The Brewers had to be setting Craig up for failure …
As a player, current Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell played a total of 16 campaigns in MLB, which featured two different stints with the Milwaukee Brewers — the same franchise he retired with in 2011. After his retirement, Counsell signed on with the Milwaukee front office, becoming the manager of the team in 2015.
As the manager of the Brewers, Counsell served nine seasons, and in his last six, he led the organization to five playoff appearances. Counsell also brought Milwaukee three NL Central Division championships. Despite all of the success, Counsell only had one postseason series victory with the Brew Crew. (RELATED: Ronald Acuña Jr. Out For Season With Torn ACL, Which Could Mean … A World Series Championship For The Braves?)
Following a whopping 13 years with the franchise — as a player, executive and manager — Counsell vacated his position and left for the rival Chicago Cubs to become their skipper last offseason. To make that whole situation even more interesting, Milwaukee even offered him a sexy contract to stay put, but he decided to bolt for the Cubs after they offered a more lucrative deal.
Well, needless to say, Brewers fans were absolutely furious about it and they showed that anger Monday when Milwaukee hosted their former manager for the first time since he left Dodge. While it’s usually the customary thing to do to show a video tribute to someone special who left a franchise, it’s just probably not the best thing to do amid a rivalry that is at an all-time boiling point. But the Brewers did just that, in such bad timing that it makes you think they set Counsell up for failure.
And by failure, I mean incredibly loud boos from Milwaukee fans in his direction.
WATCH:
Tribute video did not go well. pic.twitter.com/Oef0iLR6ME
— Dominic Cotroneo (@Dom_Cotroneo) May 27, 2024
Craig Counsell: From Milwaukee’s beloved to their No. 1 public enemy.
It’s amazing how things change.
