Counsell prepares for return to short
He still may get to participate in World Classic

Nick Piecoro
The Arizona Republic
February 26, 2006

Craig Counsell thinks that in the next month, it'll all come back to him.

Two years ago, he was the Milwaukee Brewers' starting shortstop, a position he'll return to this season.

The Diamondbacks' off-season acquisition of Orlando Hudson shifted Counsell from second base to shortstop, where he'll take over for Royce Clayton, who left as a free agent.

By all accounts, Counsell more than held his own at shortstop in 2004, the first time he played the position every day in the majors. Making only nine errors, he posted a fielding percentage of .983, tying him for fifth-best in baseball.

"Some of the stuff has to be refreshed in my mind since it's been a year," he said.

He's hoping to get the refreshers in spring training games so he's ready to encounter just about anything once the season begins.

"You just want to make all the plays that you have to make so that you're comfortable with how to make the play," he said. "I need to know how am I going to make the backhand or how am I going to make the play way up the middle. I want to make the play so if it happens again, I know how I'm going to do it."

Manager Bob Melvin isn't the least bit concerned.

"You put him anywhere, he's going to give you a great defensive effort," Melvin said. "As long as he has time to prepare, he's going to be fine."

On Friday, Counsell met briefly with Buck Martinez, who is managing the U.S. team in the World Baseball Classic. Counsell was listed on the provisional roster but was not initially selected for the final roster. He said he would be interested in playing should the need arise.

"Yeah, as long as I'm feeling good when it happens," he said. "I just think the final games are games you want to play in.

"Right now, for me, baseball is about experiences. You can't experience that game anywhere else. I've already experienced the best in the world in the playoffs, but this would be a whole different thing."