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October 25, 2005 »

Sveum to Brewers

Mystery solved.

Dale Sveum is not, in fact, the third-base coach of the Red Sox, at least not any longer. He has accepted the third-base coaching job at Milwaukee, where he played for the first five years of his career.

So that explains why DeMarlo Hale and the Sox are talking about a job.

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art  at 4:24 PM | Permalink

Hale to Red Sox?

Our friends at the Dallas Morning News are reporting -- albeit briefly (you have to skip down to the bottom of the story) -- that the Red Sox have received permission to talk to Texas coach DeMarlo Hale, a former manager in their minor-league system, about their third-base coaching position.

This is interesting, for a number of reasons:

1) As far as I know, the Sox have a third-base coach: Dale Sveum. Sveum, of course, has hardly been the people's choice around here, but the heat on him seemed to cool in the second half when he became more conservative in his waving home of runners and had fewer thrown-out-at-the-plates. What's behind this -- whether the Sox want Sveum out, whether he wants out, whether there's another job awaiting him in the Red Sox constellation -- remains to be seen.

2) Hale was the Sox' minority interview (I resist using the word ''token,'' though it seems to fit) prior to hiring Terry Francona in November 2003. He was highly regarded by the previous administration and probably would have been manager at Pawtucket last season had he remained in the organization. Interesting that he's willing to come back, and just as interesting that the Sox are interested in bringing him back.

3) With Theo Epstein's contract about to expire, and with no sign that a new deal is imminent, is he the one making these decisions? Or is this being handled elsewhere.

Questions, questions. Stay tuned for answers.

Some other quick hits:

-- You've all seen, I'm sure, that Trot Nixon recently underwent knee surgery. It would explain his greatly reduced mobility for most of last season.

-- Fenway Park is going to look a lot different on Opening Day than it looked like for Game Three of the ALDS, and reconstruction work began last week. Personally, I can't wait to see what that new open-air area behind the plate will look like . . . though I will miss the Hall of Fame Club, which was located underneath the .406 Club.

We'll try to update with news on daily, or nearly daily, basis. Check back soon!

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art  at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments 1