By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent

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After a 7-18 start, the Milwaukee Brewers replaced manager Ron Roenicke on May 4 with Craig Counsell.

Counsell, who spent 16 years in the majors, is a South Bend, Ind., native who played for the University of Notre Dame.  He becomes the 18^th Hoosier-born skipper in big league baseball history.   

The 44-year-old former infielder spent 16 years in the major leagues as an infielder with the Rockies, Marlins, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Brewers.  For the past three seasons Counsell been a special assistant to Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin. 

“He played the game with a chip on his shoulder,” Melvin told reporters after giving Counsell a three-year contract – even though he has no previous managerial experience. 

“He’s played 1,600 games (actually 1,624) as a player,” Melvin continued.  “I told him he was on the bench for about 800 games that he didn’t play, and during those games, I know he was managing in his mind.”

A handyman who played mostly second base, shortstop and third, Counsell batted .255 over a career that began in 1995.  He finished up with the Brewers in 2011.  

Counsell grew up around baseball.  John Counsell, his father, captained Notre Dame’s baseball team in 1964 and was an outfielder in the Minnesota Twins organization from 1964 to 1969. 

Craig practically grew up in Milwaukee’s County Stadium while John worked as director of community relations for the Brewers from 1978 to 1988.  After graduation from Whitefish Bay (Wis.) High School, he attended Notre Dame and followed in his father’s footsteps as team captain of the Fighting Irish.  Counsell graduated with an accounting degree and was selected by Colorado in the 11^th round of the 1992 draft.

In 1997 the Rockies traded him to Florida, where he batted .299 in a platoon role at second base.  He hit .429 for the Marlins in the NLCS that year and in the World Series with Cleveland, his sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth sent Game Seven into extra innings.  In the eleventh, he scored the run that made Florida the world champs.      

Counsell joined Arizona in 2001.  He starred in that year’s NLCS, hitting .381 against Atlanta to earn MVP honors.  He picked up a second championship ring when the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in the 2001 World Series. 

“You can apply any number of terms to him:  overachiever, you know, one of those guys who makes the most out of his talent,” was how Arizona manager Bob Brenly described Counsell for USA Today.

One of the few big league players who didn’t wear batting gloves, Counsell was famous for the unique batting stance he used until 2008.  With his back to the pitcher and his feet perpendicular to the mound, he held his bat high in the air, moving it erratically.

A 2010 article in The Sporting News proclaimed Counsell the 13^th-smartest athlete in sports.  In recent years he passed up offers to coach other teams in order to remain in Milwaukee with his wife and four children. 

Along with Don Mattingly of the Dodgers and Seattle’s Lloyd McClendon, Counsell becomes the third Indiana native currently managing big league clubs.  Here is a list of every Hoosier-born big league pilot, with birthplaces in brackets.

Harry Wheeler (Versailles).  Wheeler worked in three different major leagues at various times in his career as an infielder, outfielder, pitcher, manager and umpire.  In 1884 he was briefly a player-manager for the Kansas City Unions of the Union Association and compiled an 0-4 record.

 Fred Thomas (Indianapolis).  The Indianapolis Hoosiers finished last in the National League.  They went through three managers in 1887, none of whom ever played baseball.  Thomas, the team secretary, replaced Watch Burnham, a former umpire, in June.  Thomas later gave way to Horace Fogel, a sportswriter.   

John Kerins (Indianapolis).  A big league first baseman-catcher from 1884-1890, Kerins managed two American Association teams, the Louisville Colonels (1888) and St. Louis Browns (1890).  He was the first Indianapolis native to reach the big leagues.   

Louie Heilbroner (Fort Wayne).  The St. Louis Cardinals team secretary, Heilbroner took over the managerial reins for the last 50 games of the 1900 campaign.  He handled administrative duties while third baseman John McGraw made on-field decisions.

Chick Stahl (Avilla).  Stahl was a standout outfielder for the Boston Red Sox who closed out the 1906 season as the team’s playing manager.  He resigned at the end of the year and committed suicide in 1907 during a spring training stop in West Baden Springs, Ind. 

Three-Finger Brown (Nyesville).  The right-handed pitcher punched his ticket to Cooperstown with 239 victories, most of them for the Cubs’ Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance dynasty of the early 1900s.  He began the 1914 campaign as manager of the Federal League’s St. Louis Terriers.

Donie Bush (Indianapolis).  A star shortstop who teamed with Ty Cobb in Detroit, Bush spent seven decades in baseball as a player, manager, executive and scout.  He piloted the Washington Senators (1923), Pittsburgh (1927-29), Chicago White Sox (1930-31) and Cincinnati Reds (1933), guiding the Pirates to the 1927 pennant.

Max Carey (Terre Haute).  Carey, a Hall of Fame outfielder, managed the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932-33.  His replacement was rookie skipper Casey Stengel.  

Bob Coleman (Huntingburg).  A former catcher, Coleman replaced Stengel as manager of the Boston Braves and held the post in 1944 and 1945.

Fred Fitzsimmons (Mishawaka).  Fitzsimmons won 217 games as a big league pitcher and piloted the Philadelphia Phillies from 1943-1945.

Billy Herman (New Albany).  Herman made the Hall of Fame as a star second baseman for the Cubs, Dodgers and Braves.  He managed the Pirates in 1947 and the Red Sox from 1964-66. 

Red Corriden (Logansport).  A five-year big-league infielder and long-time coach, Corriden closed out the 1950 season as manager of the White Sox. 

Gil Hodges (Princeton).  Hodges was the first baseman on the Brooklyn Dodgers ‘Boys of Summer’ teams of the 1950s.  He managed the Washington Senators (1963-67) and New York Mets (1968-1971), leading the Mets to a surprising World Series victory in 1969.

Lloyd McClendon (Gary).  McClendon was a utility player for the Reds, Cubs and Pirates from 1987-1994.  He managed Pittsburgh from 2001-05 and took over as Seattle skipper in 2014.

Eric Wedge (Fort Wayne). Wedge turned to managing after injuries curtailed a promising catching career.  He piloted the Cleveland Indians from 2003-2008 and the Mariners from 2011-2013. 

Don Mattingly (Evansville).  A star first sacker for the Yankees, Mattingly has managed the Dodgers since 2011.

Tim Bogar (Indianapolis).  The nine-year big league infielder (Mets, Astros, Dodgers, 1993-2001) was interim manager of the Texas Rangers for the last 22 games of 2014.

Pete Cava is the author of Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players:  A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014, coming soon from McFarland Publishers.