email this
print this
reprint or license this
DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff photographer
Players gather at the mound as Brewers starter CC Sabathia makes a rare early exit in the fourth inning.
SAVE AND SHARE
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Sveum, Manuel have similar styles
The description sounded familiar, but then, it had often been repeated at Citizens Bank Park to describe the managerial change:
"If anything, he's just helped us relax a little more."
Jimmy Rollins, on Charlie Manuel replacing Larry Bowa?
No. Prince Fielder on Dale Sveum replacing Ned Yost.
Folksy and patient, Manuel contrasted in many ways Bowa's ultra-intensity.
While Yost might not equal Bowa in tension created per second, apparently there is a significant difference between Yost and Sveum, an earthy, steady sort with connections to the Brewers' successes of the 1980s.
"He told us that the game was hard for him, so he understands how hard the game is," Fielder said. "And he didn't care whether we make errors or swing at balls at the dirt or strike out, he just wants us to play hard."
After the Phillies swept them in four games 3 weeks ago, the Brewers replaced Yost with Sveum, who was the third base coach. They were 3-11 during that rough stretch. They finished the season 7-5 under Sveum but surged to 6-1 in their last seven games. That secured the National League wild-card slot and a postseason spot for the first time since 1982.
Ace lefty CC Sabathia noticed a clear difference.
"Everybody knows their role," Sabathia said. "It wasn't coming to the park and wondering if guys were going to be playing or be in the lineup today or not. I think that helped everybody relax."
Manuel oversaw a similar change when he took over for Bowa. He now sees a cooler, more effective Brew Crew.
"I'm an attitude, chemistry kind of guy. I always say I'll take the talent and deal with the attitude," Manuel said. "When I see the Brewers, I see a lot of young guys and they've got personalities. They smile and they have some life to them. And they've got some energy and you can tell that they like to play."
Sounds familiar.
Outside-in
The last time the Phillies won a playoff game, in 1993, Dave Bush was a 13-year-old Devon, Pa., kid, a freshman at Conestoga High School with a famous schoolmate.
"I actually grew up with Lenny Dykstra's son [Gavin]. We were a year apart in high school," Bush said. "We were pretty good friends and got to know some of the players back then. I was a big baseball fan growing up."
He's not a Phillies fan anymore. The righthander will start Game 3 of the NL Division Series tomorrow for the Brewers.
Besides, the connection with Gavin Dykstra didn't score Bush any postseason tickets, but, yes, he felt the pain of Joe Carter's walkoff homer in Game 6 of the World Series.
"I do remember being heartbroken at the end of the World Series, just disappointed with the way it ended," Bush said.
Cold ones
Dykstra's younger son, Cutter, was a second-round pick of the Brewers in June, and signed shortly thereafter . . . After a brief, early stint in the minors this season and a hiccup in his first game back, Bush is 9-6 with a 3.72 ERA in his last 24 starts and has been the Brewers' second-best starter . . . Slugger Prince Fielder is now 0-for-7, but Dale Sveum wouldn't pin the Brewers' overall lack of offense (three runs) on him: "To single him out is kind of ridiculous" . . . Corey Hart, in his first season as a full-time player, swung at the first pitch and grounded into a bases-loaded doubleplay to end the first inning. The bags were loaded due to excitable starter Brett Myers' five-pitch walk of J.J. Hardy. "That's part of maturing as a hitter," Sveum said of Hart's decision. *
