During his time at Pinole Valley High School, Sveum was recognized as an All-State and All-American quarterback, in addition to playing baseball and basketball. Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the 1982 amateur draft, he went on to play 12 seasons in MLB, hitting.236 with 69 home runs. Arguably, Sveum's finest season came in, when he hit 25 home runs and drove in 95 runs, mostly as the Brewers' ninth hitter in the lineup. One of his personal highlights came early in the season, when he hit a walk-off home run at County Stadium to give Milwaukee a 6–4 victory over the Texas Rangers. This victory, which came on April 19, led the Brewers to a 12–0 record on the season. On July 17 Sveum totaled three homers and six RBIs during a 12–2 thumping of the California Angels. On September 3, 1988, Sveum was involved in a severe collision with fellow Brewer Darryl Hamilton. Sveum's leg was broken and he did not play again in. He also sat out the entire MLB season, while seeing action in 17 games in the minor leagues. In his first three major league seasons, Sveum's lowest yearly batting average was.242 Following his return to the majors in 1990, he only batted over.241 twice in parts of nine seasons. During his career Sveum had the distinction of playing for five separate managers who would win a league Manager of the Year Award. Those managers were Tony La Russa, in Oakland; Joe Torre, in New York; Lou Piniella, in Seattle; Jim Leyland in Pittsburgh; and Gene Lamont with the Chicago White Sox.
Coaching career
Pittsburgh
Prior to coaching in Milwaukee, Sveum managed the Double A team in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization from 2001–2003, compiling a 213–211 record. In 2003, Baseball America tabbed Sveum as the best potential MLB manager in the Eastern League.
Sveum was on the coaching staff of the Boston Red Sox from 2004–05, serving as third base coach and working under manager Terry Francona. Following Sveum's second season in Boston, he left the Red Sox to rejoin Milwaukee as the team's bench coach.
Milwaukee Brewers
On October 30, 2007, Sveum switched positions on the staff and became the team's third base coach. On September 15, 2008, he was named interim manager of the Milwaukee Brewers after manager Ned Yost was fired. Sveum led the team to a 7–5 record to close out the 2008 regular season, which was enough for the Brewers to make the playoffs for the first time since their World Series run in 1982. Under Sveum's leadership, the Brewers lost the 2008 NLDS to the Philadelphia Phillies in 4 games. As Ken Macha took over the Brewers for the 2009 season, Sveum stayed on as the team's hitting coach.
On November 16, 2011 the Chicago Cubs offered Sveum their vacant managerial position. The following day, on November 17, 2011, Sveum accepted an offer to become the new manager of the Chicago Cubs, and was introduced on November 18, 2011, but Sveum was fired on September 30, 2013. His total record with the Cubs in two years was 127-197. On August 16, 2017, Sveum received a World Series ring from the team.
Kansas City Royals
On October 3, 2013 the Kansas City Royals announced they had hired Sveum and added him to their 2014 coaching staff as third base coach. On May 29, 2014, the Royals promoted Sveum to hitting coach in an effort to improve a lackluster offensive start to the season.
