Counsell may have something special brewing for Cubs
As a kid, Craig Counsell was practically embedded with the Milwaukee Brewers.
His father, John, served as the team's director of community relations during an era when the Brewers had memorable teams nicknamed “Bambi's Bombers” and later “Harvey's Wallbangers” after managers George Bamberger and Harvey Kuenn. The Brewers won 90-plus games in 1978 and '79, eventually making the lone World Series appearance in franchise history in 1982.
“I would turn him loose and just say, don't get in trouble,” John Counsell said in one interview. “And he would disappear for eight, 10 hours.”
In those days County Stadium might have had the liveliest atmosphere in baseball. Polka dancing on the dugouts, Bernie Brewer sliding into a giant mug of beer after home runs, an enormous modern (for its time) scoreboard in right field, while the air reeked of bratwursts.
Asked his favorite part of those years, Counsell didn't say opening Robin Yount's fan mail or riding along to player appearances or working the pitching speed booth in the stands.
“When you're a kid, you become a baseball fan because your town has good teams,” the first-year Cubs manager said. “That's why you become a baseball fan. It's just so much easier to be a fan when your teams are good, right? Put good teams on the field and people are going to want to watch.”
So maybe that's why Counsell made the move south from Brewers to Cubs — the desire to win. Sure, he took the Brewers to the playoffs five times in eight years, but maybe now he doesn't have to worry about the team having to trade Corbin Burnes or Josh Hader when it's time for a new contract.
Atmosphere could also be a factor. There's little doubt Wrigley Field is more fun than Milwaukee's American Family Field, which is generic and stale compared to County Stadium.
Before facing the Dodgers on Saturday, Counsell was asked how he's enjoyed these first few months at his new job.
“It's been everything that I thought, probably, with its challenges, for sure,” he said. “Enjoying that part of it. Certainly enjoyed so far the first week at Wrigley, except for Wednesday night maybe with the weather.
“Other than that, it's been what I thought and that means it's not easy, for sure.”
Maximum results
To get a handle on what makes Counsell a good manager, there's no point in checking a list of dugout decisions. Last year's Brewers team provided a solid work sample.
That squad had an established veteran in Christian Yelich, a rising star in William Contreras and then what? There wasn't what you would call a dangerous hitter anywhere else on the roster. The pitching was good, but Brandon Woodruff only made 11 starts due to injury.
At midseason Milwaukee had the look of a team overachieving in a big way. When the Brewers inevitably came back to Earth, the Cubs would have a real chance of winning the NL Central.
Except the Brewers never stopped overachieving in 2023. It was the Cubs who faded out of the playoff race. Milwaukee drew a red-hot Arizona squad in the wild-card round and survived just two games, but that doesn't erase what happened in the previous 162.
Craig Counsell magic is pulling the absolute maximum result out of a team. How does he do it? Well, that's more difficult to determine. Probably with a long series of subtle messages and decisions, beginning before spring training.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who made the bold choice to fire manager David Ross and pursue Counsell as a free agent, was asked if anything stood out about how Counsell approached spring training.
“It's a different personality than other managers I've been around,” Hoyer said. “There's only so many things you can do differently (in spring training). You want to get the guys prepared physically; also wanting to try to create a sense of camaraderie, a sense of team and I think he did a really good job of that.”
Learning new faces
The opening days of Counsell's tenure with the Cubs featured some logical lineup decisions most fans would have suggested, like hitting Cody Bellinger third and moving Ian Happ either to leadoff or the lower part of the order.
Right away, though, the familiar mantra of “string together good at-bats” has come to life better than it has for years with the Cubs. Did Counsell help create that? Too soon to tell for sure.
“I just appreciate how much trust he's put into the staff and into the players, and obviously there's core values he's put forth and structure as well,” Nico Hoerner said. “He understands he needs everyone around him to contribute at a high level, and I think we've got a great staff for that.”
Counsell didn't make sweeping changes to the Cubs' staff. The pitching coaches (Tommy Hottovy, Daniel Moskos), hitting coaches (Dustin Kelly, James Adduci) and base coaches (Willie Harris, Mike Napoli) stayed the same. Counsell's bench coach in Milwaukee was Pat Murphy, his college coach at Notre Dame. The Brewers hired Murphy to be Counsell's replacement, so he turned to former Orioles infielder Ryan Flaherty for the role with the Cubs.
“It was something new and I think that always take a little bit of an adjustment period,” Bellinger said of the manager change. “I've been playing against (Counsell) since I've been in the big leagues. How he runs things and how he handles game situations, I can see here it's been really great.”
The easiest first impressions of Counsell with the Cubs are his personality and demeanor. Calm and cerebral certainly describe the longtime Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, native.
“I've loved working with him to this point,” outfielder Mike Tauchman said. “I think he's a really good communicator, and at this point in the season, everybody seems to be on the same page and guys seem to be comfortable with what they're doing. He's really smart and it's been good.”
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