MESA, Ariz. -- When Cubs manager Craig Counsell received the lineup and travel squad from the D-backs ahead of Thursday’s Cactus League game, he sent a photo of the list to his wife, Michelle. Their son Brady was included in the group of extra players heading to Sloan Park.
The text Craig received back read: “I know.”
Even with father and son living together in Arizona this spring, Mom already had the scoop.
“He knew last night,” Craig said with a smile on Thursday morning. “But he didn’t tell me last night. He told his mom.”
Said Brady, “I called her last night when I found out and told her. I was going to tell him but figured it’d be a little more fun as a surprise for him when he found out”
For D-backs manager Torey Lovullo, it was a chance to repay something the Cubs organization had done for him years earlier.
Lovullo’s son, Nick, who will be the bench coach for Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate in Iowa this year, was coaching in the system. Then-manager David Ross made sure that Nick was part of the Cubs traveling party to Salt River Fields where he exchanged lineup cards with Torey.
“I've had that moment,” Lovullo said. “I know what it meant to me. It's very impactful. And you don't get this opportunity very often in baseball.”
The Counsells met at home plate prior to Thursday’s 8-1 win for the Cubs, gathered with the day’s umpiring crew and exchanged the cards. Before they all posed for a photo on the field, the manager gave his son a quick hug. To Craig Counsell’s amusement, first-base umpire Bruce Dreckman gave the kid one, too.
“I said, ‘This is my son, Bruce,’” Craig said after the game. “And then Bruce got all excited and gave him a big hug, which was cool.”
The Diamondbacks selected Brady in the 10th round of last year’s MLB Draft out of the University of Kansas, continuing the Counsell family connection to the organization.
Craig had two different stints with the Diamondbacks during his big league career from 2000-03 and again from 2005-06. He played a big role in Arizona’s 2001 World Series championship, winning the MVP award for the NL Championship Series that year.
“Obviously my dad played for them and won a World Series with them, so when I got the call that they were going to be [drafting] me, it was super exciting to kind of be able to follow his footsteps and hopefully eventually be able to bring another championship to Arizona,” Brady said.
Craig was happy it was the Diamondbacks that picked his son.
“At that point you just want him to get picked,” Craig said. “But, to have a connection to the organization, yeah, that’s cool. There’s obviously a connection. I won a World Series playing there. I played there for five-plus years. Definitely, it’s one of the organizations I do feel a connection to, so that makes it a little more [special].”
The game marked Brady’s first professional appearance and his dad -- known for his cool and collected demeanor -- acknowledged that something like this brings on some butterflies. He joked before the game that he might close his eyes when his son stepped to the plate.
“Absolutely,” he said. “It gives you a little anxiety.”
Brady, on the other hand, seemed loose and relaxed when he spoke with reporters before the game.
“I think at the end of the day it’s just a baseball game, so you go out there and get in the box and be present and just have fun with it,” Brady said.
Brady entered the game in the bottom of the seventh at third base and in the top of the eighth he drew a walk against left-hander Luke Little. That's right, it was fittingly a “Little Counsell” matchup. Before the free pass, Brady thought he had drawn a walk on an earlier pitch, but a strike call forced him to return to the batter’s box.
“It was a ball, actually. He was right,” Craig said. “He could’ve challenged that one. And then I’m going to get on [bench coach Ryan] Flaherty, because he tried to pick him off.”
Brady said he experimented with his dad’s unorthodox batting stance where he held his bat high above his head, but it didn’t work for him.
That fact aside there are a lot of commonalities between the two on the field.
“I think it’s kind of very similar,” Brady said. “Both high baseball IQ. I think I definitely have a lot more power than he did, based on what I’ve done so far. I think just playing the right way, playing hard, and using your baseball IQ to kind of make a name for yourself.”
Wait, has he told his dad that he has more power than he did?
“I’m sure he’d agree with me,” Brady said with a smile.
“No doubt,” Craig said with a laugh. “Yeah, a couple of the Diamondbacks’ coaches said, ‘He’s pretty big, I’m not sure that’s your son.’”
All kidding aside, Counsell said watching his son make his debut had him reminiscing about the journey to this point, and also missing his own father, John, who passed away in December.
“It was a thrill. You just kind of go over his life,” Craig said. “I really wish my dad could’ve been here to see it, for sure. I probably thought of that first, honestly. But, yeah, I’m happy for him and proud of him. And thankful that I got to witness it.”