IRISH IN THE PROS
BY RYAN TICE
S
ince retiring from a 16-year Major
League Baseball career, former Notre
Dame player Craig Counsell has held a
front office position with the Milwau-
kee Brewers, who were his last profes-
sional stop as a player from 2007-11. He
also played for the club during the 2004
campaign and was hired as a special as-
sistant to general manager Doug Melvin
in 2012.
After the team fired manager Ron
Roenicke following a league-worst 7-18
start this year, Counsell was given a new
title — manager.
It's a journey that has come full circle
for the 44-year-old son of a former Brew-
ers' front office member, who graduated
from Whitefish Bay High School in Mil-
waukee. Like his father, who also served
as an Irish assistant coach during the
1960s and early '70s, Counsell played
baseball at Notre Dame.
The infielder led his squad to national
prominence in the early 1990s and was
named MVP as a senior on a team that
included 14 eventual draft picks. He
Irish Alum Named
Brewers' Manager
Craig Counsell grew up a Brewers fan, played for the team, held a front office position and has now taken
over as Milwaukee's manager.
PHOTO COURTESY MILWAUKEE BREWERS
