A Look Back at the Brewers' Midseason Managerial Swaps

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Photo Credit: Scott Paulus

Craig Counsell, who replaced Ron Roenicke after a 7-18 start in 2015.

We’ve reached the heart of baseball’s “hot stove” season, but as has often been the case during their shared history, the Packers have stolen the Brewers’ thunder a bit. This time it was with a transaction of their own, firing Mike McCarthy and making an in-season coaching change for the first time in 65 years.

While changing head coaches during the season is a relatively rare phenomenon for the Packers, midstream managerial swaps are significantly more common for the Brewers. Here are some of the notable names in franchise history that took over mid-year:

Del Crandall

An 11-time All-Star catcher as a member of the Milwaukee Braves, Crandall was hired to be the third manager of the 1972 season for the Brewers, replacing Dave Bristol and interim manager Roy McMillan. Crandall didn’t do much to turn around a rough start: The Brewers were 11-21 when he was hired and went 54-70 afterwards, losing 90 games for the fourth consecutive season. Crandall remained on the job until 1975, however, and held the record for longest tenured manager in franchise history well into the 1980’s.

Harvey Kuenn

One of the more legendary managers in franchise history was a two-time in-season replacement: He took over the Brewers for the final contest of the 1975 season and did it again in 1982 when Buck Rodgers was removed after 47 games. The 1982 Brewers went 72-43 with Kuenn at the helm, going from seven games back at the time of his hiring to an American League East championship.

Despite leading the Brewers to their only World Series appearance in franchise history, Kuenn was fired following the 1983 season (which saw the Brewers drop 10 consecutive games in September) and never managed in the majors again.

Tom Trebelhorn

The Brewers were 71-81 in 1986 when George Bamberger’s fourth and final stint as manager came to an end and they turned to Trebelhorn, their third base coach and longtime minor league manager, to take his place. Trebelhorn’s Brewers went 6-3 down the stretch and followed it with a big year in 1987, when they won 91 games for just the fourth time in franchise history. He finished second in that year’s balloting for AL Manager of the Year.

Trebelhorn remained with the Brewers for another winning season in 1988 and got the team back over .500 in 1991 but was fired following the season. He remains the only manager in franchise history with more wins than losses in at least 800 games at the helm.

Dale Sveum

Sveum’s reign was short but memorable: He replaced Ned Yost with the 2008 Brewers with 12 games left in the season and went 7-5 down the stretch as the team passed the fading Mets for the National League Wild Card, the franchise’s first postseason appearance in 26 years.

Sveum’s first managerial job only lasted a few weeks, however, as the Brewers opted not to retain him for the 2009 season. He instead went on to manage the 2012-13 Cubs and has spent the last five seasons coaching under Yost with the Royals.

Craig Counsell

The Brewers’ current manager is quickly becoming one of the more notable names on this list. Called down from the front office to take over for Ron Roenicke following a 7-18 start in 2015, Counsell has been at the helm of a team that has consistently exceeded expectations in each of the last three years and returned to the postseason for just the fifth time in franchise history in 2018.

Barring a disastrous season or an unexpected departure, Counsell will move into the top four in Brewers franchise history in managerial wins (he needs 27 to pass Roenicke and 62 to pass George Bamberger for fourth place) and games managed (he needs 50 games to pass Roenicke, 105 to pass Bamberger). He’s a little more than halfway to Phil Garner’s 1180 games, the longest managerial tenure in franchise history, and at present he looks like a strong candidate to hold that record someday.