Pete Mackanin makes pitch for Cubs manager

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By ANDREW SELIGMAN

updated 7:22 p.m. ET Nov. 4, 2011

CHICAGO - Pete Mackanin fielded so many questions during his interview for the Cubs' managing job that he probably could have used a mitt.

The Philadelphia Phillies bench coach made his pitch to Chicago's new management team at dinner Thursday and during his formal interview on Friday.

"It was very comprehensive," he said. "They didn't let me up for air. They just keep pounding questions at you. It's very interesting. It's fun getting to know these guys and seeing what's on their mind."

The Cubs are looking to replace Mike Quade, fired Wednesday after a 71-91 season that extended their infamous championship drought to 103 seasons. They are hoping new president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, along with fellow newcomers general manager Jed Hoyer and scouting/player development head Jason McLeod, can find a way to end that streak.

Chicago is scheduled to interview Milwaukee hitting coach Dale Sveum on Monday and is expected to bring in Texas pitching coach Mike Maddux next week.

The list of names that have been linked to the opening also includes Tampa Bay bench coach Dave Martinez and former Boston manager Terry Francona, who led the Red Sox to two championships working for Epstein but did not return after their epic September collapse.

The 60-year-old Mackanin, who's from Chicago's South Side, has spent the past three seasons as the Phillies' bench coach. He interviewed for the Red Sox job on Monday, and he said the process with the Cubs was "very similar."

That's hardly surprising, given the new regime's ties to Boston, and this was no ordinary interview.

Game simulations were a part of the interview process, and for Mackanin, that meant watching the Cubs play the Phillies with management. He was given lineup cards, statistical information, pitchers' workloads and any other relevant information. At various points, Cubs executives would stop the video and ask what he would do.

They also wanted to see how he would handle the media, so Mackanin met with reporters on Friday. The process will be similar for other candidates.

Mackanin might have made one mistake when he told the Cubs he rooted for both Chicago teams growing up. He said Epstein joked, "Don't ever mention you were a Sox fan again."

If he gets the job, Mackanin will be taking over a team that's burdened by big contracts belonging to Alfonso Soriano and the troubled Carlos Zambrano but also boasts one of the game's top young players in star shortstop Starlin Castro.

Turning around a fifth-place team could take a while, and Mackanin sidestepped the question when asked how he would do it, saying, "It's kind of premature for me to go into my plans on how to get this team going. I think it's just too early for me to step into that."

He did say he believes in statistical analysis, which should sit well with management, along with managing from his gut.

"Statistics mean something," he said. "It's just not a number. ... Those things all help paint a picture of what a player looks like and, in the end, what he might be able to contribute. It'll help you make a decision."

For Mackanin, the wait to become a manager has been a long one, but he doesn't think his age will be a factor. He's in good shape, throws batting practice and insists he's a "young 60."

"I've been in the game 43 years," Mackanin said. "I think it takes a good deal of patience to manage at the big league level, to do anything in this business ? to scout, to coach. You have to look at the big picture. That isn't even a factor, as far as I'm concerned, because like I said, I grew up in Chicago. It would be a thrill to be able to take this Cubs team to the top."

He's done just about everything in the game but run a major league team, other than interim stints with Cincinnati in 2007 and Pittsburgh in 2005.

A second baseman who spent 548 games over nine seasons with the Rangers, Expos, Phillies and Twins, Mackanin's resume includes work as a scout, a third base coach, infield and outfield instructor and minor league coordinator and manager.

He has also worked in the Expos, Pirates and Yankees systems, as well as in the Caribbean, South America and Australia, and if he gets the Cubs' job, he will be back in familiar territory.

He ended his playing career in the Cubs' minor league system in 1984 and got his first managing job a year later with their Class A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs.

"It would be really exciting to be a part of the Cubs going all the way," Mackanin said. "To be able to contribute to that and to be able to participate in that would be really exciting."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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