Sveum waves goodbye

ST. LOUIS -- 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. But the Sox granted him permission to talk with teams that train in Arizona out of respect to his happiness.

The Sox plan to interview at least one external candidate, Texas first base coach DeMarlo Hale, as well as a few internal candidates. Hale and Sox manager Terry Francona worked together on Jerry Narron's staff with the Texas Rangers in 2002.

The Sox interviewed Hale two years ago in the search for a manager before Francona was hired. He has worked in the Red Sox organization as recently as 1999, when he went 92-50 as Double A Trenton's manager. For that Hale was named minor league manager of the year by multiple publications. But he left the organization when he was passed over for a promotion to Triple A. That, of course, predates the team's current ownership group and management.

Sveum, meanwhile, returns to the Brewers, the organization that drafted him 25th overall in 1982. His legacy in Boston will be as a windmill in the third base coach's box. What won't be remembered as well is his work behind closed doors with players, especially Jason Varitek, and other coaches.

''People that know and respect the game know what kind of mind he has," Francona said yesterday by phone. ''When I had a question, he had an answer."

Still, Sveum's name figures to live in infamy. Comes with the 617 area code, he said yesterday.

''You know if you hold a guy, you're going to get booed," he said. ''If you send a guy, and he does get thrown out, you're going to be chastised . . . People from ESPN jump on the bandwagon and they blow everything out of proportion. I'm not saying we all don't make mistakes or would like to have something back, but it does get a little overwhelming . . . You can never make the right decision."

Francona doesn't believe the fans' treatment of Sveum drove him out of town.

''It's the opposite," Francona said. ''That's probably the reason we hired him. We needed someone very good with some broad shoulders. That's what Dale did. I thought he was outstanding. For a while there it was the thing to do, to get on him."

The fans rode Sveum in August 2004 when Tampa Bay's Rocco Baldelli gunned out Sox players at home on consecutive at-bats, a week after Baldelli had cut down a runner sent home by Sveum. The fans' displeasure surfaced for a national audience at Game 1 of the 2004 World Series. Sveum was booed during pregame introductions.

''I don't think it was fair," Francona said. ''I don't think it was justified. He was outstanding."

The Sox have other coaching matters to address. The contracts of bench coach Brad Mills, hitting coach Ron Jackson, bullpen coach Bill Haselman, and first base coach Lynn Jones all are up. Mills, who is Francona's foremost confidant among the staff, just completed a two-year contract. The other three coaches were operating under one-year deals.

Haselman, who coached first base on an interim basis in 2004 when Jones suffered an eye injury, is expected to be reassigned to first base full time next season. In Haselman's place in the bullpen the club is expected to hire a former pitcher. Haselman is a former catcher.