2025 Cubs Convention: Craig Counsell and his coaching staff talked hitting, baseball trends and heart

This was a more light-hearted and transparent conversation

One of the things that’s changed at Cubs Convention since Jed Hoyer took over as President of Baseball Operations is the distinct difference in tone between the Front Office panel and every other panel at the event. It’s striking the first time you see it. It’s impossible not to notice that it persists, year after year after year. It was evident again this year as Cubs manager Craig Counsell, bench coach Ryan Flaherty and hitting coach Dustin Kelly took the stage.

The answers were immediately more transparent and forthcoming. The vibes were jovial. It was clear this is a group of people who work well together and have any number of inside jokes that they share. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the Front Office has some inside jokes too, but it feels like they are guarding that fact much more closely than the coaches and players at Cubs Convention.

Jon “Boog” Sciambi once again moderated this panel and some of the themes were similar to those covered during Hoyer and Carter Hawkins panels.

On park effects

Wrigley Field’s extreme offense suppressing park effect from 2024 came up once again. Kelly was forthcoming that it was real and it was a challenge. He discussed how challenging and discouraging it can be for hitters as the wind howls in once again during batting practice. Counsell echoed a sentiment from the Front Office panel acknowledging that whatever the weather is, the coaching staff and team has to embrace it and adjust their game accordingly. He also talked about being more mentally prepared for the challenge of the weather.

On lineup construction

Speaking of addressing challenges in the game. Craig Counsell was also asked about lineup construction and offered about as straight forward of an answer as he could, stating that the overarching priority is to get the team’s best hitters as many at bats as possible, with a secondary nod towards mixing up lefties and righties to make bullpen management more challenging for the opposition. He described decisions to move guys up and down the lineup as being more about mental resets as you can see here:

On trends in the game

Boog started this section with a savvy question about the moves to using more starting pitchers, six-man rotations and players seeing pitchers fewer times through the order as factors that Kelly agreed made “building a hitter’s Rolodex of information” more difficult. They talked specifically about the challenges of bullpen games where hitters might never get a second look at a guy, let alone a third. Boog followed that up a bit of an open-ended question about changing trends in the game that the coaching staff was able to take in any direction they wanted. It was interesting to hear Kelly talk about how pitchers adding cutters in addition to four-seam and two-seam fastballs changed their preparation.

Counsell gave a nod to speed in the game and the ways that teams stealing more bases, especially in the National League Central changed the way they prepared for games. Flaherty agreed, noting that the increase in stolen bases along with the lack of a shift made for faster-paced more athletic games.

On Kyle Hendricks

It is notable that this is the first Cubs Convention since 2016 with no members of the World Series Championship team on the 40-man roster. The last remaining member of the team, Kyle Hendricks, pitched his final game for the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sept. 28, 2024. It was a gem: 7⅓ innings pitched of two-hit shutout baseball. He struck out two and walked two, but for a wonderful moment at the corner of Clark and Addison last season Kyle was Cyle again. Boog asked Counsell about that game, his decision to let pitching Tommy Hottovy remove Hendricks from the game, and more. Let’s watch that moment one more time [VIDEO].

This was a moment where Counsell’s transparency and candor really shined and I wish there were video of the whole answer. He explained with a half smile that he was so nervous for that day and moment. The Cubs were, unfortunately, eliminated. So his only concern was making sure Kyle had the best possible day and experience at Wrigley Field and that the fans who were there to honor him had the same exceptional moment.

He described the angst of getting through the fifth inning and then the sixth. Being the manager who wanted to have faith in a veteran pitcher throwing a great game, but also recognizing that he could push that too far and lose the moment. There was no question in his mind that Hottovy was going to make the change, it was really about getting to the right moment. The universe doesn’t always cooperate with scripting perfect baseball moments but on that day in September, the stars aligned.

On Bob Uecker

Counsell is a Milwaukee kid who managed the Brewers for nine seasons. He was close with broadcaster Bob Uecker and credited Mr. Baseball with teaching him many lessons over the years. You can see a clip of this from his interview last night before the Opening Ceremony courtesy of Ryan Herrera:

From the stage, Counsell told the story of the time Uecker ran naked through Robin Yount’s backyard when Yount’s father was ill. Uecker had decided to go cheer people up, and Yount’s father was the only one who saw Uecker running through the yard — the first time. Robin thought his dad was delusional, until Uecker did another lap.

The entire audience cracked up, which I’m sure Uecker enjoyed from his permanent front row seat in the sky.

The chicken runs at midnight

One fan brought a small book titled “The Chicken Runs at Midnight” and his only question for the panel was more of a request, that Craig Counsell relay the story to the audience. It’s a story I, and no doubt, some of you, have heard before. But it never fails to hit me in all the feelings. Below is my paraphrased version of Counsell’s telling of the story from the stage, along with some videos for context.

The book tells the story of a silly catchphrase originating with Rich Donnelly’s daughter Amy, who wondered what her dad, then the third base coach with the Pirates, said to runners while he covered his mouth. She asked if he says “the chicken runs at midnight” which of course, he didn’t. But it stuck as an inside joke with the family and the 1992 Pirates. Years later, Amy would be diagnosed with a brain tumor before ultimately succumbing to cancer.

Fast forward to 1997, and a funny kid with a weird stance who would play in another World Series: Craig Counsell. To understand this story fully you have to see Craig Counsell bat. He had a stance that Boog described as a top five distinct approach in all of baseball. Boog is not wrong [VIDEO]:

All of this led Donnelly’s sons to refer to Craig as “the chicken” during that 1997 season. A quirk of fate that would soon result in a perfect moment.

Counsell was on third base in the bottom of the 11th when he was driven home by Edgar Renteria [VIDEO].

Donnelly’s sons were bat boys for the game and one of them was sobbing as the celebration ensued. Rich asked him what was wrong and his son told him to look at the scoreboard. It was just past midnight.

The chicken ran at midnight in Game 7 of the World Series.

Takeaways

This was a panel with range. From the discussions of pitch-specific strategies and park effects to the humanity of inside jokes, tales of the great Bob Uecker and the touching narrative of “the chicken runs at midnight,” it was easy to see what Counsell brings to Wrigley Field as the manager of the Cubs each day.

Last season this panel felt like an introduction to a new person at the helm of the Cubs. This season it felt like a conversation with family friends.

Counsell opened his remarks with the words he’s been thinking about sharing during a potential Cubs postseason run. Here’s to him getting to deliver that speech 10 or so months from now.