Craig Counsell - 2nd winningest manager in Brewers history

[homer]

Craig got his 500th win yesterday. He is 2nd behind Ole Scrap-Iron Phil Garner. Must be quite a thrill for the kid that grew up here and whose father worked in the front office.

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2021/08/07/brewers-manager-craig-counsell-won-his-500th-game-friday-night/5509839001/

 

"At age 50, Counsell (500-456) becomes only the second manager in franchise history to reach that mark, joining Phil Garner (563-617). He passed Ned Yost, whom he once played for, on May 24 to become the organization's second-winningest skipper."

 

Also, seeing that Counsell is 50 years old got me wondering how old Kuenn was in '82. He was 52 years old. People don't age like they used to.

 

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Will be fun next year seeing him take the #1 spot!

[sveumrules]

CC got two rings as a player & it appears he is a better manager than player, so that means he'll get at least three rings as a manager right?

[nate82]

Assuming the Brewers play .500 or better for the remainder of the season Counsell should be able to pass Garner sometime in June of next year. Counsell also just needs to win 1 game in the post season and he will have the most wins in the post season as a manager for the Brewers.

[lynchmobster]

Counsell also just needs to win 1 game in the post season and he will have the most wins in the post season as a manager for the Brewers.

I can decide if that's impressive, sad, or both....

[stalton]

Counsell also just needs to win 1 game in the post season and he will have the most wins in the post season as a manager for the Brewers.

I can decide if that's impressive, sad, or both....

 

Probably impressive for CC but sad for the Brewers as a whole.

[igor67]

Post season counting stats might be the least translatable across baseball eras. More teams in the post-season and more rounds inflate those stats pretty badly compared to prior eras. I haven't worked through how many more playoff appearances the Brewers would have had, but the Molitor-Yount teams had quite a few low to mid 90's win totals that didn't finish first, but are almost always good enough for a wild card now.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Managers are never perfect, but the CC is the right guy for this team. The first year I really followed the Brewers was 1998. This is the best string of seasons of my lifetime. 17, 18, 19, 21 all right on in the thick of it until the very end.

 

The Brewers are the Rays of the NL. That well-run. Credit to the whole organization.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

This thread is the first time I've realized that Counsell is dying his hair.

[tomwopat]

CC is already beating Garner in the "young pitchers careers destroyed" category for sure.

 

Has some work to do to beat Yost on on-field meltdowns, but he learned from the best.

[PeaveyFury]

CC is already beating Garner in the "young pitchers careers destroyed" category for sure.

 

Elaborate please?

[brooks_quichenick]

CC is already beating Garner in the "young pitchers careers destroyed" category for sure.

 

Huh?

[jerichoholicninja]

I assume he is blaming Counsell for Jimmy Nelson getting hurt.

[clancyphile]

Managers are never perfect, but the CC is the right guy for this team. The first year I really followed the Brewers was 1998. This is the best string of seasons of my lifetime. 17, 18, 19, 21 all right on in the thick of it until the very end.

 

The Brewers are the Rays of the NL. That well-run. Credit to the whole organization.

 

I have to agree. Counsell has been the best fit of a manager to a Brewers team. I think there is a solid case to label him the best manager in Brewers history. In terms of getting to the post-season, he's done it more than anyone else. The competitiveness has also been sustained more so than in the Yost/Macha/Roenicke era the Bamberger/Rogers/Kuenn era, or the Trebelhorn era.

 

Some serious long-term extensions are needed for Stearns and Counsell. 10 years? I'd even go 20.

[tomwopat]

CC is already beating Garner in the "young pitchers careers destroyed" category for sure.

 

Elaborate please?

 

Even considering that it was an earlier era and we knew less about pitching injuries, Phil Garner rode Cal Eldred unbelievably hard:

 

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2011/8/30/2392811/today-in-brewer-history-eldred-overextended

 

This outing finished a four start stretch where Eldred made four appearances on normal rest and averaged 142 pitches per outing.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

CC is already beating Garner in the "young pitchers careers destroyed" category for sure.

 

Elaborate please?

 

Even considering that it was an earlier era and we knew less about pitching injuries, Phil Garner rode Cal Eldred unbelievably hard:

 

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2011/8/30/2392811/today-in-brewer-history-eldred-overextended

 

This outing finished a four start stretch where Eldred made four appearances on normal rest and averaged 142 pitches per outing.

 

Ah ... "beating" as in "doing better than". It was a compliment to Counsell! That makes much more sense now.

 

Garner also rode Navarro into the ground, and probably wasn't careful enough with D'Amico as well.

[pacopete4]

I didn’t see that twist coming.

[igor67]

I had failed to appreciate how over the top Eldred's usage really was. Back when Brewerfan was getting started along with pitch counts 100 was the we are about done here mark but as long as you didn't break 110 there was no significant evidence saying it was a problem, but it seemed to ramp up after that and anything over 120 was a lot and to be avoided. And even by 20 years ago it generally was. It's too bad Eldred kept pitching well enough to rack up those extra pitches. A couple of pretty good starters would have actually made a number of those 90's teams playoff contenders at least.