MILWAUKEE — On the verge of clinching the NL Central Division title, Manager Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers is keeping cool, calm and collected when it comes to the looming postseason. He joined Wisconsin’s Morning News for the final time the season on Tuesday to chat about the team’s Playoff aspirations, how hometown fans influence the players and where the iconic Bob Uecker factors into his thought process throughout this late-season push.
“A win is the goal tonight, but the division is the division — you win it any way you can, and we’ve got six days to do it,” Counsell told Wisconsin’s Morning News. “You take care of the job in front of you, and playing a Major League game is hard enough and it keeps you focused.”
The NL Central will belong to the Brewers so long as they win, or the Chicago Cubs lose against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. With that in mind, Counsell said that there are no rules against his players peeking at the Cubs score tonight, and that the whole team is invested in celebrating with a packed crowd at American Family Arena.
“It’s what every player craves,” Counsell said. “When there’s people there, you just want to do it for the people. It fires you up, so it’s always something that’s special. I can guarantee players are thinking about it tonight.”
He went on to reiterate that he’s hoping his team can pull off something ‘special’ on Tuesday night. However, the regular season is only one small slice of the pie. In Counsell’s own words, “some magic’s gotta happen to have a great postseason run.”
Nonetheless, Craig Counsell is mainly focused on the task at hand. While he confirmed that he’s looking at certain scenarios for his team’s postseason outlook, his focus remains on clinching the division title and the steps that follow.
Despite his focus on what’s happening on the field, Counsell admitted to Wisconsin’s Morning News that the Brewers’ iconic broadcaster, Bob Uecker is on his mind and the minds of the players as they look to mount a historic postseason run. This, for Counsell, was the silver lining of losing in Miami and returning to Milwaukee for these final games before clinching the NL Central.
“We’ve all had that thought on our mind about Bob calling World Series games,” Craig Counsell said. “Whenever we think about a loss or think about where we’re going, thinking about what we could do for Ueck here is always one of the first things that come to your mind.”
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