Sveum Game Begins

Those northsiders hope the Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach can help turn around the long-suffering franchise

The ivy will still be there, but Cubs' new skipper Dale Sveum is looking to bring an attitude change to the friendly confines.

"This organization has got to change how this game is played on a daily basis. It needs to be played like it’s the 7th game of the World Series every day," he said from Wrigley Field.

The former Milwaukee Brewers' hitting coach faced the media Friday, a day after he was hired as the Cubs' new manager and the 52nd in the history of the organization. He said he's going to bring change to the organization that's mired in a 103-year championship drought.

"It starts with changing the culture," Sveum said. "Getting guys to be accountable and to understand this isn't okay, losing isn't okay, running a ball out isn't okay."

Sveum, who turns 48 next Wednesday, has little experience as a manager, other than an interim stint for the Brewers late in 2008 after Ned Yost was fired.

"I have 16 games under my belt as a manager, but being in the game for 30 years you've experienced a great deal," he said.

Sveum also interviewed for the Red Sox manager's vacancy and met a second time this week with officials from both the Cubs and Boston.

"The head was probably spinning, but the arrow fell in the right stop. I think when it came down to it, this was just a better fit. The arrow stopped on the Chicago Cubs," he said.

Sveum replaces Mike Quade, who was fired by Theo Epstein, in one of his first moves since joining the team this Fall.

Sveum-- the name is pronounced swaym--acknowledged he was familiar with the Cubs' pitching staff from his days in Milwaukee and that pitching wasn't the team's most pressing issue. He emphasized defense, baserunning and of course, hitting, as the areas where major improvements need to be made.

"It's kind of a nice time to be going into spring training talking about fundamentals because we saw how poor the defense was in the playoffs this year, he said.

The Cubs' new management team comes with a championship pedigree that the new manager knows well: Sveum served as Boston's third base coach in 2004-05, when Epstein was the general manager.

At the time, Sveum was often criticized for an aggressive approach that led to runners being thrown out at the plate. But the coach with the nickname of "Nuts" was part of a championship team and is a believer in the advanced statistical analysis that Chicago's new leadership loves and is counting on to build up the farm system.

"Attention to detail is something that I'm all about it," Sveum said. "You can win one to ten to 15 games by paying attention to detail."

Sveum did not name the current Cubs' coaches that will remain on the staff, but did say that he has a list of coaches he wants to keep.

"That process will begin later this afternoon and carry on until next week," he said.
 

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