SAN DIEGO — The bitter taste of victory?
How else to describe the shot of Jeppson’s Malört that Cubs players and staff insisted Craig Counsell share with them on the occasion of his 900th win as a major-league manager Tuesday night.
A helpful member of the Cubs’ traveling party made sure to have the libation on hand, which has become a cult favorite in Chicago establishments that serve adult beverages, even though it has been described as a “famously disgusting liqueur from Chicago.”
Counsell, a Wisconsinite savvy enough to avoid offending the local citizenry, did not share his opinion. Instead, he offered a couple of thoughts on what it meant to reach the round number that leaves him No. 78 on the all-time managers list — nine wins behind Jimy Williams after win No. 901 on Wednesday — and fifth on the list of active managers (The Reds’ Terry Francona ranks No. 1 with 2,051 entering Wednesday).
“Mostly, I think you think about players No. 1, and then probably that you’ve just been in the game for a long time,’’ he told the reporters gathered in his office. “You’ve been doing it for a while, and fortunate to be doing it for a long time.
“. . . You think of players going through this journey of their career, like [reliever] Ryan Rolison getting their shot in the last couple of days and doing a heck of a job. Those are the rewarding moments. . . . Those are the things that you’re happy about and proud of as you go through this.’’
Earlier Tuesday, Counsell sat on a dugout bench and talked about those who helped him along the way — Pat Murphy, his coach at Notre Dame and then his bench coach in
