday. “He earns his respect by his approach to the game, his work ethic, his fearlessness, his ability to just talk to them.

“It’s hard in this game to find someone who is a superstar and just walk up to him and talk to him and be able to tell him sometimes what they don’t want to hear. That ultimately wins players’ respect. And Dale has that. You could look up and down that (Brewers) roster, or you could look up and down the Red Sox roster when he was there. You can talk to players about him in the minor leagues. I challenge you to find somebody who doesn’t respect Dale and hasn’t connected with him on a pretty meaningful level.”

Sveum loves everything about Fielder's game and work ethic.

“You would like to have all of the great free agents that are out there,” Sveum said. “But we’re trying to do something in Chicago to build now and win right now, but be smart about it, too.”

ESPNChicago.com Old-style manager perfect fit for Cubs Dale Sveum's no-nonsense approach leads his players to respect him -- and the game By Jon Greenberg

CHICAGO -- As Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Dale Sveum made their way down Interstate 94 on Thursday, it marked a life-changing event for Sveum, who spent perhaps the most meaningful years of his professional life in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

So, to mark his milestone, Sveum, the new manager of the Chicago Cubs, asked that his new bosses stop in Racine. There was one important task he needed to complete before he left for fame and fortune in Illinois.

"He had to get measurements for a tux for the wedding he's in," said a bemused Epstein on Friday. "He's the best man for his (Milwaukee) clubbie's wedding. Then, we had to stop at a Men's Wearhouse to get that sports coat.

"He came out to talk to the Cubs and Red Sox about their manager's job and didn't bring a sports coat. It's funny, we went into this Men's Wearhouse in Racine and we walked in and the kid behind the desk goes, 'Please don't leave us, Dale.' "

Pardon the pun, but this isn't the Sveum old manager you're used to, Cubs fans. Sveum is a straight- talking, tattooed, hard-nosed guy who doesn't put on airs or formal attire. He isn't worried about trading quips, or living in the past.

Sveum embodies all that "Field of Dreams" crap you probably love about baseball, but he's also just a regular dude. After all, how many major league coaches are close enough with their clubhouse guy to serve as best man in their wedding? Sveum, who turns 48 next week, is in charge of the bachelor party for clubhouse guy Matt Smith this weekend. Look for the new Cubs manager tailgating outside Lambeau Field, which is probably a first.

Drafted by the Brewers in the first round in 1982, Sveum's baseball acumen is beyond reproach and his preparation skills are legendary, but his sincerity and his confidence are why he's exactly the guy the Cubs need to right a clubhouse in flux.

I stumped for Mike Maddux and Sandy Alomar Jr. during the interview process, and I think both would've been great managers, but I'm not afraid to say I was wrong for doubting Sveum even a little.

His first public impression was that powerful -- it made me a believer. Of course, we don't know what kind of team Sveum will field, or how long he will last as manager, but as we prepare for Thanksgiving, maybe Cubs fans should be thankful their front office got this hire right.

As Sveum said, borrowing an old baseball axiom, he guarantees the 2012 Cubs will win 60 and lose 60. It's the other 42 that count. He's been coaching the Brewers for the past six years, so he knows where the Cubs' problems lie.

"With this organization, what's got to change is how the game is played on an everyday 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."

He's not a devout "sabermetric" guy but he understands the value of having information. Preparation is his watchword. That was a check in his favor during the interview process.

"Attention to detail is something I'm all about," he said. "With the information we have now, you can win one to 10 to maybe 15 games because you're paying attention to detail. When you win divisions or wild cards, it's usually by one game."

Hoyer and Epstein knew Sveum from his two-year stint as third base coach for the Red Sox, which began with the World Series-winning season in 2004. But he surprised them in the interview process.

"I can tell you during the process, maybe an hour into the interview, we took a 10-minute break and he walked out of the room to go to the bathroom or whatever, and we're like, 'Wow.'" Hoyer said. "He captivated the room with his baseball knowledge and his passion."

Sveum said he doesn't think much about his style, but it's clear others do. He doesn't come off as extroverted, but his manner of speaking is economical and purposeful. His communication skills are one of his biggest assets, and are in great demand in the Cubs clubhouse.

"He's a walking baseball conversation," Epstein said. "You just have to be prepared and be willing to engage with him. Players are. Players are just looking for someone to talk with them, man to man, about baseball, and have well-thought out reasons for what you want them to do."

