Brewers name former player Craig Counsell as new manager

The Sports Xchange

10 years ago

May 4, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell speaks at a press conference where he was named the team’s manager before game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

May 4, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell (right) listens to general manager Doug Melvin at a press conference before game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

May 4, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell (right) shakes hands with general manager Doug Melvin after Counsell was named the team’s manager before game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

May 4, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell (right) is greeted by television announcer Bill Schroeder (left) after Counsell was named the team’s manager at a press conference before game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

Apr 4, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke (10) looks on against the Cleveland Indians at Maryvale Baseball Park. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)

Apr 15, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke (10) looks on before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. (Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)

Apr 20, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke watches the game against the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth inning at Miller Park. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

Apr 27, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke, right, talks with home plate umpire Tim Welke (3) during a pitcher change in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. (David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)

May 2, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke (left) and Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon (right) talk prior to a game at Wrigley Field. (Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports)

The Milwaukee Brewers will name Craig Counsell as their next manager after firing Ron Roenicke on Sunday night, according to multiple reports.

Counsell, who played 16 seasons in the majors — including six with Milwaukee — is currently a special assistant to Brewers president and general manager Doug Melvin.

Melvin announced Roenicke’s firing hours after the 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs to give the Brewers their first consecutive victories of the year and first series win. The team started the season with a league-worst 7-18 record.

“This came together fairly quick,” Melvin told reporters Sunday night. “You can look at the two or three games and say we played better but we looked at it how we performed over the entire month (of April) and how we performed over the course of the last 100 games.

“The last three games the players have performed better and you say, ‘Why couldn’t that have happened earlier?’ It’s (a lack of) consistency. We just did not play good baseball until the last few games. We couldn’t wait to see if we’d lose three more or seven of the next 10 or whatever. Ron and I were both very frustrated at how the team was playing. We talked a lot about how you get the guys going and performing on a consistent basis.”

Roenicke was surprised by the timing of the move.

“I told (Melvin) I wish he would have fired me a week ago instead of right when the team started playing well,” Roenicke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by telephone. “That bothered me. When he asked me to come up to his office, I figured it couldn’t be good.”

The Brewers won a franchise-record 96 games and the NL Central crown in his first season, 2011. They overcame a slew of injuries and a midseason trade of right-hander Zack Greinke to challenge for a wild-card spot in 2012 but fell apart completely in 2013 when Ryan Braun was suspended for the final 65 games over his role in the Biogenesis scandal.

Roenicke’s stint with Milwaukee — his first as a big-league manager — comes to an end with a 342-331 (.508) record.