Counsell fails at giving up
Feisty infielder goes all out all the time

Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
May 20, 2005

Long before he became the popular do-everything infielder for the Diamondbacks, an undersized, underrated underdog that almost makes you feel like, "Hey, if he can play in the major leagues, why can't I?," Craig Counsell wasn't nearly a lock to make it to this level.

Getting the opportunity to play collegiate baseball wasn't even a sure thing. He basically had two choices coming out of Whitefish Bay (Wis.) High School in 1988 if he wanted to prolong his career:

"It was either us or Wisconsin," said Pat Murphy, who was Notre Dame's baseball coach at the time, "and Wisconsin didn't have a baseball program."

Actually, the Badgers did, but "they ended up dropping it a year later," Counsell said, "and I really wanted to go to Notre Dame anyway."

Counsell's father, John, who was an outfielder in the Minnesota Twins organization from 1964-68, went to Notre Dame. His son wanted to follow in his footsteps. But Murphy wasn't sure what he'd be getting from the younger Counsell.

Murphy, now head coach at Arizona State, was new on the job with the Fighting Irish. He hadn't heard of Craig Counsell. A senior administrator at the university had to convince him to go scout the player.

But Murphy saw something in the gawky teenager, even if he didn't know exactly what it was. He offered what little scholarship he could ("I got $500 my first year," Counsell said. "It was nothing."), and it turned out to be Murphy's first official recruit, one that would become a personal favorite.

Not that Murphy will take any credit for it. He was too busy trying to build a program at Notre Dame. He was naïve and gruff. If Counsell made it, fine. But Murphy, who said he then coached baseball "with a football mentality," kept looking at the big picture.

"I was certifiably rough on them, Craig included," Murphy said. "He was a very quiet kid and I was always pushing him to be more talkative. I was very tough on all those guys back then and I remember that group, back in '88-89, telling me that we were all best friends and I was like, 'But I was brutal to you guys?' "

A smile begins to trace Counsell's face as he recalls his early days at Notre Dame and Murphy's drill sergeant-like tactics. Tough love. Bobby Knight gave it. Paul "Bear" Bryant invented it. Sometimes it works. Other times . . .

"He did push," said Counsell, 34. "He kind of put that never-give-up mentality in me. In my mind, next to my mom and dad, he was probably the biggest influence on me, baseball-wise."

John Counsell later worked for the Milwaukee Brewers as director of community relations and often took his young son to the ballpark to show him the inner sanctum of the players' clubhouse. Craig said he "soaked up" everything he saw, from how the players prepared for games to how they intermingled during breaks.

His mother, Jan, was a high school teacher who was raised on a farm. She took on extra jobs to help pay for Craig's college tuition and constantly taught him the values of hard work, to which Craig proudly offered, "That part of me, I got from her, for sure."

Jan said her son was "born into baseball," even though she and her husband, who now live in Fort Myers, Fla., never steered him toward the sport.

"He was 2 years old and he knew everything that was on a baseball card," Jan said. "He couldn't read yet, but he could tell you who was who and what they did, whether it was Chris Speier or Sparky Lyle."

Craig's passion for baseball and his determination to keep improving got him through four years at Notre Dame, where he graduated with a degree in accounting. There was a time during his freshman year, when his grades were suffering, that he worried both about being able to finish his academics and continuing with baseball.

"I told my father, 'I'm going to do it, Dad. And I'm going to be playing this game until someone tells me I can't,' " Counsell said. "No one's ever told me that, so I'm still playing."

It eventually would take Counsell to the major leagues, where he flourished after a 1997 midseason trade from Colorado to the Florida Marlins, for whom he helped capture the World Series that year.

"He always told himself he would play in the major leagues," Jan said. "But I think it wasn't until Florida that he really began to know what that feeling was like."

After being traded to the Dodgers in 1999 and getting released the following year, the Diamondbacks entered the picture and he became a sensation. The fans loved his unorthodox, corkscrew batting stance and his hustle. He was admired for being able to handle three different infield positions.

And in 2001, according to superstar Luis Gonzalez, it was Counsell who was every bit as important as pitchers Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson for Arizona winning the World Series. Gonzalez calls Counsell "the glue" from that club, the stabilizing force that made everything else work.

Sound familiar?

"I think he's playing better now than he played for us in '01, and he played pretty well for us then," General Manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said.

Manager Bob Melvin, bench coach for the Diamondbacks in 2001 and '02, telephoned Counsell the day he was hired as Arizona's manager this past off-season and tried to lure the free agent back out West. Counsell was "home" with the Brewers, having been dealt a year earlier in the Richie Sexson trade, but Melvin knew the Diamondbacks would appeal to the player once again.

"I wanted him here and I let him know that right away," Melvin said.

Some may have scoffed at Melvin's intent to bat Counsell in the leadoff spot. But all Counsell has managed to do is hit .294 with a .423 on-base percentage, drawing 26 walks with eight stolen bases through Wednesday.

"The production they're getting out of Counsell has been terrific," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said a few weeks ago.

Others might have wondered why Counsell was handed the starting job at second base ahead of young Matt Kata. But Counsell consistently turns in defensive gems worthy of Gold Glove consideration and helps anchor the best fielding team in the National League.

"It seems to happen almost every game," Garagiola said. "A ball's hit up the middle and right off the bat, you're like, 'Oh, my gosh, it's going through center field.' But you look up and he winds up with it in his glove. . . . It's no accident he's standing in the right place at the right time."

The time is now and the Diamondbacks, having flirted with first place in the National League West for the better part of three weeks, are a team that could stay in the race all season.

"It's early," Counsell said. "But everybody on our team feels like we've got a chance. When you can say that after 40 games or whatever it's been, that's a really good sign. We feel we should be there."