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The Chicago Cubs are set to take on the Milwaukee Brewers on the road on Monday, which will be Craig Counsell's first game back at Miller Park since leaving the Brewers to manage the Cubs, and he spoke about what he expects the reaction to be from the crowd.
“It's probably going to be the same reaction it normally is in that stadium,” Craig Counsell said, via Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. “There's going to be a lot of Cubs fans there. And there's going to be a lot of Brewers fans there. So there will be some good and some bad.”
Counsell leaving the Brewers was not necessarily shocking, as his contract was up, but it was a surprise to see him go to the division rival Cubs. At the end of last season, the speculation regarding Counsell was that he could follow David Stearns, who he had a history with during their days with the Brewers, to the New York Mets. Instead, the Cubs swooped in to hire Counsell, despite David Ross still being employed as manager. Counsell signed a five-year, $40 million contract, and his free agency played out similar to that of a player.
Counsell did say that it was not all about the money when talking about his move from the Brewers to the Cubs.
“You want challenges,” Counsell said, via Mooney. “If you're competitive, you're doing it for challenges. Every major league manager's job is a challenge, no question about it. But this was a different one. And the different part of it is energizing.”
Counsell led the Brewers to a lot of success, especially considering the franchise does not spend heavily. The team got as close as one game from the World Series in 2018, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the NLCS in 2018. In many other seasons, the Brewers remained competitive in the National League Central. Now, Counsell moves down the road to a bigger market team in the Cubs, where expectations will be to eventually compete for a World Series championship, and that is a new challenge for Counsell.
Cubs trying to chase down Brewers
This season, the Brewers are off to a good start in the first year after Counsell's departure. Milwaukee is 30-22 overall, 3.5 games ahead of the Cubs, who sit in second place in the National League Central division. After narrowly missing out on the postseason last year, the expectation is for the Cubs to get into the dance in October this season after bringing in Counsell.
Monday's game will be the first of a four-game set between the Cubs and the Brewers. A good series from Chicago would be huge to gain ground in the division. Luckily, the Cubs are currently in position for a wild card spot in the National League as things currently stand.
It will be interesting to see the reception Counsell gets, and how the Cubs fare in this four-game set.
