CHICAGO – The last time Craig Counsell sat, blazer and dress shirt donned, atop a dais and exchanged his sport coat for a baseball jersey, he spoke of a duty to steward baseball in his hometown.

“I’m a Milwaukee Brewer,” Counsell said on that spring morning from inside Miller Park. “I’ve always felt this way. Baseball in this city is important to me. It’s part of me. I feel a responsibility for it. I always have.”

That was back in May of 2015, when Counsell was first introduced at a news conference as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Things can change in eight years. Things do change in eight years. To expect things to always remain the same, in sports and in life, would be foolish.

But, nevertheless, as Counsell took the stage in a sunlit room adjacent to Wrigley Field on Monday afternoon, it was impossible to ignore the juxtaposition of that day with this one.

There was the most successful manager in Brewers history, someone who grew rooting for the team, who played for that team and then led it to some of the highest heights, who declared not all that long ago he was cut from the same cloth as Brewers fans, wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey.

“Thank you,” Counsell said as Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer robed him in blue-pinstriped polyester. “Feels good.”

After he shepherded the local nine for nearly a decade, a different flock had become Counsell's calling. And it just so happened to be the one most at odds with his previous one.

Shocking. Stunning. Surreal.

Monday on the north side of Chicago, a mere 90-minute drive through rush-hour traffic away from American Family Field, wasn’t about ascribing blame to one side or the other in this situation. It wasn’t about who wronged whom as the relationship between Counsell and the Brewers came to an end.

No, it was about that moment, when something that didn’t just seem far-fetched but rather impossible a week prior but rather was taking place.

Craig Counsell really, truly, is now the manager of the Chicago Cubs, glowing with effusive praise about the organization he and the Brewers spent the last nine years battling between the lines.

“The brand that the Chicago Cubs are, you can’t help but get excited about repping them,” Counsell said.

Here's how Counsell wrapped up his time with the Brewers and officially began it with the Cubs.

Craig Counsell had considered a future beyond Milwaukee Brewers for a couple of years

One thing was made abundantly clear from Counsell as he addressed the media while being introduced as the manager of the Cubs: Leaving the Brewers was not something that happened overnight.

“I was having feelings of, like, ‘When am I going to do something different? What’s the next challenge?’ for a while,” Counsell said.

How, long, exactly?

“I’ve probably had those thoughts over the last two years,” he said. “I’ve kind of thought about it a lot, thought about what's next, thought about a new challenge.”

Counsell wouldn’t elaborate on what, exactly, changed over his final couple of seasons in Milwaukee that made him ponder a life elsewhere and with a different franchise other than he was seeking a new challenge.

But in addition to wanting that new goal for himself – which also, tangentially, raises the thought of what greater challenge is there in baseball than winning a World Series in the league’s smallest market? – it’s clear that Counsell began to feel that his time with the Brewers was reaching an end.

The Brewers' offer, reported to be $5.5 million annually to keep his as manager, not only fell short of the ultimate winning offer of $8 million per year over five seasons from the Cubs, but Counsell also stopped well short of indicating what the Brewers could have done to keep him.

The Brewers weren't given one final chance to match Chicago's offer but it's almost certain that prior conversations indicated they wouldn't have anyway. Maybe none of it mattered, anyway.

"There’s not a right answer to that, an easy answer to that," Counsell said when asked if the Brewers could have managed to keep him. "We got to this point, an incredible opportunity was put in front of me. One that answered a lot of things that were running around in my head for a bit. And so a decision was made."

Craig Counsell offers details on timeline of decision to join Cubs

The relationship between Counsell and the Cubs blossomed quickly, according to Counsell’s timeline of events.

Hoyer called Counsell on Nov. 1, the first day after Counsell’s contract with the Brewers expired, the manager said Monday. Counsell didn’t initially pick up, but when he called back he – and not Hoyer – was the one to express that the two should meet up that day because he was going to New York the following day.

In a matter of hours, Counsell said he was sold on the Cubs, a team he says he had never considered the possibility of managing before.

“We were able to meet and really it was again a vision here that sold me,” Counsell said. “The meeting was, we were just feeling each other out, to be honest. … Not really laying everything on the table in a conversation like that, kind of just feeling each other out.

“But at some point, it was a long conversation and, honestly, Jed was aggressive in that conversation.”

What does Counsell like so much about the Cubs’ vision?

“There’s a solid core and a solid foundation and that speaks to the health of the organization,” Counsell said. “And that speaks to a bright future.”

How, exactly, the Cubs’ vision differs from Milwaukee’s was left unclear – or at least unaddressed.

The Brewers, it could be argued, have a solid core and an even better farm system. They have won two of the last three division titles and been generally more successful on the field over the last six seasons.

One area in which the Cubs undoubtedly have more resources is on the financial side. To think that didn’t matter to Counsell – at least somewhat – as he sought his next job would be unwise.

“The challenge of this is different, and that challenge excites me,” Counsell said. “More resources means different types of players, for sure. That’s a different challenge for a manager. More resources is certainly something Chicago offers, there’s no question about that.”

Craig Counsell said he ‘underestimated’ reaction of Brewers fans to his decision

For someone who spent 17 years with the Brewers organization as a player, front office member and manager – not to mention who grew up in Whitefish Bay a 15-minute drive from County Stadium – it was surprising to hear Counsell did not anticipate the reaction from many in Milwaukee and all of Wisconsin, as well, when he left to take a job with the team’s most intense rival.

“I mean, I didn't really see it like that,” Counsell said when asked if there was any form of mental hurdle he needed to clear when considering leaving Milwaukee for Chicago.

“I maybe underestimated that part of it,” he continued. “ I was looking at it more from a challenge perspective, role perspective. I understand that (other) point of it. I certainly respect that point of it.

“But I guess you end up with tough decisions because of things like that, and it's always tough because life decisions like this are certainly challenging. But after you go through your process, internally and with your family, and make a decision you end up on the right side.”

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Later, in a breakout session with only reporters from Milwaukee, Counsell expanded on the emotional element of his decision.

“Look, you learn something about yourself,” he said. “You also have to give yourself a break a little bit because it was 17 years. I started to understand that. It’s a long time and it was people that mean a lot to you and will continue to.

“But that dynamic has changed. I understand it all. I understand the emotion. And I did, I underestimated the emotion of that all. That’s probably why it hit you so hard. As a day like this happens for me, for my family, I know what my task is now and I know what my job is now. I want to be good at my job. That’s how you move forward.”

Craig Counsell closes the door on his chapter with Milwaukee Brewers

As Counsell spoke of embracing a new challenge in Chicago, he was asked how he would characterize how he and the Brewers fared in their joint challenge over the last nine years.

“Our industry is defined by winning a World Series,” Counsell said. “I think we know how hard that is and how it’s really really hard to do. I do think that ultimately your job is to provide fans with incredible experience and as good as experience as you can provide for fans.

“That’s our job. I think our fans have had a pretty good experience over the last nine years. I feel good about that. I – we – did fall short of the ultimate experience and that’s unfortunate. We fell short of that.”

Counsell wrapped up with a message to Brewers fans.

“It’s a message of thanks,” he said. “It’s a message of gratefulness to what we have experienced together mainly over the last nine years as manager. I’m thankful for that time together. And I’m thankful for that journey and those experiences.

“We’re all on this journey of experiences. There’s been some great experiences in that time that I think we’ve all enjoyed and aren’t going to change. My job has changed, yes. My job has changed. I’m not going to be a part of that with them, but those experiences are all still there. The memories are all still there.

“I will look back very fondly on them and I hope everybody does.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Craig Counsell introduced as Cubs manager, closes Brewers tenure