{"id":940725,"date":"2026-10-25T19:30:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/940725\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T19:30:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:30:20","slug":"the-best-pat-murphy-stories-as-told-by-the-2026-milwaukee-brewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/940725\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Pat Murphy Stories, As Told By The 2026 Milwaukee Brewers"},"content":{"rendered":"

American Family Field (MILWAUKEE) \u2013\u00a0Pat Murphy\u2019s career spans over 44 years across the minor leagues, collegiate programs, international coaching and Major League Baseball. After four decades in the game, he has a lot of lessons to share from being a baseball lifer.<\/p>\n

Murphy can go off on tangents, but he’s not a leader known to give long, passionate speeches. Brewers players say his lessons show up in smaller, everyday moments. It might be a comment in the dugout or during a mound visit. It could be a single sentence after a bad game. Often, it\u2019s a story that seems unrelated, until it isn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ask anyone in the Brewers clubhouse about their manager and players tend to describe him in the same way: honest to a fault, steady, wise and unafraid to laugh at himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is a collection of those stories, told by the players themselves, about their favorite Murphy stories and the lessons they\u2019ve learned along the way.<\/p>\n

Question:\u00a0What’s your favorite Murphy story?<\/p>\n

\"Sal<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“I got a lot. Not a lot of PG.<\/p>\n

“My first ever interaction with Murph, it was my first spring training. Couns [Craig Counsell] was still the manager, which I knew. That\u2019s about all I knew. And I went over to the big-league side one day to hit live at-bats. Murph was there and told me he was the video guy, so I just believed he was the video guy for about a week. The first spring training game I was in, he was managing it. I was all red and whatnot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was like, \u2018You need to do your homework on guys.\u2019 That\u2019s just who Murph is, though, especially with rookie and new guys.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Pat Murphy’s press conferences have been a highlight of the Brewers’ postseason run. (Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n

\"Brandon<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“The one story that stuck out, during the COVID summer camp this guy (Murphy) literally had a heart attack hitting fungos. He was hitting fungos; next thing we know, he\u2019s not hitting fungos \u2013 he\u2019s sitting in the dugout. We\u2019re like, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 Next thing you know, he\u2019s gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Turns out he had a heart attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So then, he gets this shirt made like a band\u2019s going on tour, and it said \u2018This Is It\u2019 tour, making fun of himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If that doesn\u2019t perfectly describe Murph, you know what I mean? Can\u2019t knock him down, man. He\u2019s a tough guy. He\u2019s meant a ton to us as players, the way he leads guys. He\u2019s special.”<\/p>\n

Question:\u00a0Do you think he\u2019s uniquely suited for this place?<\/p>\n

Woodruff:\u00a0“I do. The way he leads men in general is fantastic. I think having a younger club like we do, he really invests in people. That\u2019s big why we do what we do, just investing in people. He does it really well. He knows how to push the right buttons at the right time, and I think that\u2019s what makes him who he is.”<\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“I\u2019d probably say when he was eating that pancake during the interview, the Apple TV game, and he was eating the pancake. He\u2019s pretty unpredictable.”<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the biggest lesson you\u2019ve learned from him?<\/p>\n

\"Jake<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“Murph\u2019s been big for me these last three seasons. It\u2019s funny because the type of manager he is, you never really know where you stand with him. So he kind of keeps you guessing along the way. But now, getting to know (him) over the last three years, I think we\u2019ve gotten pretty tight. And I\u2019m super appreciative for the guidance and mentorship he\u2019s given me the last three seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That guy could manage on the moon. He\u2019s got a talent for this. He\u2019s got a passion for this. He\u2019s a leader of men.<\/p>\n

“He does his best to keep everybody in the moment, regardless of what that looks like, regardless of what the moment is. That\u2019s what he\u2019s always preaching. That\u2019s the biggest thing I\u2019ve taken away from my time here is that you have to be in the moment. That\u2019s something he believes in. Everybody would be wise to heed that advice.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Pat Murphy greets Abner Uribe after the Brewers won Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, which sealed a series sweep of the Dodgers. (Daniel Shirey\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

