What life skills can Craig Counsell teach the Brewers now that he's taken over as manager?
The life skills Craig Counsell can teach the Brewers
You may not have appreciated Craig Counsell enough during his playing career. Tall and gawky, with a stance that looked like something a mad chiropractor dreamed up in his laboratory one night, Counsell didn't look like anybody else in the Majors. And yet he played 16 years, won two World Series and was even an NLCS MVP.
He's even in the record books as he tied Bill Bergen for longest consecutive at-bats streak without a hit at 45. It's not the proudest of records, but you have to remember: You have to be really good at baseball to even earn those opportunities.
With all that life experience, the Brewers' new manager can help guide his players through the rest of the season. But anyone who has watched a Tom Emanski video can teach a person how to swing or throw or field (give or take). Counsell can help his players in so many other ways.
Like how to look incredibly uncomfortable in a photograph:
"Have you--have you taken it yet? Oh, you did? Uhh, OK."
Or the correct way to eat sunflower seeds without choking:
The art of the proper squat:
How to appear both charming and roguish on photo day:
The true way to give a powerful karate kick:
The best way to tap into the power of Greyskull while at the plate:
The correct form and mechanics on a high-five to avoid injury. While many employee the half-goalpost, Counsell knows that you must extend your arm in a clothesline to prevent excessive torque on lateral delt:
And, perhaps most importantly, learning to be OK with being alone:
And Craig, should you want to convert any of these lessons into guided self-help books, I'd be happy to ghostwrite them with you.