Craig Counsell gave fans license to vocalize their feelings however they would like Monday afternoon at American Family Field.

“Cheer, boo, whatever,” Counsell said. “Just have a good time at the game.”

The fans listened.

In Counsell’s first game back in Milwaukee as manager of the rival Chicago Cubs, a sellout crowd made their opinions of the winningest manager in Brewers history heard.

Loud and clear.

The Brewers played a brief thank-you video for Counsell leading up to lineup announcements, which was mostly drowned out by boos from the crowd.

Then, when Counsell was announced during lineups and came out to home plate for the lineup exchange, the stadium was filled with an even louder chorus of boos.

Counsell reflects on fan response prior to return to Milwaukee

It was a peculiar sight.

Counsell was there in the dugout at American Family Field answering questions from the assembled media Monday, just as he’s done hundreds of times over the past decade. 

But this time, the sightline was a bit unfamiliar. 

Counsell, from the visitor’s dugout on the third-base side of the field, was donned in royal blue as he prepared for his first game in Milwaukee as the manager of the Chicago Cubs. 

And a contentious debut it was. 

Counsell, who grew up in Whitefish Bay, played six years for the Brewers and became the winningest manager in franchise history over his nine years at the helm, signed a market-setting five-year, $40 million contract with the Cubs in November. 

The immediate reaction 90 miles north in Milwaukee was mixed, to say the least. Reactions on both sides were passionate.

In a straw poll run last week, more than half of respondents indicated that they wouldn’t forgive Counsell for leaving the Brewers for the rival Cubs.

That was felt Monday afternoon, as the heavy contingent of Cubs fans in the crowd was fully drowned out by the serenade of hometown fans voicing displeasure.

“If anything, it’s not my job to tell people how to feel about something,” Counsell said Monday. “They need to figure it out. Let people feel how they want to feel, and I’m good with that. It doesn’t have to be all positive. We’re in a public job, we’re in a job for fans and fans are allowed to feel however they want to feel. 

“It bothers you initially, of course. Some things that happen bother me, sure. But as it goes on, some of it is (just), ‘You’re a fan, you can feel how you want to feel.’ You’re entitled to that as a fan. I’m good with that. I think that’s part of it and part of what makes sports fun. 

“I live in Wisconsin. I really enjoy living here, I enjoy where I live.”

Counsell, who turned down an offer of $5.5 million annually from the Brewers prior to the shocking announcement that he was joining the Cubs, said he never envisioned himself as a lifelong Brewer in his post-playing days.

“Life takes different turns. I don’t want to plan out my life forever,” he said. “I want to do things that challenge me, excite me. I don’t make plans like that. You’ve got to take the ride of life and see what happens. this was not something I necessarily expected to happen, but you’ve got to jump on the ride, yo.” 

Counsell’s view on staying with the Brewers changed in recent years

Counsell’s philosophy stands in contrast to what many Brewers fans thought was the case during his time managing in Milwaukee, which began with Counsell saying, “(Baseball) in this city is a part of me, I feel a responsibility for it,” during his introductory press conference as manager in 2015. 

That sentiment remained similar in 2021 when Counsell won his 500th game as manager of the Brewers.

“It’s the same thing that I’ll tell you the first day I got the opportunity — I see this as a real responsibility,” Counsell, who helped take the Brewers to the playoffs five of the last six years, said. “I feel responsible for baseball in this city.”

“I’m grateful that I’ve gotten that opportunity, grateful I’ve been able to kind of take that ride and be a part of it. So more than anything, that’s the part of it that I still love and enjoy is having that responsibility in this city, the city I grew up in, the team I grew up rooting for and got to play for. That’s still where I think about it.”

But things in life — and sports — change.

Counsell admitted Monday that, as his time in Milwaukee went on, he began to ponder other possibilities. When David Stearns abruptly stepped down as president of baseball operations following the 2022 season, the idea of leaving the Brewers really began to set in for Counsell.

“There’s not any moments, and not one thing that happens,” he said. “There’s multiple things that happen and you prefer and then opportunities come up, but you’re looking for challenges. I was at a place for a long time, so I think when you’re at a place for a long time, you just naturally think about, ‘What if I did something different?’ 

“That was part of it, that happened over the last couple years. David Stearns leaving made me think about it a lot. I don’t know if it couldn’t. It happens over time, for sure.”

Counsell, in his typical public-facing stoicism, tried his best to sell the idea that Monday was another game for the second-place Cubs chasing the division-leading Brewers, but Brewers manager Pat Murphy, a longtime friend of Counsell’s, offered a different perspective.

“I think it is (sentimental for him), he just doesn’t let you see that part,” Murphy said. “He’s not going to let anybody see that. I’ve seen a very different side of Craig. You have to keep it business-like. This is important to a lot of guys in there, it’s important to this community.”