CraigCounsell.com - The Unoffical Fansite of Craig Counsell

Career Highlights (2001-2004)

2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004

2004 Career Highlights

Craig joined Milwaukee as part of an 8-player trade the previous December, and he was the only member of the deal who experienced a homecoming, returning to the city in which he was raised when his father worked in the Brewers' front office...he was the Opening Day starting shortstop for the Brew Crew and appeared in 140 games overall, just one shy of his single-season best set with Arizona in 2001...Counsell established career highs with 473 at bats and 17 stolen bases, while matching a personal best with 5 triples...his .983 fielding percentage ranked fifth among National League shortstops, committing only 9 errors...he established a Milwaukee record by reaching base via catcher's interference 6 times, missing the National League mark of 7 held by Pittsburgh's Dale Berra in 1983 and the Major League record of 8 set by Roberto Kelly with the Yankees in 1992...he recorded his 600th career hit with a single off of John Grabow on July 3 at Pittsburgh...he hit .292 (26-for-89) with 9 runs scored, a home run, 2 RBI and 3 stolen bases in July...he had 2 singles in the third inning on September 6 at Pittsburgh joining Keith Ginter as the only Brewers with 2 hits in an inning in 2004.

2003 Career Highlights

Craig had only a month of play under his belt when a dislocated right thumb sidelined him until early-July after which he struggled to regain his hitting stroke ... he entered the spring in rehabilitation mode and made great strides in rebounding from season-ending neck surgery in 2002, but while breaking up a double play on May 6 against the Phils, Counsell dislocated his right thumb on the slide into second base ... he was placed on the disabled list on May 7 and underwent surgery by Dr. Don Sheridan the following day to repair the ligament damage ... the versatile infielder saw action at all 4 infield positions, starting 49 games at third base, 18 at shortstop and 7 at second base and taking over defensively at first base for a pair of contests ... he broke out of a season-opening 0-for-10 slide on April 7 in Los Angeles, singling in the sixth, tripling home Matt Williams in the seventh, then singling in the 12th to set the stage for Lyle Overbay's game-winning pinch homer ... the 3-hit affair launched his first of two 9-game hitting streaks, during which he posted a .333 average (13-for-39) ... he assumed the leadoff duties on April 16 against the Rockies and went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 runs ... he matched a career-high with 4 RBI in the opener of the April 27 twinbill in New York ... he and wife, Michelle, welcomed their first child, son Brady Michael, on May 3, then Craig arrived at the park in time to go 2-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 runs against Atlanta ... he hit a solo homer, his first of the season, off of Brandon Duckworth in the fifth frame on May 6 against the Phillies, but suffered the disabling injury later that night ... at the time of the injury, Craig was in the midst of a 5-game hitting streak (.400, 8-for-25) and had reached base safely in 12 straight games ... he hit leadoff in 20 consecutive games leading up to the injury, batting .300 (24-for-80) with 16 runs and 15 walks ... he led off 8 of those 20 contests with a walk (4 times) or a hit (4 times - 3 singles, double) and scored on 7 of those occasions ... he was activated from the DL on July 7 and went 1-for-4 as the starting shortstop, his first of 15 consecutive starts through July 24 ... he hit safely in his first 4 games back to stretch his hitting streak to a season-high tying 9 games (.378, 14-for-37) ... he homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career on July 8 and 9 ... the leadoff homer off of the Rockies' Denny Neagle on July 8 was Counsell's first as a D'Back and the eighth game opening shot in franchise history ... the roundtripper was also his first career regular season blast off of a southpaw (he homered off of Cardinal lefty Mike Matthews in Game #3 of the 2001 Division Series on October 12 in St. Louis) ... he had 3 hits on July 27 against the Dodgers, then went into a 14-for-88 slump (.159) over his next 33 games ... he moved from third to first base defensively in the seventh inning on July 14 in Cincinnati, his third career game action at first base and first since June 8, 2001, in Kansas City ... on Sept. 4 in Kansas City, he pinch-ran and scored the tying run in the eight inning then singled and scored the eventual game-winning run on Lyle Overbay's pinch single in the tenth ... he concluded the season by hitting safely in 7 straight games at a .300 clip (9-for-30).

How obtained:
Signed as a free agent, March 20, 2000.

