Counsell has his priorities straight
Brewers manager keeps focus on safety, health
Chin Up
On Monday morning, I heard a manager say something I've never heard before in sports.
“I'm not spending much time at this point looking forward to … I should say, looking the season,” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. “…The season is, not yet, not on my radar really.”
This is an extraordinary thing to say, even for these extraordinary times.
We know the straightforward
Craig Counsell. The hometown guy who can't hide. We know if you're not ready a minute or two before your appointment with him, you
INSIDE
Brewers players Luis Urías and Angel Perdomo tested positive COVID-19 last week.
Story,
might be late. We know Counsell's leadership style is more practical than political.
But in a crisis right now, we are starting to see another side of Counsell, just when we need it, right when our sports teams dive back in to work amid a continuing pandemic.
So on Monday, after Counsell revealed that two of his players, asymptomatic, tested positive for Covid19, on just the fifth day of Summer Camp, he also said this:
“We're just doing our best every day to do the right thing by our players and keeping everybody safe,” said Counsell. “We have workouts to organize, we have to spread them out. We have to understand how we all have to operate together. And that requires, right now, all of our attention.
“So the season is, not yet, not on my radar really.”
The sixth-year manager of the Brewers isn't worried about the schedule and its imbalances of advantage and disadvantage. He's not overreacting to the different levels of readiness of each of his guys.
What he cares most about right now is player and staff health and safety, and what that means for their families at home.
He's very hands-on with this. He's been keeping up on testing – “there's a lot of hard work that goes into just the logistics of setting this up.”
And he's concerned about dayto-day operations.
“There's going to be snags in this, I think we all know that,” said
Counsell.
He's not delegating the responsibility of reminding everyone of the distancing rules; he is taking the lead here, too.
"We all need reminders," said Counsell. "There are spots in the day that, when I see our players, we've got to get a little bit better at, for sure, and I think we can. We're getting better at it but we can make it improve every day still."
Best of all, Counsell doesn't pretend to be the authority on the coronavirus testing procedures.
“I'd encourage you to ask the players as well,” was Counsell's response to a media session question about the success of testing so far.
Counsell even went as far to convince his coronavirus-positive players to identify themselves publicly.
The Brewers wouldn't be allowed to do this without their consent, and he got it. This makes so much sense.
“So that when we get into the season, we're not playing this game of: where is so-and-so player?” said Counsell.
Being up front about things, not cagey and weird, is leadership. Treat the players with respect, make sure they get any treatment they need, and maybe take this as an opportunity to educate the public further about the seriousness of coronavirus all by just being forthcoming. It's refreshing.
It's also different. Coaches and managers are usually obsessed with productivity. Counsell knows better than anyone that winning and losing games will have shortand long-term rewards or consequences, individually, and collectively, even in 2020. This isn't a throwaway season.
Yet Counsell gets it: There's no bubble waiting for the major leagues. If he doesn't set the tone around the organization that the first job is to keep everyone safe, there may not be a season.
So he's willing to lead charge.
In the Brewers' opening meeting, the message was about being committed to each other. He set expectations of how to behave off the field. He established a new code of conduct.
Then Counsell talked to players individually, about their concerns over the pandemic.
“This is on my radar – because it's keeping everybody healthy and safe, and that job is right now is taking up the bulk of our time,” said Counsell. “And it should.
“When we figure out how to do that as good as we possibly can, and feel like we've created a really safe environment for our players, then…”
Then Counsell can focus on actual baseball.
It's nice to see the priorities in the right order, not just because they're logical, but because it's the best way to manage any team of people.
“I wouldn't want anybody else heading this ship rather than him – he's doing an awesome job,” pitcher Brent Suter said on Monday.
“The games will start in a couple weeks for sure and we're definitely getting baseball in forefront, but certainly a lot of guys still want to make sure everything's in place before we start games and he's doing a great job.”
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