Craig John Counsell (born August 21, 1970) is an American former professional baseball player and current manager for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. He was previously the manager for the Milwaukee Brewers and holds the Brewers’ franchise record for managerial wins. He led the team to five of their nine all-time postseason appearances.
Counsell was an infielder who played 16 seasons in MLB for five teams, and was known for his unique batting stance. He had several notable postseason performances, winning the World Series in 1997 with the Florida Marlins and in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Counsell has the distinction of having been on base for the last two times that the World Series ended with a walk-off hit, and was named the NLCS Most Valuable Player in 2001.
The Colorado Rockies selected Counsell in the 11th round of the 1992 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut with the Rockies on September 17, 1995, appearing in only three games that season. The Rockies traded Counsell to the Florida Marlins for Mark Hutton in July 1997. He immediately became the Marlins' starting second baseman. He scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Marlins, on an Édgar Rentería single over pitcher Charles Nagy's head, after tying the game in the bottom of the ninth with a sacrifice fly.[4]
Counsell returned to the Brewers as a free agent for 2007 and filled the role of utility infielder. He recorded his 1,000th career hit on August 16, 2008, against Derek Lowe of the Los Angeles Dodgers.[8] In 2011, he was the fourth-oldest player in the National League, and had the second-best career fielding percentage of all active second basemen (.991).[9][10] In 2009, Counsell gained more regular playing time due to injuries and inconsistent play from other Brewers players, and had a .285 batting average, along with 8 triples, finishing in the top 10 in the National League in the latter category.
In 2010, Counsell was chosen as the 13th-smartest athlete in sports by Sporting News.[11]
From June 11 to August 3, 2011, Counsell tied the all-time record for consecutive at-bats without a base hit for a position player, going hitless over a streak of 45 at-bats as a bench player and spot starter. The record was set by notoriously poor hitter Bill Bergen in 1909, and later tied by infielder Dave Campbell in 1973. It had been reported Bergen's streak was 46 at bats; however, subsequent research definitively established that Bergen's streak stopped at 45, meaning that Counsell tied but did not break the record.[12] The record was broken only a few weeks after Counsell tied it, by Eugenio Vélez of the Los Angeles Dodgers.[13]
Batting stance
For much of his career, Counsell had a batting stance that was very distinctive, usually holding his bat high, with his arms fully extended above his head. As he reached the end of his career, Counsell lowered his bat more in his stance, though he would nearly have his back to the pitcher, to where the number on his back was almost completely visible to the pitcher. Counsell also didn't wear batting gloves for the majority of his career, with the exception of his rookie season and his final season.
Fielding
By the SAFE: Spatial Aggregate Fielding Evaluation method of evaluating defense, Counsell was both the highest-rated 2nd baseman and the highest-rated 3rd baseman over the period from 2002 to 2008, with an average runs saved of 10.18 and 5.86, respectively.[14]
Post-playing career
In early 2012, Counsell retired as a professional baseball player, and took a front office position with the Brewers. Counsell served as special assistant to general managerDoug Melvin.[15] In 2014, Counsell was named a part-time color analyst for Brewers radio broadcasts. He rotated with Darryl Hamilton and Jerry Augustine to call games with Joe Block when primary announcer Bob Uecker was absent.[16]
Managerial career
Milwaukee Brewers
On May 4, 2015, Counsell was hired by the Brewers to become their manager after Ron Roenicke was fired the day before. He signed a three-year contract with the team.[17] The Brewers, going through a rebuild, went 61–76 and 73–89 under Counsell in his first two seasons as manager.[18]
In 2017, the team went on a surprising run, going 86–76. They finished 2nd in the NL Central, falling one win short of a wild card berth. Counsell finished 4th in NL Manager of the Year voting.
In their 2018 campaign, the Brewers went 96-67 under Counsell in the regular season, and won the NL Central by defeating the Chicago Cubs by a score of 3–1 in a tiebreaker game.[19] In 2018 he was successful on a lower percentage of replay challenges than any other MLB manager with 10 or more challenges, at 20.6%.[20] The Brewers advanced to the National League Championship Series after a sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series. The Brewers won the first and sixth games of the 2018 National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park in Milwaukee and the third game of the series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, before falling to the Dodgers in seven games. Counsell thus became only the second Brewers manager to lead the team to the postseason after managing a full season with the team. After the season ended, he finished 2nd in NL Manager of the Year voting, losing to Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker.[21]
On September 18, 2021, Counsell won his 500th game as a manager, a 6–4 Brewers victory over the Chicago Cubs. He finished 2nd in NL Manager of the Year voting, losing to San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler, with one first place vote, 22 second place votes, and four third place votes.[22]
On June 15, 2022, with a win over the New York Mets, Counsell passed Phil Garner (563) for most wins as a Brewers manager.[23]
On September 19, 2023, Counsell won his 700th game as a manager, a 7−3 Brewers victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Counsell's contract with the Brewers expired on November 1, 2023.
Chicago Cubs
On November 6, 2023, Counsell was hired as the manager of the Chicago Cubs on a five-year contract worth over $40 million, making him the highest-paid manager in Major League Baseball history, both in annual average value and total value.[24] The move was described as a surprise by observers, who had expected Counsell to sign with the New York Mets or Cleveland Guardians if he did not remain with the Brewers.[24][25]
As a result of Counsell's unexpected move to the Cubs, the sign for Craig Counsell Park, located in his hometown of Whitefish Bay, was vandalized.[26] The Whitefish Bay little league primarily plays in this park. This vandalism echoed a common feeling of betrayal among the Milwaukee community, due to Counsell's unexpected signing with the Brewers' biggest rival, while others remarked upon the lowball offer Milwaukee offered Counsell.[27]
Counsell and his wife, Michelle, have four children together. The family resides in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.[28] Counsell's oldest son, Brady, plays college baseball at the University of Minnesota, and his younger son, Jack, was on Whitefish Bay High School's state championship baseball team in 2023.[29] Jack will be playing college baseball at University of Michigan in 2024.
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