Murphy takes helm in Milwaukee: 'It really is an honor'

MILWAUKEE -- It was obvious from the very start that the Pat Murphy era is going to be a little different.

After eight years as Brewers bench coach, Murphy was handed Milwaukee’s managerial reins in an introductory press conference Thursday at American Family Field. Or rather, it was a reintroductory press conference, since the 64-year-old Murphy has a long history in an organization hoping that this kind of continuity helps extend a run of regular-season success that has produced five postseason berths in the last six years.

• How Crew's Murphy is 'the straw that stirs our drink'

Murphy and his new associate manager, former Brewers All-Star Rickie Weeks, let it fly. Murphy flashed his trademark humor on everything from the low quality of the ambulance that carried him to the hospital following a heart attack in 2020 to the high-quality work of big league batboys. And Weeks got a bit carried away at the end of a fiery opening statement, accidentally exclaiming, “Let’s [bleeping] go.”

“I had to apologize to everyone for that,” Weeks said later.

No apology was needed. Things should be a little different for the Brewers as they move on from the shock of the previous two weeks, as longtime manager Craig Counsell jumped to the Cubs. At the same time, so much remains the same. Continuity was a theme of the day, evidenced by the presence of nearly the entire staff of Major League coaches, who are all returning for 2024.

They flew in to see Murphy, who turns 65 on Nov. 28, finally get the sort of long look as a Major League manager he has long coveted. He signed a three-year contract.

• Senate votes to extend ballpark lease through at least 2050

"There's just something about this city," said Murphy, who first visited in 1987 when he was recruiting Counsell to come to Notre Dame. "I seem to be connected with the Brewers and Milwaukee. And then I started thinking -- my kids look at what they call 'Waukee' as their home during the baseball season, and they know nothing different. It's just a beautiful thing.

"And I'm really grateful and thankful, and I can tell you that with these coaches out here, with Rickie, we're going to band together, and we'll have these guys ready to compete."

Murphy was flanked by his sons, 9-year-old Austin and 4-year-old Jaxon. His older son, Kai, couldn’t attend because he is a Padres prospect and was away at strength camp. Murphy also has a daughter, Keli, who is married to Brewers special assistant (and former Pirates All-Star) Pedro Alvarez.

Weeks, too, will balance the rigors of the Majors with family life. He has a 6-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son whom he took to last year’s All-Star Game in Seattle.

"It's an honor. It really is an honor," Murphy said of the managerial role. "I understand how coveted these jobs are, and I've had my eyes wide open for the last eight years here. And it's a great challenge. If you feel someone has challenged you, there's that little bit of fear that grows inside of you, and then all of a sudden you say, 'Hey, let's do it. Let's do it.'"

Naming Weeks associate manager rather than the more standard bench coach, Murphy said, reflects “that he's going to have a huge role in molding and shaping the mindset of this group.” Weeks, the former No. 2 overall Draft pick, played 11 of his 14 Major League seasons in Milwaukee.

"I'm ready to help assist wherever I need to be behind Murph," Weeks said. "And I'm just ready to work, period. There's a certain ballplayer that you want, there's a certain team that you want, there's a certain leadership that you want. And it's all right here, I think.”

Even as the Brewers were still working to bring back Counsell, GM Matt Arnold was preparing for the possibility of needing a new manager. Once he decided on Murphy, Arnold had his own young son call Murphy to formally offer him the job.

“As we continued to assess the ingredients that we were hoping to get out of this role, we kept coming back to all of the qualities that Murph has,” Arnold said. “As far as the continuity, the culture and winning, he has all those. That was our focus.”

The vast majority of Murphy’s managerial experience came as a head coach in college, mostly at Notre Dame and then a long run at Arizona State, where he took the Sun Devils to a national championship game in 1998. He then coached and managed in San Diego’s Minor League system, including at Triple-A El Paso before the Padres dismissed Andy Green in 2015 and called up Murphy to the Majors to finish the season as interim skipper. The next year, Murphy moved to Milwaukee as bench coach.

“You don't necessarily win championships with resources, you win championships with people,” Murphy said. “We want to get the players to play at the high end of their value. That creates a culture of responsibility. That creates a culture of, 'Hey, the expectation is to win.’

“That's what we've tried to do, and I think that's what we've had here, regardless of the roster turning over and regardless of moves or whatever.”