Back in 2004, Epstein and Hoyer said they were impressed with how Sveum came to Boston from managing a Double-A team and immediately confronted veterans and star players by speaking to them on their level. Sveum, of course, had his own background in the majors and is best friends with Hall of Famer Robin Yount, but to these guys, he was a fresh fish. "Dale had a better relationship with players than almost anyone I've been around," Epstein said. "But he was the farthest thing from an enabler. He got the best out of them by challenging them and holding them to really high standards." The Cubs need high standards to make a comeback at Wrigley Field. The message got muddled in the past two years as Lou Piniella tired and Mike Quade disengaged.

"In all my dealings in baseball, 99.9 percent of all players want to be looked in the face and told to get their crap together, so to speak," Sveum said. "And whether it's single out incident or just not getting it done, they appreciate that, and a lot of times if they've done something not so good, they'll apologize and get back to work. People want to be motivated, that's just the way society works."

When it comes to talking to his players, Sveum said he will treat players like they're his son. I'd like to be there the first time he tries to take the keys to Alfonso Soriano's Rolls Royce for misjudging a fly ball.

Sveum also said he won't deal with the excuses that have plagued this team for a century, and he doesn't want to hear about injuries. He rehabbed from a gruesome leg injury and played another decade in the majors. He was one of the biggest contributors on the 1997 Pittsburgh Pirates team that nearly won a division with a $9 million payroll. Sveum doesn't believe in "can't."

"Excuses are just copouts for your own insecurities," he said.

If the Cubs are trying to create a new culture on the major league level, well, Sveum is the right guy to be the face of it.

"You're trying to create a situation where the other team knows how you play the game," he said. "The worst thing that happens in baseball is when we look over and are like, 'That team, man, they're dogs. Nobody plays hard over there.' They might be good, but you don't respect them. You want to be respected by the way you play. You want to have catchers fear you when you're coming into home plate and not just taking the easy way out and sliding."

There is little precedent for long-term success at Clark and Addison. But I like what I've heard these past few weeks. And for now, hope is all you can ask for.

ESPNChicago.com Cubs have 'unflappable' new leader Friends say Dale Sveum won't back down from anything, and that bodes well for Cubs By Melissa Isaacson

CHICAGO -- No need to worry about the new Chicago Cubs manager being tough enough.

And that's not even a reference to the bone sticking out of his leg after his left fielder collided with him as they were going for a fly ball that day in 1988, forever altering his career.

Nor is it to the Harley he rides or the tattoos he sports. He drives the pickup more often than not, and the tattoos are mostly a tribute to his father, George, who passed away in 1992, and his wife, Darlene.

Dale Sveum's toughness should suit him well in trying to lead the Cubs to their first World Series title in 103 years."That was a mid-life crisis," said his buddy and former Pirates teammate John Wehner, who gave him hell about the tattoos when they started popping up. "It just hit early."

He found it funny, because Dale Sveum was the guy who was so old school he wouldn't even sport a batting glove when he played and called the guys with the necklaces and fancy cleats and tats part of the "Digme tribe."

No, the toughness, as far as Sveum's new job is concerned, is more about the grief he took and shook off for getting his runners nailed at home as a third-base coach in Boston.

It's also more about that time in Kansas City when his Brewers teammate Bill Schroeder bunted for the game's only base hit to break up Charlie Leibrandt's no-hitter and worried about what the still-angry crowd's treatment would be before he took the field the next day.

"Dale said, 'I'll wear your jersey for batting practice. I can take the brunt of it,'" Schroeder recalled. "Not only does that stuff not bother him, he kind of enjoys it."

It is but one side of the multifaceted Sveum, but it's a side worth noting as he embarks on one of the most coveted and at the same time toughest jobs in baseball.

"He's unflappable," said Wehner, now a Pirates broadcaster. "He'll stand up, stand by it, own it. He'll tell you why he did what he did and if it's wrong, he'll admit that it's wrong. I'd be surprised if Cubs fans ever see stress on his face. This guy is so confident in what he does and what he knows, he won't be afraid to face anything.

"He's an intense competitor, he doesn't like to lose, but he's even-keeled. You might see him elevate over the line but you're not going to see him crack. Not a move will catch him off-guard. He's been preparing for this his entire life."

Sveum, it may be worth noting, also enjoys eating cereal, wearing blue jeans, listening to heavy metal, rooting for the Oakland Raiders and talking baseball. But definitely not in that order.