We see the funny side of Murph. I\u2019m sure you see a more fiery version. How would you sum up the Murph experience?<\/p>\n

Ortiz: “That\u2019s a great question.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think he\u2019s fiery when he needs to be, and he\u2019s funny when he needs to be. He knows what he\u2019s doing. Of course, we wouldn\u2019t be in this position without him. He definitely knows what he\u2019s doing, and when he needs to get on someone, he does \u2013 and guys pay attention to that. When he needs to be funny, he does as well. I think he does a good job of understanding what the team needs.”<\/p>\n

\"DL<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“I can\u2019t pick one story, but what I love is that we have the right group of guys for his personality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All of our guys take to him really well. Nobody takes his humor personally. If he throws a jab at you or something, everybody knows that\u2019s who he is and that\u2019s his humor and we all appreciate it. That shows me that we have a pretty tough group of guys. We all listen to his constructive criticism pretty well. I think that\u2019s a big part of why we\u2019re here.”<\/p>\n

What stands out to you about Murphy\u2019s managing style?<\/p>\n

Frelick: “I think just the standard, right? The standard walking through the door. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s Game 1 of the World Series or the game before All-Star break at 12 o’clock noon. If you are not playing the same way, you\u2019re getting benched; you\u2019re not starting. He\u2019ll publicly tell the media. And that\u2019s the standard. He doesn\u2019t do it to embarrass guys. He doesn\u2019t do it to belittle guys. He does it because he wants everybody to know that\u2019s what will happen. There are consequences, and the Milwaukee Brewers have a standard of play.”<\/p>\n

\"Garrett<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“His ability to get, no matter where you came from, the identity all funnels into one. I think that\u2019s one of my favorite things about him. We all come from different places; we have different stories and backgrounds. He brings us all together to find common ground, and it makes us closer as a team.”<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your top Murphy story?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“He said, \u2018If you\u2019re tired, go to sleep.\u2019”<\/p>\n

\"Cooper<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve heard him make some names up in our meetings. That\u2019s pretty funny. You never know when he\u2019s going to pick on you in those meetings. I don\u2019t think I\u2019m allowed to say half the stuff that goes on.\u00a0 The one that stands out to me the most when he said, \u2018If you\u2019re tired, go to sleep.\u2019”<\/p>\n

\"Christian<\/a>\"Milwaukee<\/a><\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a lot of stories from Murph. I don\u2019t know that I can pick just one. A lot of the one-liners he says and does are so unique. It\u2019s so one of one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We talk about it all the time. We\u2019re never going to play for anybody like him ever again. He\u2019s unapologetically himself. As a player, you never have to wonder how Murph feels about you. Good or bad, he\u2019s going to tell you. Everybody expects that and knows that, and he\u2019s had some pretty legendary one-liners in team meetings and great sayings.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Pat Murphy (foreground) and Christian Yelich are two of the biggest leaders in the Brewers clubhouse. (Mary DeCicco\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

Question: What\u2019s an example?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yelich: “My favorite one is when we had a team meeting, getting ready to go on a long stretch against some really good teams. He was talking about not making excuses and stuff like that. He goes, \u2018If you\u2019re tired, go to sleep. Wake up at 6:30 right before the game and go play.\u2019 That\u2019s basically it. \u2018If you\u2019re tired, go to sleep. If you\u2019re weak, get stronger.\u2019 All the guys were laughing about it because it\u2019s just him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Later in the year, we asked him about it, and he didn\u2019t even remember saying it. He said, \u2018I didn\u2019t say that.\u2019 But you can go ask everyone around here. They remember being told that if they\u2019re tired, they should go to sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It really just goes to show his standard is winning. And he only cares about winning. He\u2019s going to do whatever it takes to win. We love playing for him.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American Family Field (MILWAUKEE) \u2013\u00a0Pat Murphy\u2019s career spans over 44 years across the minor leagues, collegiate programs, international…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":940726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,105833,64939,262602,159595,5882,5159,591,126199,85,7891],"class_list":["post-940725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brandon-woodruff","tag-david-hamilton","tag-garrett-mitchell","tag-jake-bauers","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-mlb","tag-sal-frelick","tag-sports","tag-world-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}