MILWAUKEE (AP) – Craig Counsell enjoyed a solid but unspectacular major league career, hitting .255 over 16 seasons. He is confident he will have more success as a manager.
“It’s an honor, and it’s humbling, but I feel like this is what I was meant to do,” Counsell said at a news conference Monday after his hiring to replace Ron Roenicke as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. “I think I’ll be better at this than I was at playing.”
Counsell, a 44-year-old Milwaukee native, spent the final five seasons of his career with the Brewers, retiring after the 2011 season.
“I’m not looking at this as a job. This is my passion and what I want to do,” Counsell said. “These opportunities are rare. This opportunity is the one, and it’s the rarest.”
A major league-worst 7-18, the Brewers lost 40 of their final 56 games under Roenicke, who was fired Sunday night despite a contract running through 2016. The skid included a late-season collapse last year, after they led the NL Central for nearly five months, and a 2-13 start this season.