Velcome to Chicago, Dale Sveum!

That's "SWAYM"

In all honesty, I wasn't exactly thrilled when I first heard the news that the Cubs were planning to hire Dale Sveum as their new manager.  This is the first big decision by the Cubs' new front office team.  So why were they (and the Red Sox, for that matter) so eager to pursue a guy who had twice been passed over for the managerial opening in Milwaukee - once when he was the Brewers' interim manager and had just guided the franchise to its first postseason appearance in 26 years?  Then I read about how Sveum "is a believer in the advanced statistical analysis that Chicago's new leadership loves and is counting on to build up the farm system."  Money quote:

''I do my due diligence and video work and prepare as much as anybody,'' Sveum said before he was hired. ''As far as the stats, those are what they are, and we can use them to our advantage. It's a big part of the game now. It's helping us win a lot of ballgames, the stats and the matchups. That's just part of the game now, and you use what you can.''

Taking advantage of stats and matchups...so no more equating drawing walks with "clogging the bases"?  No more batting a low OBP guy in the leadoff spot because that's where he's "comfortable"?  No more putting a thoroughly average hitter (career OPS+ of 100) in the middle of the order every day?  Wow - if this is true, I can sum up my thoughts on this hire in two words (no, not those two words):

Mike Quade - Gone!

In my little corner of the blogosphere, 2011 has been quite a painful year when it comes to on-field results.  The Packers beat the Bears in the NFC Championship Game and then won the Super Bowl.  The Illini were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks (who at least had the courtesy to not win the championship).  And the Cubs helped the Cardinals sneak into the playoffs on the last day of the season just so I could have the pleasure of watching Ryan Theriot and Corey Patterson get World Series rings.

But off the field - wow, things couldn't be much better.  No more Ron Guenther running the Illini revenue sports into the ground.  No more Jim Hendry running the Cubs front office as if it were still 1977.  And now, the news that Mike Quade will not return to the Cubs dugout in 2012.  In truth, Quade was put into a no-win situation last year (much of which was Hendry's fault), and the 2011 Cubs wouldn't have been any good even with the ghost of Joe McCarthy managing them.  But there's no doubt that Quade was in way over his head as a major league manager, and it's nice to see Jedstein not letting this decision linger.  Instead, they've put on their hazmat suits and are getting a quick start at cleaning up the toxic mess they inherited.  The hunt is on for a new manager who will:

• "place an emphasis on preparation and accountability" (i.e. - goodbye, Carlos Zambrano!  No more standing at home plate watching long fly balls, Alfonso Soriano!)
• "establish high standards and a winning culture" (i.e. - it will be someone from outside the Cubs organization) 
• "have integrity and an open mind" (i.e.- knowledge of Sabermetrics, or a willingness to learn and implement Sabermetrics, encouraged)
• "and he must have managerial or coaching experience at the major league level." (at least they were classy enough to personally contact Ryne Sandberg to let him know he wasn't a candidate).

I have no idea whom they'll come up with to replace Quade (Terry Francona?  Bobby Valentine?  Bob Brenly?), but since everything else the new front office team has done so far has been done in a completely professional manner, I'm sure the same will apply to the process for finding a new manager.  It's exciting to see all of the positive changes happening at 1060 West Addison.  Now if only we could see some similar shake-ups at 1000 Football Drive in Lake Forest, my year would be complete.