"I guarantee the dress code for the Cubs' charter will not be a coat and tie," said Schroeder, now a color commentator for the Brewers and one of Sveum's closest friends. "Dale owns one suit and it's not even a suit, just a coat, and he's had it since his playing days."

Sveum, father of Britanne, who attends Arizona State, and Rustin, a high school senior, is a teacher but he is also a listener. He is instinctive but he is also analytical. He is a players' coach but he will hold them accountable. His friends call him "Nuts," but no one is more sane.

"He'll get on players," said Cory Provus, one of the Brewers' broadcasters. "If it's justified and he needs to do it, he definitely will. But he was a big league player, and he won't jump on them for slumps because he went through them. But he's called 'Nuts' for a reason. He is adamant about upholding certain standards, and if you don't do your job, he will let you have it."

Those standards and no-nonsense ways, said Jim Sveum, Dale's older brother by three years, come directly from what they learned from their parents, Sandrea Kay and George, an ex-Marine and president of his local Teamsters Union.

"You take care of business, which is what Dale does," said Jim, a labor relations representative in Northern California. "Our father taught us work ethic from the beginning, and Dale was very focused, very intense, even as a kid.

"He was always playing baseball, football and basketball with older kids and sometimes he got criticized for that, but he never let that deter him. He took care of business."

Dale Sveum is the undisputed best athlete Pinole Valley High School in the San Francisco Bay area ever produced, and that includes Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta and former White Sox player and commentator Chris Singleton.

An All-American in football and baseball, Sveum also was a standout in basketball and the best golfer at the school by far, though he didn't have time to play for the golf team. The track and swim coaches also wanted him.

As a sophomore, Sveum threw an early 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game in Oakland Coliseum to carry his team to an upset victory in the sectional championship. "The kid was fantastically composed and calm under pressure," recalled Jim Erickson, an assistant football and baseball coach at Pinole Valley at the time who still keeps in touch with Sveum.

Football was his first love. And Erickson remembers that in a short speech last year at the high school, when it inducted Sveum into its Hall of Fame, Sveum told the crowd that even with a World Series ring, he would love to play "just one more football game."

But Pinole baseball coach and Chicago native Mike Lafferty remembers his gifts at shortstop.

"Scouts would ask me, 'How come he doesn't get excited and jump around like the other kids?'" Lafferty recalled. "But he was always on an even keel. I used to have scouts come watch him. With other kids, I couldn't do it, they couldn't play, but the pressure never bothered Dale."

In California's North-South all-star baseball game in his senior year, Sveum, a natural righty, stepped to the left side of the plate in the top of the ninth inning and hit a 420-foot, game-winning grand slam.

He had just taught himself to be a switch-hitter that year.

When it came time to decide what to do after high school, Sveum was offered a football scholarship to Arizona State, where he could have also played baseball, and Pinole had visions of Sveum as an NFL quarterback. But a $100,000 signing bonus as a first-round draft choice and the 25th pick overall of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1982 amateur draft convinced him otherwise, and four years later, he was in the bigs, playing 91 games as a utility infielder.

Dale Sveum's best season came in 1987 when he hit 25 home runs and drove in 95 runs for the Brewers.The following season, Sveum was the starting shortstop, pushing Robin Yount to left field. Well, maybe not pushing but making it necessary for the Brewers to find a place for Sveum, who responded by hitting 25 home runs and driving in 95 runs while batting ninth.

Future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, already a nine-year veteran at the time, remembers the impression that Sveum made on him and Yount, another first-ballot guy with 13 big-league seasons under his belt.

"Robin and I weren't exactly grizzled veterans but we had played a fair amount and we'd see various kids in spring training and immediately you'd get a feel for their makeup and demeanor and work ethic and it was not always positive," Molitor said. "Some kids with great expectations think the game owes them or they've read too many of their press clippings. Dale was not the only one, but it was so refreshing to see a guy so unassuming, who respected guys who have been around and tried to observe and work and go about his business.

"Whether it was me or Robin or Tom Trebelhorn, you could just see the inner drive Dale possessed, the quiet passion. He wasn't about drawing attention to himself or trying to do extra work to make an impression. He just knew what he had to do."

He will forever be remembered in Milwaukee, forever be revered even by those who will have trouble stomaching him in a Cubs uniform, for Easter Sunday of that '87 season, the day he hit a two-run, two- out walk-off homer at County Stadium to extend the Brewers' win streak to 12 to start the season.

