John Antonoff / For the Sun-Times
MESA, Ariz. – Once manager Craig Counsell stepped in 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, it flips pretty fast,” he said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times.
For the past 17 years, the Cubs had been not just any “them” but a division rival of Counsell’s Brewers, who he represented as a player, front office member and manager.