Counsell believes baseball will be played again in 2020
Two weeks ago, major-league baseball managers thought they would be in the final days of preparation now for the start of the 2020 season.
Then, things changed in a major way with the spread of the coronavirus, which quickly became a global pandemic, leading to the shutdown of sports in the U.S. and across the world. Accordingly, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Craig Counsell is a concerned citizen first and baseball manager second these days.
“We’re not focused on baseball. I have a lot of ‘I don’t knows’ in my answers because we’re not focused on baseball. There’s not a lot to do right now from our perspective,” Counsell said Friday morning in a conference call with members of the media who follow the club.
“We’re doing what our neighbors are doing. We’re at home. That’s about it. Public officials have asked us to have some discipline here. I think that has put everybody out of their routines a little bit. We’re trying to adhere to that.
“It puts you in a different routine. You’ve got to try to enjoy that and find some different things to make it a productive day.”
Counsell found something productive to do Wednesday by providing an online public service announcement on behalf of the Brewers, encouraging people to follow CDC guidelines in dealing with COVID-19, including social dis
tancing, proper hand washing and looking out for the elderly. He noted that baseball traditionally has stepped up during times of need in our country and will do so again, particularly when play resumes.
“Baseball has always played a big role in that,” he said. “I think it will again. I just don’t think we’re there yet (in talking about returning to action). It’s not at that point yet to even discuss that. We’re at a different stage right now. We have to get through this stage of it and everybody has to do their part. Then, hopefully, baseball has done a good job in the past, that part can shine again. And I think it will.
“We have to have perspective here. Everybody has had their lives affected by this. It impacts a lot of people who are involved in the entertainment and sports world. I don’t know if sports have been more affected than other things. I think we’ve all been affected.
“We just have to get through this and understand that we all have a role and a part in helping our country recover. It’s going to come at different times for everybody. We’ve all been affected, lives have been changed. From my perspective and from talking to the players, they all understand that and they’re doing their part.”
In the early days since spring training camps were shut down, Counsell said the primary focus was making sure all players got home safely from Arizona, other than those who live there. There have been telephone conversations with staff and players, but with no idea when baseball will resume, specifics have been in short supply.
“We have a communication chain set up but there’s too much unknown right now to make a lot of decisions,” Counsell said. “There’s just too much unknown. We don’t have a date for the season. That creates a lot of unknown. Guys understand. They’re professional athletes and they’re going to stay in shape. But we’re a ways away from the season starting.
“Our objective is getting everybody where they want to be during this thing. That, for the most part, is done now. As the dates have been moved back to unknown start dates, we’ve backed off pitchers throwing, the frequency and intensity with which they’re throwing.”
“(Miller Park) is not closed. Just like spring training facilities are not closed. There are players in very small groups working out in Phoenix. Their home is in Phoenix. There are injured players getting medical treatment in very small groups. Nothing is happening at Miller Park right now, but it’s not closed.
“As we have players come to Milwaukee, as players’ leases run out in Arizona, if they choose to come to Milwaukee, we’ll make sure they are able to prepare, able to work out. But nothing formal planned as of yet. There’s not a need for it right now.”
As it stands, MLB has advised teams and players that it will follow CDC guidelines for avoiding the gathering of crowds until at least mid-May.
As COVID-19 has continued to spread in the country, that start time is expected to be pushed back farther, so Counsell said it does no good to start planning for Spring Training Part II at this juncture.
“A date, until that happens, and I don’t think we’re very close to that, there’s no reason to put any of this in perspective,” Counsell said. “Every question (and answer) has an ‘if ’ in front of it. You can’t prepare for a thousand scenarios. Everyone is going to worry about the pitchers. From a baseball perspective, that’s what you’re going to worry about.
“This is not a great situation for the players; it’s tough for them. But I think it’s tough for everybody. So, I haven’t thought of those scenarios. I think we understand that. That’s one thing you do put your head around. If and when we do resume playing baseball, it’s going to be different. We’re all going to have to make an adjustment.”
In the meantime, life goes on, and Counsell, with a wife and four children, is making the same adjustments at his home in Whitefish Bay that everyone else has been forced to make, including dealing with schools being closed.
“Parents are being challenged,” he said. “We’re learning the value of teachers, that’s for sure. It’s challenging for all of us to find a different routine but that’s what we have to do. We have to find different routines, do things that we’ve probably never done and build our days like we’ve never done them. But we all understand why and I think it’s motivated a lot of people to do that.”
With no end in sight to the spread of COVID-19, some have begun to wonder if there will be baseball at all in 2020. Asked for his view on that, Counsell did not equivocate.
“I would say that I’m planning on there being baseball, absolutely,” he said. “That’s kind of where my head is at. There’s going to be baseball. I have no idea when.
“The other thing I’m planning for is it’s going to be different. Getting your head around that and being OK with that, and understand we’re all going to have to think about this a little differently. But I’m planning on there being baseball, absolutely.”