Cubs' Renteria knows when to 'raise the tone'

We're three weeks into the baseball season, and we're learning a little more about Cubs manager Rick Renteria each day.

Renteria came to Chicago this past winter, replacing Dale Sveum, who was fired at the end of last season, in part because of a perceived lack of communication with the Cubs' young players.

Although Renteria has exuded eternal optimism - a needed trait for anybody involved with the Cubs - he has exhibited a couple of flash points.

"I've already been thrown out of one game, so people have answered that question," he said before the start of Monday night's rain-delayed series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won 5-1.

The other time Renteria had to "raise the tone," as he termed it, was last Friday, when he held a team meeting after a sloppy loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

Even with that, he said, there was a method behind it and a positive overtone.

"I don't think it's a last resort, but you know when it's time to raise the tone because you want guys to understand you really do mean what it is you're talking about, whatever the topic might be, whether it's focus, whether it's prep work," he said. "You're just making sure they understand this is an important aspect, a big part of their continued growth."

As upbeat and as friendly as Renteria comes across, he warned during the winter caravan and convention that he could bark or even bit if need be. Apparently, he felt the need last week.

"I guess my personality is a little different," he said. "It might be considered a little different. My quote, unquote, lack of aggressiveness or perceived lack of aggressiveness, I just feel like I'm having conversations with people. That's always been my nature. The aggressiveness that one has needs to be measured and needs to be for the right reasons.

"You need to have something behind it when you're conversing and raising the tone of the conversation with your players. They're all professionals. This is a man's game. You really do have to bear down. You really do have to focus. You really do have to pay attention to small details in order to incrementally move forward. But there's nothing that says you can't do it in a positive way."

Even though Renteria may have gotten worked up in Friday's meeting with his players, he said he still tried to measure his message and his approach.

"I try to take a step back and kind of think it through and then try to find a way to present the information," he said. "But at the moment in which I raise the tone a little, I still do the same thing. I take a step back. I want to make sure that I can articulate the message that I want to give, but when you raise the tone in terms of firmness, the message still has to be clear."

The Cubs went out Saturday and beat the Reds. On Sunday, they fell 8-2, but instead of packing it in late, they had men on base in each of the final three innings, forcing Reds manager Bryan Price to get closer Jonathan Broxton up in the bullpen during the ninth.

"It was fun for me to see Broxton warming up in the ninth inning yesterday in an 8-2 ballgame because these guys didn't quit," Renteria said of his players. "We kept it going. Broxton was hot. He was waiting. What's going to happen? As a manager, if I can get all their guys up and warmed up, and it's not me. It's the players who don't quit, who keep going out there. The other manager is thinking, 'Anything can happen right now.' That's a tribute to those guys because they didn't quit. I think that's part of what we can continue to do."