"You can ask any Brewers fan of the late '80s and they'll know where they were that Dale Sveum Easter Sunday," Provus said. "People forget what Rob Deer did but they will always remember Dale Sveum."

The next year in Detroit, as Sveum was fading back for a fly ball, left fielder Darryl Hamilton was coming in and clipped Sveum's leg. It was a gruesome injury, his shin literally shattering, and it required multiple surgeries.

"It was a tragedy because he had everything ahead of him," Schroeder said. "We never talked about it much, and Dale will say he got the most out of his career. But that changed things for him. He was never the same after that."

In the late '80s and early '90s, the Brewers had one of the best farm systems in baseball with Gary Sheffield and Billy Spiers and Pat Listach. Sveum's injury gave Sheffield his first shot in the big leagues.

"After that," former Brewers teammate and now MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac said of Sveum, "he had to find a way to make himself a big league player."

He managed to hang on 10 more years doing that, bouncing between the majors and the minors, from Philadelphia to the White Sox (for 40 games in '92) to Oakland to Seattle, before retiring at 36 after failing to make the big league roster with the Pirates in 2000.

"Sometimes when you're forced to watch the game when you're young, as Dale had to [after the injury], you start to really see things like how the pitching staff is handled and how positions are played that aren't yours and I think maybe he started to see the game a little bit differently," Molitor said.

Sveum managed Pittsburgh's Double-A club in Altoona, Pa., the following year until 2003, then took new Red Sox manager Terry Francona's call to come to Boston in '04 after Francona, a teammate in Milwaukee, was advised by Yount that he need look no further for a third-base coach.

Before Sveum's first season as a big league coach was over, callers to Boston radio shows were calling for his head for getting too many runners nailed at home. After that season, he explained his aggressiveness to the Boston Globe Magazine, saying it stemmed in part not just from his baserunner's speed or the outfielder's arm, but because adding to his team's lead may preserve its own reliever's arm. That sometimes it was worth the risk if it might also hasten the exit of a particularly strong opposing pitcher.

The aggressiveness was also largely dictated by Francona, but Sveum never said that. Nor did he point out, said Lafferty, that in watching the plays in which runners got thrown out, many times it was the slight hesitation of a runner looking over his shoulder that made the difference in a bang-bang play.

"Dale said of all the plays he sent runners home, he'd only want one call back," Lafferty said.

Sveum analyzed the outfielders' recent throws to the plate, the angles at which his baserunners hit the bag and was cognizant that hitting a two-out base hit is one of the hardest things in sports and that not taking enough risks was doing his hitters and the entire team a disservice.

Sveum had the unconditional support of the Red Sox clubhouse.

"Just the way he came into Boston right away, with the superstar culture there, he didn't back down at all," Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said. "He earned their respect right away. Certain players at first were like 'What's this guy doing?' and he never backed down and the guys really embraced him.

"A lot of times guys back off from players like that, and he never did. That's important. We're a big market, we're going to have veteran players, we're going to have highly-priced players, and we need a manager who isn't afraid to teach those players."

Sveum, who turns 48 next week, is a man of many nicknames. They call him "Bo," short for Bocephus, the nickname of Hank Williams Jr., as well as "Bonuts" and Bob Uecker's favorite, "Nutsy."

The Cubs will be a tight ship and a loose group under Sveum's command. He describes himself as brutally honest, a reference to his players who flock to him but could be applied to more than one umpire whose ears he has reddened.

"In all my dealings in baseball, 99.9 percent of all players want to be looked in the face and told to get their crap together, so to speak," Sveum said at his introductory press conference. "And whether it's a single-out incident or just not getting it done, they appreciate that, and a lot of times if they've done something not so good, they'll apologize and get back to work.

"People want to be motivated, that's just the way society works. It's the way we are as individuals. That's why you man up, look at them straight in their face and say 'You've got to get your crap together.' Simple, bottom line."

So single-minded is he that one of his tattoos, on his wrist, is his wedding anniversary "which I tend to forget once in a while," he said.

Another is a rattlesnake with the words "pain is inevitable, suffering is an option."

"Everyone is going to have physical and mental pain," he said, "but suffering is your option."

Sveum has the distinction of having played for five managers -- Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, Lou Piniella, Jim Leyland and Gene Lamont -- who were all named manager of the year during their careers, and it is from each of them that he takes a piece.

