Craig Counsell is Still Making Baseball Better for Brewers Fans

A baseball season is measured out into 162 games, but treasured because of its story lines.  You likely don’t remember Game 37 or Game 118 or Game 149; but you remember storylines and characters, like Joey Wiemer doing his best Hunter Pence impression or the veteran trade additions working out well in 2023. As a Brewers fan, Craig Counsell’s move down I-94 provides some excellent storylines to enrich the season ahead.

In this time of analytics, what is the value of a manager?
Expect us to have that conversation a few times this year. Will the Brewers suffer at all from Pat Murphy taking the helm?  Was Murphy the real force behind the Brewers’ success? If Bryse Wilson isn’t effective, or if Owen Miller puts together a complete season, is it because of Murphy? If Willy Adames falls apart after being demoted to eighth in the lineup, is this Murphy’s fault? Would Counsell have handled an Adames slump differently?

Did the Brewers need a fresh voice, anyway?
There may be a reason that Counsell was the third-longest-tenured manager in MLB when he decided to bolt to a new team. Of the 96 potential pennants since the beginning of the playoff era in 1969 (48 AL, 48 NL), only five have won a division with a manager with more than 10 years experience. During this era, managers who have been with a team for less than five years have won the World Series more than twice as many times as managers whose tenure with a club was five or more years. Former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh believed in moving along after about a decade in any one job. Could the Brewers be better with Murphy rather than Counsell, because a new manager has greater ability to get his message across?

Can you ever root for Counsell while he is managing the Cubs?
Craig Counsell is like that friend from high school. Even when he moved away, you still wanted him to succeed. You probably rooted for him as a player with the Diamondbacks (when they weren’t playing the Brewers). It makes sense to not root for Counsell to succeed when the Cubs play the Brewers, but what about when they play the Dodgers? The Reds? The Cardinals? At some point, do you find peace with your former friend moving away and still wish them some success?

Is this the best thing to ever happen to the Brewers/Cubs rivalry?
This was already a heated rivalry, but Counsell’s move to the Cubbies adds some juice. Ok, it adds a whole cranberry bog’s worth of juice. Brewers-Cubs games will be extra special. A baseball season needs some dates that mean a bit more. A season of games against the Rockies and Marlins would be a sad season, indeed. Cubs games are going to be circled on everyone’s calendar, from the casual fan to the ardent fanatic.  

If Counsell hadn’t become the Cubs manager, 2024 would be another year much like the last eight. This year is different. The team will have a different leader and a different feel. As Brewers fans, we have a new reason to hate those large-market teams who can buy everything—even our own hometown manager. Counsell to the Cubs will make next season much more interesting. This has the potential to be an amazing season to be a Brewers fan.