
My good friend Jon Bois of SB Nation is always asking people who the most ____ player ever is. “Who is the most trade deadline player of all time?” My vote was for Orlando Cabrera, because he’s involved in literally every trade thing and people always pretend like getting him is a great idea. “Who is the most Baltimore Orioles player of all time?” (Chris Hoiles) “Who is the most Philadelphia Phillies player of all time?” (Von Hayes) I’d say that “who is the most ___ player of all time” is the most SB Nation question of all time.
That being said, we might have an answer for the question “who is the least Baseball Player player of all time?” Milwaukee Brewers utilityman Craig Counsell is that man (yes, he’s still playing … no, I didn’t realize it either). According to a report from Big League Stew and also baseball stats, the poor man’s B.J. Surhoff holds one unique distinction (being the only player to have been on base for two game-winning hits in Game 7 of the World Series) and is closing in on another — if he doesn’t record a hit in his next at-bat, he’ll tie a record set in 1909 by Brooklyn’s Bill Bergen for most consecutive ABs without a hit by a position player. He’s currently hitless in his last 45 at-bats.
Craig Counsell is some kind of perverse, anti-Moonlight Graham. The guy has been around since 1995 (1995!) with a lifetime .256 average and 41 total home runs. He’s had seven stints on five different teams and his absolute biggest selling point is a sorta high Spatial Aggregate Fielding Evaluation. Yet somehow he’s a two-time World Series Champion (sorry Tony Gwynn, sorry Ted Williams) and an NLCS MVP. I think it’s safe to say Craig Counsell is the most Craig Counsell player of all time.


F*CKING YES, BRANDON. I swore if the most Orioles player ever became a question that Dr. Bois asked (maybe he’s already asked it, and I just don’t know it yet), Chris Hoiles would be the answer.
Brady Anderson, Jeffrey Hammonds are a distant, distant second and third.
Lastly, +1 to “the most SB Nation question ever.”
Get out of my head! I had this EXACT conversation with my friend over beers last Friday night watching my beloved Brewers at a bar in AZ. (Probably the only city other than Milwaukee that knows who Counsell is) About 3-4 people chimed in that he has had probably the most charmed career to talent ratio in the history of sports. You mention all the highlights that were brought up. I added that I was within reaching distance of his 2001 WS game 1 leadoff homerun (and that was his 2nd! of that postseason…A guy as you mention that has had only 41 other HR). He has produced a 15 year career with a series MVP trophy and 2 WS rings out of the most modest ability I’ve seen in the game.
He’s also finishing up his career with the team he loved growing up that his dad worked for.
Charmed life indeed.
/obligatory ‘cool story bro.’
He made my Indians losing so much more special because the announcers couldn’t say his name without mentioning Notre Dame.
Roenicke pulled Greinke after 6 innings and pinch hit with Counsell. Greinke: .231 avg. Counsell: .145 avg. I swear that Greinke has twice the slugging percentage as well. I’ve got no issue with pulling your starter after 100 and some pitches, but for God’s sake why give up 85 points in average? Make some kid’s day and pull a youngster out of the stands to hit instead of Counsell.
I was not a fan of his re-signing and cannot understand why he hasn’t been called into the front office for a difficult topic. Why, oh why, can’t someone catch him sleeping in the training room during a game so he can retire mid-season like Griffey?
“Why, oh why, can’t someone catch him sleeping in the training room during a game so he can retire mid-season like Griffey?”
Agreed — the only things you should do in the training room during a game are: blow, drink beers or get BJ’s from hookers/groupies.
/86 Mets’d
Dude, nobody knows who Von Hayes is. Relax.