When Sveum took over for his friend and boss Ned Yost as interim manager of the Brewers for the last 12 games of the '08 season, it was a desperate attempt at a wake-up call to make the playoffs. When they lost the first four of six games under Sveum, Yount, one of his closest friends and strongest supporters, urged Brewers management to retain him.

And his team never wavered.

"He's one of the most intelligent baseball people I've ever been around," veteran catcher Jason Kendall told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time. "He's going to be a good one for a long, long time. ... We'd all love him to be our manager next year, without a doubt."

The Brewers won the next five of six games to clinch the NL wild card and the team's first playoff berth in 26 years, but he was not retained for the following season.

Can Sveum handle the inherent pressure of his first full-time managerial gig as well as the stress the Cubs' job can bring?

"Dale is not an easily rattled individual," Molitor said. "He has a calmness about him, which was one thing about him as a young player. He was a better player the bigger the situation. People who can control their emotions are the ones who don't let pressure affect their ability to be successful.

"I know the media likes people who are quotable, but transparency is what's impressive, and astute observation and toughness. Dale is tough. I think he's going to do well."

CSNChicago.com Sveum tells Cubs: No more excuses By Patrick Mooney

Dale Sveum dazzled Cubs executives with his information, the video analysis to help hitters and the spray charts to position defenders. But this statistic he called up could be the most telling indicator of the manager he’ll become.

“In all my dealings in baseball,” Sveum said, “99.9 percent of all players want to be looked in the face and told to get their crap together.”

Clark and Addison is an increasingly corporate place, being filled with people educated at elite private schools on the East Coast. But they recognized the potential and saw themselves in Sveum, who rides motorcycles and is covered in five tattoos (he had to pause to make sure he counted them all).

Sveum knew he’d be asked about how he got the nickname “Nuts” during Friday’s news conference at Wrigley Field. He couldn’t go into details about what he did as a young Brewers player, other than: “It has nothing to do with my lower half.”

Sveum will need a sense of humor in this job. The predictable questions came about Prince Fielder and Carlos Zambrano, though it would be shocking if either one is in a Cubs uniform next season.

Theo Epstein wasn’t surprised that Fielder grew close to Sveum. The Brewers hitting coach develops those relationships all the time.

“I don’t think that was unique,” Epstein said. “It’s hard in this game to find someone who’s willing to go up to a superstar and just talk to them and be able to tell them sometimes what they don’t want to hear. And that, ultimately, wins players’ respect.”

The president of baseball operations was looking for someone “with a backbone” who could connect with players “without enabling them.” It will be interesting to see what happens when Alfonso Soriano stands at home plate admiring his shot or Starlin Castro fails to hustle after a ball he booted.

“You’re trying to create a situation where the other team knows how you play that game,” Sveum said. “The worst thing that happens in baseball is when we look over and (say): ‘They’re dogs. Nobody plays hard over there.’

“You want to have catchers fear you when you’re coming into home plate and not just take an easy way out and slide. That was one thing I think we established in Milwaukee. (Win or lose), they knew they were at least in a fistfight.”

Sveum doesn’t want to hear about the day games or the facilities or what happened in the past. These are the things managers say their first day on the job, but it’s exactly what Cubs fans want to hear.

“Everybody’s got excuses,” Sveum said. “That’s just a cop-out or your own insecurities if you’re whining about things.”

Sveum is now working for an organization sensitive to its public image and a front office that wants to control the information. It was disorienting to hear him call catcher Geovany Soto an “average thrower” and describe pitcher Randy Wells as “easy to run on.”

From Sveum’s perspective, those are just the details that will help you get better. You can’t just let it slide because you’re in the big leagues. His first coaching job in the majors came in 2004 on a Red Sox team that had Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez and won the World Series.

“He came into (Boston’s) superstar culture and he didn’t back down at all,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “He earned that respect right away. And I think some of the players at first were like: ‘What’s this guy doing?’ He never backed down and the guys really embraced it.”

Sveum, who will turn 48 next week, certainly saw enough of the Cubs across the years as a utility player who found a way after shattering his leg and a Brewers coach looking for every possible edge.

Sveum has three tattoos honoring his late father, who served in the Marines. One is what the son heard before he walked out the door going to a game: “Give ‘em hell.” Another is a rattlesnake with the words: “Pain is inevitable, suffering is just an option.”

This could be the counterweight to a young, polished front office. And a sledgehammer through the clubhouse.

