Pat Murphy Built the Brewers' World Series Culture

I saw a very interesting post today, Craig, from our good friend Howie Rose. Remember Howie Rose? New York Mets, long time. Of course, you know Howie, right? And he put out a post today, which I remembered it the minute I read the first couple of sentences. And I think he's got a great point, but he's got a point that is lost on a lot of professional athletes and organizations these days. He brought up the point, I'll take you back, because you and I were actually on air in August, and I remember this, where Cooper Pratt, the phenom shortstop of the world champion Milwaukee Brewers, he was two months into his major league career at that point, and do you remember what Pat Murphy did? When he didn't run out a play, a pop-up. Oh, yeah, I do remember that. Yes. Remember that? And he pulled him in the first. I remember he sat him down in there and said, that's not how we do it here in the bigs. And he didn't tolerate it, and he made the kid sit down, and this was a rookie coming out. The argument can be made, listen, that's who Pat Murphy, but that's how you establish a winning culture, which was his point, Howie Rose. I had forgotten about that, but the minute I read it, I was like, I remember you and I talked about it, where he pulled now half the people were like, oh, what are you doing? Give the kid a break. Is that it? But right. What? Really? Did he? Did he not establish it? Right off the, isn't that, I mean, we haven't seen that for a very long time, have we? No, and I remember, now, it's funny, I totally forgot about that. Now I remember that when Pratt hit the ball, Pratt didn't even know where it went for a minute. I remember him, like, looking around, and then he started running, and some people thought it was a little unfair. But, you know, that's sort of what tells you what's going on in a clubhouse or on a team. It's obvious to me that it wasn't an isolated incident with Pratt at that point. It seems like something else probably happened. It's very rare for a manager all of a sudden just off that to do it. But, yes, he's established it. Look, Pat Murphy is now goes down in history. You know, like he is. In a way, in terms of popularity, he'll always have that Joe Maddon popularity. Like he brought a world. Joe Maddon brought a World Series to the Cubs, and he was really good with Tampa Bay. And now, Pat Murphy brought a World Series to Milwaukee. So, as they say, he'll never have to buy a beer ever again in Wisconsin. But yeah, he's a very likable guy. His media sessions are different than anybody else's. Whenever you do a media session with Pat Murphy and you're sitting in the room, Wherever it is, whenever it is, he looks at you, and if he doesn't know you, he says, okay, you know, what's your name? Where are you from? Tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you do? And that's rare. Like, nobody really cares that much. Usually it's just you're firing off questions and answers and it ends. But it just tells you the kind of guy that he is and the character that he has. And, you know, no one's really talking about it, but I'm sure. That even though he has a World Series ring with the Marlins in 1997, I'm sure Craig Counsell somewhere is sitting out going, it could have been me. It could have been me with that second ring. But instead, he's with the Cubs. I thought it was a great point because, again, it's almost of an era bygone there, Craig, right? But you. In Major League Baseball, and you and I have had this conversation all throughout the season, like, you're a guy of the mindset, and I agree with you to a high level here, that, listen, managers don't make a deal. You fire them out of grade. You bring a new guy in. It doesn't matter. Like, they're not doing anything. They're not being a part of it. They're not, you know, they control things, but they come and go. And then you got situations like this where, with the right group of guys, You know, I would say the Brewers took on Murphy's persona, did they not? We see this in the NFL a lot where teams take on the persona of the head Parcells for years, right? Belichick, you knew what kind of teams you're getting because they took on the persona of their head coach. I mean, this is what it kind of felt like that you don't get anymore in Major League Baseball. You get a, you know, a wily old coach here that this is the way, and I don't care. This is what we're going to do. And he's got enough of the young guys where he can make an impact and an impression. And he's got enough of the respect of the older guys. And you're a world champion now. I don't think that's by accident.