SAN DIEGO — The bitter taste of victory?
How else to describe the shot of Jeppson’s Malört that Cubs players and staff insisted Craig Counsell share with them on the occasion of his 900th win as a major-league manager Tuesday night.
A helpful member of the Cubs’ traveling party made sure to have the libation on hand, which has become a cult favorite in Chicago establishments that serve adult beverages, even though it has been described as a “famously disgusting liqueur from Chicago.”
Counsell, a Wisconsinite savvy enough to avoid offending the local citizenry, did not share his opinion. Instead, he offered a couple of thoughts on what it meant to reach the round number that leaves him No. 78 on the all-time managers list — nine wins behind Jimy Williams after win No. 901 on Wednesday — and fifth on the list of active managers (The Reds’ Terry Francona ranks No. 1 with 2,051 entering Wednesday).
“Mostly, I think you think about players No. 1, and then probably that you’ve just been in the game for a long time,’’ he told the reporters gathered in his office. “You’ve been doing it for a while, and fortunate to be doing it for a long time.
“. . . You think of players going through this journey of their career, like [reliever] Ryan Rolison getting their shot in the last couple of days and doing a heck of a job. Those are the rewarding moments. . . . Those are the things that you’re happy about and proud of as you go through this.’’
Earlier Tuesday, Counsell sat on a dugout bench and talked about those who helped him along the way — Pat Murphy, his coach at Notre Dame and then his bench coach in Milwaukee; Jim Leyland, his first manager in the big leagues; and Bob Melvin, who managed him in Arizona.
“[Melvin] let me, you know, behind the curtain,’’ Counsell told the Sun-Times, “a little bit into what his job was like. He gave me a lot of freedom as a player. And he always talked
to me about why you did it and why you don’t, what he was thinking. He definitely exposed me to a little more.’’
Counsell is 55 now, an age where you are more likely to be mentor than mentee.
“I think when you get older, you look forward to sharing more, but you’re still learning,’’ said Counsell, who received congratulations from several members of the managing fraternity, including Alex Cora.
“So you’re still learning a lot, so I don’t think that changes. There’s still things you can learn and be better at. That never stops.’’
There are no seminars or weekend retreats for big-league managers. Generally, the only time they’re all together in one place is during the winter meetings, but much of that time is spent plotting trades and free-agent signings.
Counsell said he talks fairly regularly with other managers by phone.
“You’re definitely in relationships with some of these guys,’’ he said. “. . . If you’ve this done for a while, maybe you’re not close friends with some of these guys, but you’re checking on them, they’re checking on you, and you run questions by them.’’
Then there are interactions with coaches from other sports. Counsell tends to favor basketball coaches. While in San Diego, he visited with the basketball coaches at the University of San Diego.
“I think the coaches from other sports, they share a lot of the same concepts,’’ he said. “You’re managing people, you’re managing up [to management] and down [to players], so to speak. That’s probably the biggest commonality.’’
He finds material on social media posted by coaches useful. “Like Kara Lawson, the women’s basketball coach at Duke,’’ he said. “She’s awesome with stuff.’’
Counsell is not into reading leadership or self-help books. “When I read,’’ he said, “it’s usually fiction. I do it more to get away from the game.’’
As for the current emphasis on analytics? “I don’t like that word,’’ he said. “I prefer calling it information. How are people using information.’’
Absorbing the information, then conveying it. He finds that the degree in accounting he earned at Notre Dame has proven useful. How good an accountant would he have been?
“It wasn’t a life goal to be an accountant,’’ he said.
