SunCityCarl
Hall of Famer
Courtesy www.chicagosports.com
The second baseman with the weird batting stance -- yeah, THAT batting stance -- talks to Steve Rosenbloom in the Brewers clubhouse.
That came from getting released by the Dodgers because I couldn't hit (his extreme batting stance featuring his hands held high behind his head). I was just trying to figure out something that worked. And it worked.
He never addressed the team, (Notre Dame's baseball team when Counsell played for the Fighting Irish) but the thing I was always amazed about Lou Holtz was that he was a really little man, but when he walked into a room, everybody looked at him and you were almost waiting for him to lead you.
I wasn't thinking, I know that (when he scored the winning run for Florida in the 1997 World Series). You just try to soak in the experience. You're happy. That's the simplest way to describe it.
Jim Leyland used to say,"I want to win because I want to see 25 grown men act like kids."
That whole series (the 2001 Diamondbacks-Yankees World Series) was made by the fact that it was New York and it was after 9/11. We spent five incredible days in New York where we lost every game. But they were incredible games. The best games I'd ever been a part of.
The Game 7 was very similar to Florida. It was almost a carbon copy of it, really, even to the point that it ended the same way (with Counsell scoring the winning run).
Luis Gonzalez jumps out. He hit 57 home runs that year and became a superstar. But I was truly amazed by how great he treated people. He treated the janitor the same way as if the President of the United States walked in here.
I don't really know who started it, but the whole "Rudy" thing (the nickname his Diamondbacks teammates gave him) became a big deal. I think they sensed I wasn't a huge fan of it, so it became even more reason they liked to say it.
We had won the Triple-A championship the night before (He was first called up to the majors with Colorado). That was one of the coolest things I'd ever experienced. I think I was still hung over from that, more excited about that than actually going to the big leagues.
For all of us, it's the dream that's finally come true. I was 25. It's a lot of baseball games, a lot of sacrifices, your parents have helped you that way. It's as proud a moment for a son to call his mom and dad and say that.
I'd seen hundreds of Brewers games (because his father, John, was the Brewers' director of community relations). I'd spent time in the clubhouse. I'd been in every inch of County Stadium. I grew up wanting to play for this team. It's hard to overstate how cool it is to play for the team you grew up rooting for. It takes that dream to the next level.
He played minor-league baseball and didn't make it. In that sense, I try to always keep that in mind when I invite him here, how lucky I am that I was able to make it and hopefully realize some of the dreams that he didn't experience.
I remember the playoffs (the 1982 Brewers-Angels American League Championship Series) when they beat the Angels in the fifth game. I was 12 years old. They were down 2-0 in the series, and I remember that fifth game when Cooper (first baseman Cecil Cooper) got the hit. I remember I had this spot where I could go that was the rally spot where I could get the team some runs.
If we become a better team,and as long as the Cubs stay good, it's going to become an even better rivalry.
The games here in Miller Park have been a lot of fun. It's a unique atmosphere when you have 40,000 and the crowd's evenly split.
I think the best piece of advice you always get is just keep going.
The second baseman with the weird batting stance -- yeah, THAT batting stance -- talks to Steve Rosenbloom in the Brewers clubhouse.
That came from getting released by the Dodgers because I couldn't hit (his extreme batting stance featuring his hands held high behind his head). I was just trying to figure out something that worked. And it worked.
He never addressed the team, (Notre Dame's baseball team when Counsell played for the Fighting Irish) but the thing I was always amazed about Lou Holtz was that he was a really little man, but when he walked into a room, everybody looked at him and you were almost waiting for him to lead you.
I wasn't thinking, I know that (when he scored the winning run for Florida in the 1997 World Series). You just try to soak in the experience. You're happy. That's the simplest way to describe it.
Jim Leyland used to say,"I want to win because I want to see 25 grown men act like kids."
That whole series (the 2001 Diamondbacks-Yankees World Series) was made by the fact that it was New York and it was after 9/11. We spent five incredible days in New York where we lost every game. But they were incredible games. The best games I'd ever been a part of.
The Game 7 was very similar to Florida. It was almost a carbon copy of it, really, even to the point that it ended the same way (with Counsell scoring the winning run).
Luis Gonzalez jumps out. He hit 57 home runs that year and became a superstar. But I was truly amazed by how great he treated people. He treated the janitor the same way as if the President of the United States walked in here.
I don't really know who started it, but the whole "Rudy" thing (the nickname his Diamondbacks teammates gave him) became a big deal. I think they sensed I wasn't a huge fan of it, so it became even more reason they liked to say it.
We had won the Triple-A championship the night before (He was first called up to the majors with Colorado). That was one of the coolest things I'd ever experienced. I think I was still hung over from that, more excited about that than actually going to the big leagues.
For all of us, it's the dream that's finally come true. I was 25. It's a lot of baseball games, a lot of sacrifices, your parents have helped you that way. It's as proud a moment for a son to call his mom and dad and say that.
I'd seen hundreds of Brewers games (because his father, John, was the Brewers' director of community relations). I'd spent time in the clubhouse. I'd been in every inch of County Stadium. I grew up wanting to play for this team. It's hard to overstate how cool it is to play for the team you grew up rooting for. It takes that dream to the next level.
He played minor-league baseball and didn't make it. In that sense, I try to always keep that in mind when I invite him here, how lucky I am that I was able to make it and hopefully realize some of the dreams that he didn't experience.
I remember the playoffs (the 1982 Brewers-Angels American League Championship Series) when they beat the Angels in the fifth game. I was 12 years old. They were down 2-0 in the series, and I remember that fifth game when Cooper (first baseman Cecil Cooper) got the hit. I remember I had this spot where I could go that was the rally spot where I could get the team some runs.
If we become a better team,and as long as the Cubs stay good, it's going to become an even better rivalry.
The games here in Miller Park have been a lot of fun. It's a unique atmosphere when you have 40,000 and the crowd's evenly split.
I think the best piece of advice you always get is just keep going.
