Craig Counsell hasn't managed a regular-season game yet, but he already feels like a Cub

MESA, Ariz. — Once manager Craig Counsell stepped into the clubhouse on the first day of spring training, referring to the Cubs as “we” felt pretty natural.

“When you’re with players and with people that you’re going to go on this journey with, it flips pretty fast,” he said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times.

For the last 17 years, the Cubs had been not just any “them” but a division rival of Counsell’s Brewers, whom he represented as a player, front-office member and manager. But in November, he took a leap, leaving the job he’d held for almost a decade to join the Cubs. On Thursday, when the Cubs open the season against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, he’ll make the first mark on his Cubs managerial record.

“Frankly, managing in Chicago was something I had definitely thought about at times,” Counsell said. “And you don’t know these opportunities are going to come.”

Counsell, who had connections to Chicago, wasn’t actively pining after the city some 90 miles south of Milwaukee. But then the opportunity actually arose when the Cubs became a late entry into the Counsell free-agency sweepstakes this winter. A new challenge, paired with a record-breaking contract for five years and $40 million, helped seal the deal.

“You get to points in your life and figure out, do I want to try something, do I want to challenge myself, do I want something different?” Counsell said. “And everybody’s got to answer that question for themselves.”

When Counsell answered “yes,” it was clear a lot was about to change, for him and the Cubs.

A Craig Counsell Park sign in Whitefish Bay was vandalized. Spectators who spotted him at a Bucks game in late November took to social media to voice their displeasure. But he said that in person he didn’t have any issues with disappointed fans.

“That’s what the fandom is, so I understand that,” he said. “And I’m good with it. Certainly the longer you’re with it, it’s easier, for sure. At the beginning, it’s new, and it’s a little more raw for me and fans. And so I get it.”

During the offseason, Counsell was commuting to the Cubs’ offices from Milwaukee about once a week. And already he was challenging convention.

“Really since we brought in Joe [Maddon] at the end of ’14, we’ve been pretty constant,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of the manager position. “[David Ross] knew a lot of these guys, he’d been with us as a player and then as a special assistant. And so having someone truly outside the organization to bring in new ideas, in that space, has been awhile. . . . I view it as a huge positive, that I want those ideas and want those thoughts.”

If Counsell didn’t like the interface on a program while sitting down with the research and development department, he said so. (“When you challenge R&D, they’ve got pretty good answers,” he said with a laugh.) And as he settled into the job, he kept asking questions about why certain norms were in place. If the answer made sense, great. If it didn’t, it was time to explore the topic further.

“I might ask bad questions,” Counsell said. “But I think questions are good. And we should all be questioned. That’s how we get better.”

In his news conference on the first day of spring training, Counsell said he was anxious, and that was a good thing.

It’s different now, heading into the regular season. Most of that anxiety is gone.

“There are certainly still some things that I’m behind on,” he said, “in terms of, just knowing when Kyle Hendricks gets tired — you just can’t know that as well as I have with somebody that I’ve watched start 50 games.”

Counsell will lean on longer-tenured coaches to fill in those kinds of gaps. And there will be flash points of newness, like Opening Day with his new team or the home opener at Wrigley Field.

He will be leading a different group of players. He’ll be wearing a different shade of blue. He’ll be renting a place not far from Wrigley, so during home series, he’ll have a new commute to a different stadium. But for the most part, he said, “I feel like I’m going into another season.”

It’s an easy drive back to Milwaukee to spend time with his wife, Michelle, and their kids on days off — their two sons are away at college, but their two daughters are still in high school. And the family will visit Chicago, too.

“It doesn’t change things for the family because this is our life,” Counsell said. “This is what I’ve done; this is what I’ve always done; this is the schedule our life has been on. And so from that perspective, it’s really not different.”

As much change as Counsell has navigated in his job the last five months, it’s still baseball.