Craig Counsell Park outside Milwaukee vandalized after Brewers manager betrayal
By Curt Bishop
The Milwaukee Brewers are in an unprecedented position, as they now have to search for a new manager.
Longtime Brewers manager Craig Counsell departed for the Chicago Cubs yesterday.
This news was met with much frustration from the Brewers fanbase. Even the Brewers front office was very blunt in their assessment of the situation, going as far as to say that while they had lost Counsell, he had lost them as well.
Just outside of Milwaukee, Counsell has a park named after him. It is home to the Whitefish Bay Little League.
When news broke of Counsell's decision to leave for the Cubs, some Brewers fans took matters into their own hands, traversing to the park overnight and spray-painting a three-letter profanity on the sign for the field.
The sign at Craig Counsell Park in his hometown just outside Milwaukee was vandalized last night
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) November 7, 2023
(via @journalsentinel) pic.twitter.com/aMgMleiZl8
Counsell's park vandalized by angry Brewers fans
Clearly, Brewers fans are none too pleased about Counsell's decision to depart for the Cubs.
Chicago and Milwaukee are NL Central division rivals, and the two teams battled it out for the top spot in the division this past season. The Brewers won the division by nine games over the second-place Cubs.
Watching Counsell depart for a heated division rival is obviously going to hurt for the Brewers and their fans.
But it's clear that some fans feel very strong emotions over this, and thus took things a step further by vandalizing Counsell's park.
At the end of the day, it is quite shocking that Counsell is leaving for a division rival, especially when the Cubs already had David Ross under contract for 2024. But it is also shocking to see Brewers fans react in such a way.
Obviously, they are frustrated and understandably so, and while it's shocking to see it reach this level, it certainly isn't surprising. Counsell was a beloved figure in Milwaukee. But it didn't take much for him to choose the Cubs over his former team.
But some Brewers fans appear to have taken it personally, even going as far as to take matters into their own hands by vandalizing their former skipper's park.
Counsell's decision is likely going to sit with Brewers fans for a little while, and when the Cubs come to town, fans will be prepared to shower him with boos.