Nickel: Craig Counsell a villain? After a life devoted to Milwaukee, maybe he deserves better

OK, so Craig Counsell is the enemy now? The villain?

Is he really?

Here are some reminders, and then, some questions.

Craig Counsell’s love for the Brewers may have begun when his father, John, began working for the team in the 1970s and 1980s, but Counsell’s obsession with the game of baseball is in his DNA. As a teenager he caught the county bus by walking from his home in Whitefish Bay to Bayshore Mall and then riding to Brookfield at night to get in extra hitting at the batting cages at Mike Hegan's Grand Slam. His dream to be a major-leaguer, to live and breathe baseball, was matched by the hours of extra work he would put in to get there.

The man lives for two things: His family, and baseball.

And in the 17 years that Counsell has spent with the Brewers as a player and manager, can’t we say that we know at least a little something about the content of his character? Normally we should be careful here – celebrities often reveal only what their PR managers allow. But Counsell's job required him to be in the public eye every day, rubbing elbows with interviewers all the time, for months and months and years and years.

Counsell is no-nonsense. Matter of fact. Happy when times called for it, angry when times called for it. Normal, not fake. Trustworthy, not phony. Confident, not too bullheaded. Reasonable. Respectful. As a player, as a manager, these traits were consistent with Counsell’s reputation.

I would argue he was a better leader than he was a player, even though he played on two World Series teams, with the Marlins and Diamondbacks, partly because he never forgot what it was like to wear the uniform. Counsell managed the pandemic and the social justice walkouts as well as any sports authority out there, with empathy and perspective we just don’t see enough in sports.

I also would argue that he deals with the daily grind unique to baseball better than most, too, answering questions about the games and living at the ballpark. He didn’t hide while at the helm of the Brewers organization. He was also fairly easy to read. He was always on the side of the players, advocating for their health, their careers, their mental approach to the game.

Why is Craig Counsell's character suddenly in question after all these years?

The point: In the 17 years with the Brewers, have you ever known Craig Counsell to be a status-seeker? A money-grubber? Is he seen around town flashing a new car every month? Showing off new kits on the golf course? Not that there's anything wrong with that. But Counsell isn't the type to photo bomb other teams and other sports figures, a parasite by proxy, while they were succeeding. No, he was the quiet guy in the stands, wearing a sweatshirt, sitting next to wife Michelle, just rooting for the Bucks or Marquette.

The assumption by some fans – and maybe some media (and there is some unfortunate overlap there) – that Counsell made this move to Chicago just for the money really makes no sense given what we've observed about his character.

So I question why his entire reputation flies out the window now. What about this: No one – no one – knows more than Counsell what his move from the Brewers to the rival Chicago Cubs would mean to the hearts of true fans this side of the border. He’s played in this rivalry, he’s coached in this rivalry, he’s contributed to this rivalry. He knows what it’s like to stand up for Wisconsin, to argue calls, to battle in Game 163.

And yet Counsell still made the shocking move.

If you think it points to a lot of questions about some kind of character shift in Counsell, I gaze at the Brewers and wonder what is going on within an organization that couldn’t retain the one guy who was emblematic of work-hard, always-scrappy Milwaukee.

Counsell knows what he left and what he is walking into, too, and he also knows no amount of money will fix the new challenges he is taking on. That $40 million won’t negate the added scrutiny that will follow him for the rest of his career; it won’t dampen the heightened expectations that come with big-market Chicago. It won’t mute the snarky criticism that is an art form now. It won’t protect his family from the BS that will be flung at them from the classless and the clueless, as we've already seen with the sign that was vandalized at Craig Counsell Park.

Counsell knows that the criticism – fair or undeserved – will be multiplied 10 times over anything he got in Milwaukee, and money just doesn't fix that.

And yet he made the move anyway.

Did the Brewers just count on Counsell’s loyalty?

Have they made trades and moves in the past that went against Counsell’s principles (principles, his philosophies - there's a difference)?

Did they take him for granted?

Because the Brewers already offered Counsell a contract that would have made him the highest-paid manager in the game (although it is not clear if the Brewers were given a chance to match the offer by the Cubs).

The reasons Counsell left seem to fit with what we think we know about him

His interview with Brewers beat writer Todd Rosiak was good, but it sounded like someone who needed to say goodbye, but who didn't want to get into a fight over it. That fits the Counsell we think we know. The kind of guy who chooses his battles, who is measured, careful, thoughtful with his answers. The most revealing part of that interview was that Counsell could go try to win in a place other than Milwaukee; in Chicago there are hundreds of flights and pretty easy drives to go see his kids play in their sports in the rare breaks he will have.

That stuff becomes really important, really personal, when you're in your 50s and soon facing a new life as an empty nester.

Surely this was not an easy decision for Counsell. Not when the guy has only ever talked about his family and the game of baseball. Not when we know what this town and this team means to him.

Shortly after he got the manager job in Milwaukee, I asked him this: Do you always have to be the good guy? Because you’re always the hometown guy?

He laughed, leaned back, and grumbled with that famous side eyeroll, "oh, here we go." It's a special responsibility he was willing to embrace. And he said this:

“This job is going to bring you out; you can’t fake this. There’s too much emotion involved in this job and you try to push it aside, and push it down. But when winning and losing happens every day, it's emotional. So you’re yourself, and some days that will be good and some days might be a little prickly.

“I will always understand my role and my place in the community and in this organization. But you’re going to get beat if you’re not yourself.”

That guy? Counsell is really the traitor now? In the same category as Brett Favre or Ted Thompson (depending on the side you pulled for)? Or even Aaron Rodgers? Where the unraveling was painful and ugly and unflattering and unsettling?

Craig Counsell didn’t make the safe choice to stay home. To stay with the Brewers. To plod on with the same resources. Instead he took a leap, risked everything he’s ever cared about his whole life and career to go to the rival town and the rival team. Because we know a little something about him, let's assume there has to be not just one or two reasons as he's revealed, but several good reasons (and not just the 40 million of the George Washington-on-paper kind).

Let's wait to see how many of them are eventually uncovered.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Is Craig Counsell really a villain for leaving Brewers for Cubs?