Dale Curtis Sveum ( ; born November 23, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He most recently served as the bench coach for the Kansas City Royals. As a player, Sveum saw action in 12 major league seasons between 1986 and 1999. He was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, and New York Yankees.
Following his playing career, Sveum managed in minor league baseball for several seasons before becoming an MLB coach. Sveum briefly served as manager of the Brewers in 2008 during his tenure as hitting coach for the team. He was later named manager of the Cubs after the 2011 season and served for two seasons.
Playing career
During his time at Pinole Valley High School, Sveum was recognized as an All-State and All-American quarterback,
On July 17, 1987, Sveum totaled three homers and six RBIs during a 12–2 thumping of the California Angels. while seeing action only in 17 games in the minor leagues.
In his first three major league seasons, Sveum's lowest yearly batting average was .242. Following his return to the majors in 1990, he only batted over .241 twice in parts of nine seasons.
During his career, Sveum had the distinction of playing for five separate managers who would (at some point in their careers) win a league Manager of the Year Award:
On September 15, 2008, he was named interim manager of the Milwaukee Brewers after manager Ned Yost was fired with the team at 83–67, having lost eleven of their last fourteen games while being tied for the Wild Card spot. Sveum led the team to a 7–5 record to close out the 2008 regular season, which was enough for the Brewers to make the playoffs for the first time since their World Series run in 1982. Under Sveum's leadership, the Brewers lost the 2008 NLDS to the Philadelphia Phillies in 4 games.
After the season ended, newly-extended general manager Doug Melvin announced Sveum was out of the running for the managerial spot and hitting coach Jim Skaalen was fired. Eventually, Ken Macha took over the Brewers for the 2009 season while Sveum stayed on as the team's hitting coach.
Chicago Cubs
On November 16, 2011 the Chicago Cubs offered Sveum their vacant managerial position. The following day, on November 17, 2011, he accepted the offer to become the new manager of the Chicago Cubs, and was introduced on November 18, 2011. Sveum was fired on September 30, 2013 after posting a record of 127–197 in two seasons with the Cubs. On August 16, 2017, Sveum received a World Series ring from the team.
Kansas City Royals
On October 3, 2013, the Kansas City Royals announced they had hired Sveum as a coach and infield instructor, reuniting him with Yost, the team's manager. On May 29, 2014, the Royals promoted Sveum to hitting coach in an effort to improve a lackluster offensive start to the season.
He became the team's bench coach after the 2017 season. Sveum departed the Royals when Yost retired from the team after the 2019 season.
Managerial record
{| class="wikitable" Style="text-align: center;font-size:90%"
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! rowspan="2"| Team
! rowspan="2"| From
! rowspan="2"| To
! colspan="3"| Regular season record
! colspan="3"| Post–season record
|-
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| Milwaukee Brewers
| 2008
| 2008
|
|
|-
| Chicago Cubs
| 2012
| 2013
|
|
|-
! colspan="3"| Total
!
!
|}
Personal life
Sveum's cousin is former MLB All-Star John Olerud.