There wasn’t much time to turn the home clubhouse at American Family Field from a relaxed gathering place to a nightclub. But we, after all, are in the best stretch of Milwaukee Brewers baseball the franchise has ever seen.

In a matter of just a few minutes, from when Seiya Suzuki biffed a fly ball in the eighth inning in Atlanta to the Braves putting the finishing touches on the Cubs in the following half-inning, 800 miles away everything was ready for a full-on party was set along the shores of Lake Michigan.

A brief speech was delivered in the center of the room by manager Craig counsell. Corks popped. Goggles were flipped down. Champagne soared. A division was clinched.

The Milwaukee Brewers, as put by pitcher Brandon Woodruff, a seasoned veteran who’s been a part of this entire extended stretch of Brewers success, just enjoy each other’s company – and playing good baseball.

“It’s not a bunch of egos,” Woodruff said. “It’s a bunch of guys playing and trying to win baseball games. And it’s a heckuva lot of fun.”

As players pranced jovially from corner to corner of the clubhouse following Tuesday night’s clinching of the National League Central despite a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, their third division title in the last six seasons, one word came to mind.

Connectedness.

It’s what the Brewers preach. As they celebrated the fruits of six months’ worth of labor, it’s what they practiced.

But it’s not in the champagne showers or the sneak-attack beer-dousings where you really see a team’s connectedness.

It’s put to the test in the cramped Dodger Stadium visitor’s clubhouse and the ensuing 3 a.m. plane ride to Dallas following a deflating August sweep.

It’s when Brandon Woodruff goes down with a serious injury in April.

It’s when 64 players from all different walks of life, many of whom may never even see time in Milwaukee that year, convene in one room in late February and are pointed toward the same objective.

It’s playing Tetris with baseball players, managing the emotions of humans through the good and especially the bad of the season as the roster changes day over day.

And it all starts at the top, in the manager’s office.

“Craig is as good as it gets,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. “It starts with him in spring training. He sets the tone for our expectations and he does such an amazing job doing that.”

As the Brewers add another banner to what has been the most successful stretch in franchise history, the fingers of the players who produced yet another playoff berth all pointed to Counsell for why this team will be playing in October once again.

There’s an entire organization and front office assembling the roster and a cascade of players sweating and grinding for each win on the field. But when those people talk about the catalyst for the Brewers, about what sets everything into motion, they all start at the top.

“He’s been the best,” shortstop Willy Adames said. “I think he’s been the key of this team. He keeps everybody together. The way he handles his players, he’s the best. He knows how to do it and when to do it. That’s the most important thing for a manager.

“And he’s been more than a manager to us. He’s been like a mentor. For some of us, we can see him as a father. He’s been amazing for us.”

Few, if any, in baseball have shown to be more deft in-game tacticians than Counsell. But a manager’s reach goes beyond that.

Counsell’s impact isn’t always seen in plain sight, but it’s there, lying underneath the surface.

It shows itself in conversations like the one he had with reliever Trevor Megill in late July when optioning him back to Class AAA and telling him he was a big-league pitcher and he should believe that. Megill has been arguably the Brewers’ best reliever since being recalled a couple of weeks later.

It shows itself in continuing to show trust in Tyrone Taylor throughout a dreadful slump, giving him at-bat after at-bat in the late summer months until eventually Taylor regained his old form and then some.

It shows itself in the success of unheralded relievers coming into the year like Hoby Milner, Bryse Wilson, Joel Payamps and Elvis Peguero who played vital roles all season. “I think it’s honestly ‘Couns’ dictating the perfect spots to use me in,” Milner said earlier this month when asked to pinpoint the greatest reason for his breakout season.

It shows itself in Josh Donaldson dousing Rowdy Tellez head-to-toe in beer while shouting, “You’re my favorite teammate!” on the day completely erroneous reports surfaced in national media outlets about the two having beef in the clubhouse.

Connectedness.

“Look, (Counsell) grew up here,” Woodruff said. “He’s from here. Now he’s the head of our team. Just the way he runs the team, he tries to keep everybody healthy on the field. The decisions he makes, he puts us all in the best position to succeed. I think you’ve seen it over his time here. This is five (playoff appearances) in six years. And in 2017 and ‘21 we missed it by one game.

“You’re looking at a streak of going to the playoffs just about every year and it’s all because it starts with ‘Couns.’ We’re not here if not for him.”

Counsell, in his usual way, deferred any discussion of himself, instead running down the laundry list of contributions the Brewers have gotten up and down the roster.

Sure, there are the stars – a three-headed rotation of Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta is pretty darn daunting in October, and Christian Yelich experienced a resurgent campaign – but William Contreras turned into one of the best catchers in baseball, Counsell noted. Colin Rea and Julio Teheran gave Milwaukee a completely unexpected 23 starts of solid pitching while the rotation was ravaged by injuries. Andruw Monasterio, a career minor-leaguer has become an everyday player. Rookies Joey Wiemer and Brice Turang have supplied superb defense. Mark Canha has been the most impactful bat traded at the deadline.

The list goes on and on from there.

“It starts with the people,” Arnold said. “It starts with the people on the field. It starts with the guys internationally that are sitting at home and celebrating like crazy in the (Dominican Republic) at our new academy there. I think it’s just a huge credit to an organization that I’m certainly fortunate to be a part of. We’re just really connected.”

There’s that word again.

It’s helped get the Brewers to this point – not only Tuesday but five of the last six year. Standing five paces away from the mound he will climb in front of a raucous home crowd in one week, Woodruff said he believes it can get Milwaukee to a point beyond where it’s been.

“I feel like we’re at this time where it’s a win-now,” Woodruff said. “We’ve been so many times and I feel like it’s our time to get over the hump. Look, we got to play some good baseball and beat some good teams, but we can do it. It’s all about getting hot at the right time.”

The Brewers, for all their regular season success, have not won a playoff series since 2018. But they feel they have the pitching staff, the defense and, hopefully, the timely offense to make a run beginning next week.

“Just like a season, a postseason does not go by script,” Counsell said. “Crazy things are going to happen. We’re going to have to adjust. We’re going to have adversity. We’re going to be down. We’re going to have to change directions a little bit.

“But I think we have the personnel to do something special.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Brewers win third division title with manager Craig Counsell