2002 Career Highlights

One of the more heart-warming yet heart-breaking stories of the year belonged to Craig Counsell...easily the team's most valuable position player during the first half of the season, Craig took full advantage of the opportunities given to him due to injuries to veteran infielders Matt Williams and Jay Bell, but wound up on the shelf himself as the Diamondbacks made their run to a second straight Western Division title...he was sidelined from August 9 through the end of the season due to a herniated disk in his neck that required surgery on September 18 by Dr. Drew Dossett in Dallas, TX, the same surgeon that repaired fellow Notre Dame alum Raghib Ismail of the Dallas Cowboys...the surgery on Counsell was deemed a success as the numbness and tingling he had experienced disappeared within hours of the procedure...though there was no single play that attributed to the injury, Craig began experiencing numbness in his right arm on August 9, the day after making one of the more spectacular diving plays of any season on a Henry Blanco line shot in the second inning of a game against the Braves...Counsell finished that afternoon going 1-for-4 in what wound up as his final game of the year... when healthy, Craig was the focal point of the Arizona offense while also providing outstanding defensive play...he established a career-high for RBI with 51 in 112 games, 11 more than he had with Florida in 1998 and 13 more than he posted in 141 games for Arizona in 2001...he also hit .364 with runners in scoring position (40-for-110) which was third best in the National League at the time his season ended, highlighted by a .413 mark (26-for-63) with less than 2 out in the inning...he opened the year as the starting third baseman after the D'Backs broke camp without either Williams or Bell, and Counsell responded by hitting .329 through the first 13 games... he then experienced his longest drought of the year going 4 games without a hit (0-for-12) before hitting safely in 14 of the next 17 games at a .343 clip (23-for-67) from April 20-May 8...Counsell tied a team record with 5 hits against the Dodgers on May 26, the club that released him in the spring of 2000, giving him the opportunity to join the Diamondbacks...the 5-hit effort closed out a 5-game stretch in which Craig was 12-for-24 (.500) with 8 runs and 5 RBI...he later tacked on a 4-hit game on June 22 against Toronto...he had another solid month from June 21-July 21, hitting .346 (37-for-107) in a 26-game stretch, highlighted by a pair of terrific road trips...he combined stops in Houston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Colorado and San Diego during that 26-game period to hit .379 (25-for-66) over the 19 road games...included was his third career 4-RBI game on June 27 in Houston...as if all of that wasn't enough, he provided Arizona with one of its biggest swings of the year, hitting a ninth inning game-tying pinch-hit home run off of the Mets' Armando Benitez in the first game of the August 3 doubleheader in Shea Stadium, a contest the D'Backs wound up winning 8-5 in 10 innings and propelling the club to a 4-game sweep in New York...it was Counsell's first pinch hit at bat of the season and his first-ever pinch homer in 73 career at bats...the versatile infielder made 88 starts at third base, with the majority of that work coming prior to the All-Star break when Williams was out with a fractured ankle...Craig also started 11 games at shortstop and 10 others at second base.

2001 Career Highlights

Was released by the Dodgers in spring training and signed a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks on March 20...opened the year in Tucson (AAA), hitting .348 with the Sidewinders before his contract was purchased on May 31.

Was used sparingly after arriving to the big league club, making periodic starts at 2nd base, 3rd base and shortstop...closed the year as a regular in the lineup, starting 12 of Arizona's last 15 games mainly at short and 2nd.

Had a 7-game hitting streak halted in the season finale with an 0-for-3 against the Giants...batted .423 (11-for-26) in his final 8 games of the year, scoring at least once in 7 of those affairs (8 total runs)...also hit .377 (26-for-69) in his last 19 starts...hit .333 (40-for-120) when employed in the starting lineup (33 total starts).

Recorded his 2nd career 4-hit game in his 2nd start as a Diamondback, reaching base 5 times on June 4 at Texas featuring a double, home run and a walk...the home run was his first in the majors since July 24, 1998, a span of 210 AB's between blasts.

Hit his 2nd (and last) homer of the year just 2 nights after his 4-hit game in Texas, breaking up Kevin Tapani's bid for a shutout with a 9th inning roundtripper in Wrigley Field.

Delivered 9th inning pinch-hit single vs. Texas on July 13, breaking Greg Colbrunn's franchise record with his 4th consecutive pinch hit.

Was the first Diamondback in franchise history to reach on catchers interference when he made contact with Colorado catcher Ben Petrick to begin the game on September 25 in Coors Field.