Tag: Craig Counsell

Former Notre Dame baseball star will now manage the Chicago Cubs

Congrats Craig!

In a whirlwind of events, former [autotag]Notre Dame baseball[/autotag] and MLB player [autotag]Craig Counsell[/autotag], will move away from the [autotag]Milwaukee Brewers[/autotag] and travel down I-94 south to take over the managerial duties for the [autotag]Chicago Cubs[/autotag].

The rumors first started on Monday morning, as there were reports and teams were looking to poach Counsell from the Brewers. Not many expected the Cubs to be the main suitor, but the move was made and it has been verified by the ball club.

During his Irish playing career, he was a career. .306 hitter, walking twice as many times as he struck out, which led the Colorado Rockies to draft him in the 11th round of the 1992 MLB draft.

Counsell would score the winning run for the Florida Marlins in the 1997 World Series, which was the highlight of his playing career. He would then immediately move into coaching inside the Brewers organization when Counsell retired in 2012.

Three years later, in 2015, he was named their manager, guiding them to a 707-625 record during his tenure. Counsell now takes over a Cubs team that barely missed the playoffs this past season, but has deep pockets and could field a better team than their division rivals.

Congrats Craig!

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MLB fans wondered what happened to David Ross after the Cubs hired Craig Counsell

Did the Cubs hire a new manager before firing David Ross???

The Chicago Cubs dropped a stunning revelation on us on Monday afternoon. Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, they hired former Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell as their new clubhouse leader. That’s great for them because Counsell is quite good but, uh … wasn’t David Ross still their manager?

Something doesn’t quite add up here.

News of Counsell’s hire came as a shock to the MLB world because the Cubs seemingly offered zero notice that Ross — Chicago’s manager since 2020 — wouldn’t be returning to the organization. In fact, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts even went as far as to say that Ross was their guy moving forward after the 2023 season ended. So, again, what changed between early October and now? And why didn’t anyone with Cubs brass say anything in advance?

Ross’s apparent sudden departure from the Cubs had MLB fans speculating about what could’ve happened when Counsell officially took over as Chicago’s manager.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell getting ejected came with a perfect broadcast play-by-play

If your team’s manager is going to be ejected, you might as well get a laugh out of it.

While the Cincinnati Reds had a wonderful Saturday at the ballpark, the Milwaukee Brewers saw their manager get ejected for seemingly decrying a call from umpire John Tumpane.

During the top of the ninth inning, Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe got called for a balk by Tumpane, the second balk called during the game at that point.

Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell seemingly said something about Tumpane’s call that the umpire didn’t like, and he ejected Counsell for the rest of the game.

Counsell looked a bit bewildered by the ejection and walked up to Tumpane to discuss the decision, and the FOX Sports 1 broadcast crew gave some very humorous and insightful narration to the two’s interaction.

Some possible NSFW language to follow. 

Baseball fans have a historic distaste for umpires, and there’s undoubtedly plenty of Brewers fans at home who had no idea why this ejection happened in the first place.

At the least, we got a great breakdown of what was possibly going on between Counsell and Tumpane (with a few good zingers tucked in for good measure).

Craig Counsell becomes Brewers all-time winningest manager

Pretty good week so far for Notre Dame baseball…

What a week it has been for Notre Dame’s baseball program.  We’re all aware this past Sunday saw the Irish upset No. 1 Tennessee in a series that won’t be soon forgotten by any college baseball fan, but a former Notre Dame player got on board the accomplishment train this week as well.

Craig Counsell, a 1992 graduate of Notre Dame and 1997 World Series hero for the then Florida Marlins, has managed the Milwaukee Brewers since early in the 2015 season.  Wednesday night saw the Brewers win their 564th game under Counsell’s direction, making him the winningest manager in Brewers history.

Counsell has led the Brewers to a 564-508 (.526) record since taking over and they’ve made the postseason each of the last four years.

Counsell and the Brewers currently sit at 35-29, 1.5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central.

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Top 10 Notre Dame baseball players according to ChatGPT

How many of these players do you recognize?

So Notre Dame will not make the College World Series for a second straight season. In fact, it didn’t make the NCAA Tournament at all. So what are Irish fans left to do? Look into the past, of course.

Not long ago, we took the liberty of asking ChatGPT, the AI information bot that supposedly is threatening to put all of us writers out of work, its opinion on Notre Dame athletic history. Specifically, we asked it to rank what it believed were the top 10 Notre Dame football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball players. Now, we’re bringing it back to seek its opinion about Irish baseball players.

Keep in mind that ChatGPT gives this disclaimer:

“As an AI, I don’t have access to real-time information or the ability to provide subjective opinions. However, I can tell you about some notable baseball players who have had successful careers at the University of Notre Dame. Keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive and does not rank them in any particular order.”

There’s also this:

“Please note that this is not an exhaustive or ranked list, and there have been many other talented baseball players who have represented the University of Notre Dame.”

So with all of that said, let’s see who ChatGPT came up with. Please note that some of these have been edited to remove inaccurate or outdated information:

Notre Dame Baseball Alumni Gather on SiriusXM Podcast Episode

This pandemic has resulted in reunions and interviews of all sorts.

This pandemic has resulted in reunions and interviews of all sorts. One of the least likely has come in the form of a podcast episode featuring Notre Dame baseball alumni who were part of the program at different times. One edition of the SiriusXM podcast “Sports From the Sidelines” aired on MLB Network Radio on Wednesday. The episode, appropriately entitled “Three-Run Domer” featured Craig Counsell, Brad Lidge, Cavan Biggio and Pat Connaughton, all of whom represent the program at different times.

There was no shortage of topics during the 47-minute conversation. Counsell, who mentioned how rare it was for the football team to lose during his time at Notre Dame, said it is imperative for MLB to start playing so that college football has a chance to do the same. The Milwaukee Brewers manager can’t see college football kicking off if his own sport isn’t in action.

On a lighter note, Connaughton hasn’t forgotten about baseball. In fact, even as his Milwaukee Bucks wait to see if they’ll have a chance to compete for a 2020 NBA championship, he hasn’t shaken the thought that he might give professional baseball a shot like Michael Jordan and Tim Tebow before him. He didn’t necessarily say he would leave basketball behind like MJ and Tebow left their respective sports, but it’s practically a given he would do that if he was serious about baseball.

If you’re a SiriusXM subscriber, you can go to the service’s website and listen to this episode on demand. You’re not doing much else being stuck at home. Hear what these Domers have to say about their time representing the gold and blue.