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A text message from David Ross lit up Craig Counsell’s phone last Monday, before news broke that the Cubs were hiring Counsell as manager and firing Ross to make room for him. Counsell called him immediately.
“I’ve always had great respect for David,” Counsell said at his introductory news conference a week later. “That gave me the ultimate respect for David, the way he handled the conversation. This part of this business is really difficult, it’s really cutthroat.