Dale Sveum To Coach 3rd For Yanks?
Via George King:
With Dale Sveum out as the Brewers manager and having third base coaching experience with the Red Sox, YankeesNew York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was asked if Sveum was on the list of names to replace Bobby Meacham.
“Could not say yes or no, just looking for the right person,” Cashman said yesterday.
The Yankees have an interest in Larry Bowa returning, but Bowa has to opt out of the final year of his two-year deal with the Dodgers before the Yankees officially can contact him. Former Yankees infielder and Rockies coach Mike Gallego is also in the mix.
Gosh, I hope it’s not Sveum.
Don’t get me wrong. Sveum is a class guy. I’ll always remember, when the Yankees released him in August of 1998, his wanting to stay with the team, even though he was off the roster, because he wanted to remain with his former teammates during that magical ride. But, as a third base coach…well…read this from the Boston Globe on October 20, 2005:
Never again will Dale Sveum stand in the Red Sox clubhouse after a game, a beer in hand, waiting patiently for every reporter in sight to gather around him before calmly explaining why he sent another runner to a fateful end.
Sveum yesterday accepted the Brewers’ third base coaching position, leaving the same job with the Red Sox after two seasons. The 41-year-old Sveum cited his children (15-year-old Britanne and 11-year-old Rustin), and not his pariah status in Boston, as his reason for seeking employment elsewhere.
”There were a couple of job openings,” Sveum said yesterday during a conference call, ”and my son noticed [Milwaukee] in the paper in the transactions. He just kind of mentioned, ‘Hey Dad, why don’t you try to get a job with the Brewers so you can be home [in Arizona] for spring training.’ That kind of just hit me.”
Sveum’s contract was up, but the Sox organization, general manager Theo Epstein included, thoroughly respected the job he did this season and intended to extend him for another year.
New York is just like Boston. If it didn’t work there, it’s not going to work here.
Ask Red Sox fan how bad Sveum was as a third base coach. He got guys thrown out at the plate all the time. Red Sox fans hated him.
In fact look at this:
When Sveum (pronounced “Swaim”) waves the player home and gets it right, the SportsCenter clip shows the runner crossing the plate. The third-base coach isn’t even in the picture. When he gets it wrong, though, everyone in the world appears to have seen his mistake. During a 10-game stretch last August, late in his first season as a big-league coach, Sveum waved six Red Sox runners around third to their doom. Fans booed, sports radio howled. One baseball blogger nicknamed him Death Wish Dale. Another questioned whether Sveum, who once played for New York, might have mixed loyalties: “Is Dale Sveum an embedded Yankee saboteur, or is he an idiot?” Sportscaster Sean McDonough spent 17 seasons calling Red Sox games, a period in which the team had some notorious third-base coaches. (Remember Wendell Kim and Rene Lachemann?) Even by those standards, McDonough was alarmed: “I thought Sveum was as bad as I’ve seen.” ( http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2005/05/15/hes_safefor_now/ )
Shame on Cashman if he hires this guy as a 3rd Base Coach, he probably is better suited as a bench coach. Just keep him away from third.
I’m pretty sure Send ‘Em In Kim is still available.
I have been a strong supporter of Cashman, but if they hire Sveum for a job he has PROVEN he can’t do competently, then that would be a firing offense.
Of course, he wouldn’t be fired for it. At least, not right away.