Brewers infielder Craig Counsell is extremely important to the team in 2011, much like he has been in the past few seasons. His presence on and off the field is invaluable to a team that is looking to make a push for the division title and a playoff appearance. Every team needs veteran leadership and Counsell is the man for the job. His versatility in the infield allows him to play 2nd or 3rd base when Rickie Weeks and Casey McGegehee need to take a day off. Since that's only going to happen a total of like 10 times between the two of them, Counsell's ability to also play shortstop is what is going to get him in the lineup the most. Much has been said of Yuniesky Betancourt's defensive woes, and unless he does a 180 and figures out how to not be terrible with the glove, Counsell will be the semi regular shortstop on this team. I know that Counsell doesn't want to play every day. That's not to say that he doesn't have the tools and talent or the desire to play, but it's an indication that he knows what his role on this team is. He's the back-up infielder and pinch hitter off of the bench. If he's in the starting lineup 4 days a week that means that one of the everyday players is out of the lineup due to injury or ineffectiveness. And Counsell has been around the block long enough to know that Casey McGehee, Rickie Weeks and yes, even Yuniesky Betancourt are better everyday options than he is.
And that doesn't mean that Counsell can't still play or that he is not capable of producing when he is on the field. But let's face it, he's 40 years old and he's not getting any younger. And even though he's in pretty damn good shape, that doesn't stop the fact that old just catches up with you. I'm not one to talk though because I know that he's in a hell of a lot better shape than I am, but then again who isn't? Fuck, I think the Michelin Man is in better shape that I am. I struggle for 2 minutes and wince when I am getting up off the couch. I have to stop and take a breather on the way to the kitchen to grab myself another rum punch. Thank God I live on the 1st floor in my apartment building or else I would never make it home at night. I'd just sleep in the lobby. I'm so fat that I got on the scale and it said one at a time please! I tell ya, when I go to the beach people feel sorry for me and try to roll me back into the water. And when I do get into the water fishing boats surround me and the sea captain yells out "Thar she blows!" and they start shooting harpoons at me. Damn it! I'm doing it again! This isn't "25 pathetic things about Scott in 25 days" this is "25 Brewers in 25 Days" so I'll stop talking about me and continue talking about Craig Counsell. Because that's because you came here today, right? I know that you did, and I also know that you want to read about Craig Counsell. Because everyone does. Everybody loves Craig, for more reasons than we can ever come up with.
I already mentioned his versatility, veteran leadership but let's take a second to talk about his offense. Never known for being a big slugger (41 career homeruns in 14 seasons), his contribution to the offense is getting on base. He's a patient batter in a lineup filled with free swingers, which is why he's a perfect pinch hitter late in the game when the Brewers need a run to tie the game or take the lead. If there is one thing that Counsell does it's get on base via the walk or one of his signature clutch hits. There's a reason we call him C3 (Craig "Clutch" Counsell) because when the game is on the line and we need a baserunner, there's no one I'd rather have at the plate. Craig Counsell will get the job done. That's not to say that he doesn't hit an occasional homerun though. Cousin Kevin and I were in Washington D.C. at Nationals Ballpark when the Brewers dropped a 10 spot on the Nationals in the 1st inning of the game on April 18, 2010. In his 2nd at bat of the inning with the bases loaded and 1 out, the mighty Craig Counsell put one over the rightfield wall for his 3rd career Grand Slam that added the final 4 runs in that 10 run first inning. There are many reasons to love Craig Counsell, but in my opinion the biggest reason is that he is one of us. True, he was born in South Bend, Indiana but his family moved to Whitefish Bay at an early age and attended High School there while his dad worked for the Milwaukee Brewers. He grew up playing baseball and watching the Brewers. Hey, I did that too! Craig Counsell is just like me! Since we're now family, I went to his hometown, the Village of Whitefish Bay to talk about my brother and how much he means to the Reck (especially my brother James) and Brewers families.
Look for Craig Counsell to help out immensely during the stretch run in the dog days of September as he plays almost every day because pitching and defense wins games. Hopefully by then our pitching staff will be 100% and helping to make that push seeing as they had the entire season under their belts and save the best for last, just like they did last September when it was too little too late and we had fallen out of contention. Counsell may not have the power of a Prince Fielder, the athleticism of Ryan Braun or the speed of Rickie Weeks, but his heart, effort and attitude put him as my 3rd favorite Brewers player behind Weeks and Fielder. While Counsell will contribute in too many ways to mention, only these stats that will show up in the box score:
.270 AVG, .337 OPB, 2 HRs, 34 RBIs and the pride of Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee and the entire state of Wisconsin, even though they haven't come up with a stat for that yet.
While I do know a good amount about Craig Counsell because 2011 will be his 6th year with the Brewers, I know nothing about the other veteran back-up Mark Kotsay. But just because I don't know anything about him doesn't mean that I don't like him. If there is one thing that I have learned over the years watching the Brewers it's that you need quality back-up players. Whether you like it or not, a player needs to take a couple of days off or spends a little time on the DL. It's very rare that you see a player play 162 games a year like Prince Fielder did in 2009. Sometimes guys just need a day off for a mental break or to rest a sore body part. That is where Mark Kotsay steps in. Like Craig Counsell, you are confident that could play every day but you don't want him too because that means one of our outfielders is down for a long amount of time. But given our outfield depth/versatility in both the minor and major leagues, I don't see Kotsay getting as much playing time as Counsell. But that my friends, is a topic that will be covered tomorrow. Roll out the Barrel! We'll have a Barrel of Fun!
- pookon -
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