The Cubs will interview Dale Sveum on Monday at Wrigley Field for the daunting task of succeeding Mike Quade. Sveum interviewed with the Red Sox on Wednesday, and has been strongly linked to both clubs.
Sveum may be closer to the Red Sox job, as he previously coached in Boston and was their third base coach when they broke the curse in 2004. Sveum spoke to media after his interview in Boston, sounding very sold on the idea of reuniting with Fenway Park.
"It was the greatest experience I could ever have; we won the World Series in '04," said Sveum, who turns 48 this month. "For being a coach or a staff member or whatever you want to call it, it's the ultimate place you want to be."Link: ESPN Boston
According to Ken Rosenthal, Sveum is considered the favorite for the Red Sox, but don't forget that Theo Epstein still has a history with Sveum, hiring him as part of Terry Francona's staff for the 2004 season. And you have to think that the Cubs have an advantage of sorts getting the interview after the Red Sox, as they are able to gauge Sveum's interactions with the Boston media, as well as the Chicago media, possibly using it as the basis for some questioning in the interview itself.
Besides his pro-Boston comments, Sveum had some pretty interesting things to say on Wednesday, and even admitted a bit of nervousness regarding his stint as the Brewers skipper. "You never know until you're thrown right into the fire, but then I felt right at home," he said as he addressed the media. With the Brewers, Sveum finished the 2008 season after the sudden firing of Ned Yost, leading (if you call it that given the small sample size) Milwaukee to the playoffs with seven wins in 12 tries as manager, after being promoted from third base coach. Yeah, we heard those same type of comments a year ago with Quade, but Sveum has been highly reputable for a handful of years now since gluing the Brewers back together. Plus,he usually gets his name pronounced correctly, a sign that he's actually thought of. Quade was so off the radar before Lou Piniella stepped down that he was called "Quaid" well into this season from national pundits.
Anyways, it'll be interesting to see how Sveum reacts to the Chicago media, as he won't be able to fawn over past memories, and only get bombarded by Paul Sullivan's asinine questions.
P.S. How is David Kaplan going to feel if there ends up being a-look-a-like running around Chicago in the coming weeks? I mean they kind of look alike, don't they?
