Well well well. After a dramatic and unexpected divorce last November, where Craig Counsell left the Brewers for the Chicago Cubs and a bag of cash, things have not gone the way Counsell or many others were expecting.
Like in most breakups, one party thinks they're jumping to something better or "a new challenge" in Counsell's case while the other party feels devastated in the moment but experiences a massive glow-up afterward. That's what Brewers fans have been experiencing.
While the loss of Counsell in the moment felt like the end of a golden era, instead the Brewers turned to Pat Murphy at the helm, Counsell's longtime bench coach, and have experienced a glow up of epic proportions.
Most pundits picked the Cubs to win the division while the Brewers were going to have to put the pieces back together and rebuild. Instead, the Brewers ran away with the division, having been in first place since April 30th. On September 18th, the Brewers became the first team to clinch their playoff spot in 2024 and won the NL Central. Not only did they win the division, they won it because Counsell's Cubs lost their last two games to the lowly Oakland Athletics.
Brewers fans were quick to jump on Counsell's down 2024 and roast him.
Craig Counsell getting it done for the Brewer in September once again.
— BadgerNoonan (@BadgerNoonan) September 18, 2024
The Craig Counsell 5 Year Plan is going perfect.
— John “BrewersRaptor” Egan (@BrewersRaptor) September 18, 2024
Year 1: Make $8M, Cubs probably don’t make playoffs, stay competitive enough to keep job.
Year 2-5: Repeat and cash checks.
Craig Counsell's Cubs losing 2 straight to the ATHLETICS!!! to hand the Brewers the Division? I mean, you can't write it any better than that.
— Trenten Scheidegger (@TrentScheids) September 18, 2024
Sweet irony that the #Brewers win another division title thanks to a small market team beating Craig Counsell’s Cubs.
— Todd Welter (@toddjdub) September 18, 2024
Needless to say, #ThisIsMyCrew won the war this year!
We’ll never forget you Greg
Of course, the Counsell spring training meme had to make an appearance.
With that Cubs loss, the Milwaukee Brewers are NL Central champs for the 4th time in seven years! #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/rPQqFqg3wy
— Sam Kuffel (@SamKuffelWx) September 18, 2024
Brewers fans are as loyal as they come and they do not forget disloyalty either. After everything that happened over the course of the offseason and spring training, it is sweet justice to Brewers fans to see Milwaukee on top of the division and the Cubs below in the standings, helping them to clinch.
Remember last year when Seiya Suzuki dropped a routine fly ball to allow the Braves to come back and win and help the Brewers clinch the division crown. Once again, the Cubs losing helped Milwaukee secure a division title and now the manager that left this perennial playoff ballclub for a new challenge got a lot more of a challenge than he bargained for. Meanwhile, the Brewers are thriving with their new man Pat Murphy at the helm.