“Whether it’s physical, whether it’s mental,” Sveum said, “suffering is your option if you want to whine and cry about it.”

CSNChicago.com Epstein sees Sveum making a power play By Patrick Mooney

Dale Sveum flew to Milwaukee and didn’t bother to pack a blazer for his interviews with the Cubs and Red Sox. They had to stop on the ride down to Chicago to pick one up for the press conference the next morning.

They walked into a Men’s Wearhouse in Racine, Wis., on Thursday and you definitely got the sense that Theo Epstein doesn’t shop there. Sveum also had to get fitted at a tuxedo shop because he’ll be the best man at the wedding for a Brewers clubhouse attendant.

The Cubs president of baseball operations cracked up on Friday telling the story: “The kid working behind the desk goes: ‘Oh, please don’t leave us Dale.’ … He looked at him and (said): ‘You’re a lot taller than you seem on TV.’”

Sveum isn’t flashy and doesn’t have a big ego. But he will cut a bigger figure in the organization than you think. Cubs executives say they didn’t just hire a puppet manager, and that perception bothers the front office.

“I want to correct that right off the bat,” Epstein said. “It’s his call what he does with the players and what buttons he pushes on the field and what lineups he writes out. That’s all him. He’s going to grow into this job, but he’s strong from Day 1.”

That Sveum organized the bachelor party for a clubhouse guy this weekend – tailgating in Green Bay and going to a Packers game – says a lot about how he builds relationships and influences people.

“Dale’s not afraid to walk up to (anyone),” Epstein said. “Whether you’re the 25th guy on the roster, a clubbie or a superstar player making $100 million, he’s going to talk to you like a man.”

Epstein’s management style is to be surrounded with people who’ll challenge him. Epstein saw the speculation that Sveum would be weakened because he hasn’t done it before at this level (except for 12 games and a playoff series as the Brewers interim manager in 2008).

Epstein insisted that you don’t need 10 years of experience as a big-league manager to be strong. Sveum has credibility after playing parts of 12 seasons in the majors and working six years as a Brewers coach.

Sveum won’t be the face of the franchise that Lou Piniella once was here, but he will have a say in his coaching staff. He said he already has “an idea of names I’m going to interview” to be his pitching coach. (Mark Riggins is not signed for next season.)

Sveum called Robin Yount his best friend, but said the Hall of Famer won’t be joining his staff. Coaches Pat Listach (bench), Rudy Jaramillo (hitting) and Lester Strode (bullpen) are well-regarded and under contract for 2012.

The information age and the “Moneyball” culture – Sveum hasn’t read the book or seen the movie – has glamorized executives and eroded the power of managers.

“The idea that you want someone you can control?” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “Not at all. You want someone that’s incredibly well-prepared. We’ll probably offer some information (and) he’ll probably offer some input on player transactions. That’s the way it should be. We should have that kind of relationship.”

That exchange of ideas sold the Cubs on Sveum during the interview process, an intense and revealing series of questions and game simulations. If they didn’t believe in how he would run a game, they wouldn’t have hired him.

Sveum had to trust Epstein and Hoyer – who knew him as the Red Sox third-base coach in 2004 and 2005 – because he felt like he was about to get an offer from Boston.

“It was getting to that point,” Sveum said. “I had the second interview and I met with the owners, so you sensed it, but it never happened. … It was irrelevant at that time once the Cubs offered me the job.”

The Cubs made an offer on Wednesday after Sveum had lunch with Red Sox ownership and closed the deal the next day.

“The head was probably spinning,” he said, “but I think the arrow fell in the right spot.”

The Cubs had to act fast because Texas pitching coach Mike Maddux – a very compelling candidate – wasn’t going to ignore his family considerations. Maddux called his friend Sveum “one of the best baseball people I know” in a classy statement issued by the Rangers.

“It’s the man that matters more than the experience,” Epstein said. “You look at all the great managers in the game – the (Jim) Leylands, the (Tony) La Russas, the (Joe) Torres, Terry Francona – everyone (needed) a first chance.

“You’re looking at the attributes that can make a great manager (because) once they get that opportunity, they go on to have 20 years in the game and become a household name. I hope Dale’s going to become known as one of the great managers in the game. And I think he will over time.”

So Sveum won’t get paid like Francona in this three-year deal with an option for 2015. But he’ll have every chance to earn the next contract. Just don’t expect him to buy any fancy suits with the money.