{"id":283445,"date":"2025-10-07T07:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T07:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/283445\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T07:03:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T07:03:12","slug":"is-beating-the-chicago-cubs-and-manager-craig-counsell-the-milwaukee-brewers-world-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/283445\/","title":{"rendered":"Is beating the Chicago Cubs and manager Craig Counsell the Milwaukee Brewers’ World Series?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE \u2014 The much-anticipated National League Division Series battle between managers Craig Counsell and Pat Murphy has been one-sided so far.<\/p>\n

Murphy has the decisive edge over his old friend and former boss after the Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 7-3 win over the Chicago Cubs<\/a> on Monday at American Family Field, giving them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.<\/p>\n

It was as painful a loss as the Cubs have had all season, and puts them on the brink of elimination heading into Game 3 at 4:08 p.m. on Wednesday<\/a> at Wrigley Field. It ain\u2019t over till it\u2019s over, but the Cubs need a comeback for the ages to move on.<\/p>\n

Can they pull it off?<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cI\u2019d be a fool if I was here and didn\u2019t think so. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brewers couldn\u2019t have scripted it any better, trouncing their archrivals in the ballpark Cubs fans used to own, embarrassing the former manager who bounced for more money, and showing a national TV audience they\u2019re the real deal.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong falls after trying to catch a three-run home run from Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio during the fourth inning in Game 2 of the NL Division Series on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Milwaukee. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s showtime,\u201d Brewers catcher William Contreras said, shortly after standing and watching his home run like he was waiting on the 3:10 to Yuma.<\/p>\n

Whether it was Contreras pimping a home run, Jacob Misiorowski pumping 104 mph fastballs past Cubs hitters or Sal Frelick leaping against the right-field wall to rob Seiya Suzuki, everything went Milwaukee\u2019s way, at least after Andrew Vaughn erased a three-run deficit with his three-run blast off Imanaga in the bottom of the first. Cubs hitters struck out 11 more times, giving them 58 in only five postseason games.<\/p>\n

Counsell was treated like he stole the beer money of 40,000 Brewers fans. He\u2019s been lustily booed before both games,<\/a> and during trips to the mound, which were numerous on Monday as Shota Imanaga and Daniel Palencia gave up three-run home runs, wasting a three-run, first-inning shot by Suzuki that briefly provided hope to jittery Cubs fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s none of my business, but I know this: They never boo a bum,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cYou\u2019re getting booed, you\u2019re good at something. I hate it because I know how much he loves Milwaukee. I know how much he loves this city. He loves this state. There\u2019s no one that\u2019s more fond of the high school athletic performances than Craig \u2026 But fans will be fans. They\u2019re fanatics, so they do what they do, and people pile on and that type of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy predicted the fans would \u201ccome around someday,\u201d but judging from the first two games, I\u2019m not so sure. I ran into Brewers owner Mark Attanasio before Game 2<\/a> and asked why Brewers fans are still obsessed with Counsell.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I\u2019ve said, he won more games than any other manager in our history, and that may last for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the things about sports is that things are a matter of record. Your guess would be as good as mine. I think the more you\u2019re loved, the more your heart is broken.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t know. I took one psychology class in college (at Brown), that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

I took one psychology class at Mizzou, and my theory is they resent the fact that Chicago is a world-class city with great architecture and restaurants, while Milwaukee is a place with a statue of The Fonz. It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n

Everyone has their heart broken at some point, but eventually you move on. Milwaukee refuses to move on from Counsell\u2019s snub, even though Murphy has been a remarkably efficient replacement.<\/p>\n

\"MilwaukeeMilwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run during the third inning against the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of the NL Division Series on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Milwaukee. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

I asked Attantasio if he\u2019s spoken to Counsell lately. He said they haven\u2019t since Counsell\u2019s departure, but not because of any animosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s he been gone, two years?\u201d he said. \u201cI haven\u2019t been to many games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsell was standing near the Cubs\u2019 batting cage when we spoke, so I was going to suggest to Attanasio that he should go talk to him, hoping to get a Nobel Peace Prize out of the interview. But with the Cubs trailing in the series, it seemed inappropriate to play peacemaker.<\/p>\n

Attanasio said he has no hard feelings about Counsell leaving. As they like to say in baseball, \u201cit\u2019s a business.\u201d<\/p>\n

So why can\u2019t Brewers fans get over it? Players leave teams for more money all the time. Willy Adames left Milwaukee for the San Francisco Giants last year and got a standing ovation upon his return. Why should a manager be any different?<\/p>\n

Attanasio declined to be a spokesman for Brewers fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about the fans, not about the owner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Brewers fans should be happy, I told him. They have a cool manager, a great team and full houses at their ballpark. Stop obsessing over the past and embrace the present.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings have gone well for both sides,\u201d Attanasio said. \u201cThese are two of the winningest teams in the National League, and two of the six winningest teams in Major League Baseball. Pretty good. By the way, the Central Division has been disrespected in the National League. Look at the two of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, right, shake hands before Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo\/Kayla Wolf)<\/p>\n

Was Attanasio worried that beating Counsell and the Cubs in the NLDS would be like winning a World Series for Milwaukee? Are they so fixated with beating the Cubs that they could suffer a letdown in the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers or Philadelphia Phillies<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he replied. \u201cOur goal, like the Cubs\u2019 goal I\u2019m sure, is to get to the World Series, however we have to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brewers are obviously a lot closer to getting there than the Cubs, but Attanasio was not counting his fish before they were boiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne game at a time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So the series moves back to Chicago, and a chance for the Cubs to prove rumors of their demise are greatly exaggerated.<\/p>\n

Maybe a group hug for Counsell is in order.<\/p>\n

He looks like he could use some love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE \u2014 The much-anticipated National League Division Series battle between managers Craig Counsell and Pat Murphy has been…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":283446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[40747,960,1271,1816,5386,1818,98582,4247,61637,116047,143955,89718,5435,55063,1272],"class_list":{"0":"post-283445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-andrew-vaughn","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-craig-counsell","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-mark-attanasio","15":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","16":"tag-mlb-playoffs","17":"tag-mlb-postseason","18":"tag-national-league-division-series","19":"tag-pat-murphy","20":"tag-shota-imanaga","21":"tag-william-contreras","22":"tag-wrigley-field"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115331610143142377","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}