MILWAUKEE — The Brewers officially introduced Pat Murphy as their new manager Thursday at American Family Field.
Murphy has been awaiting this day for a long time. He’s now a full-time manager in Major League Baseball. I asked him what this day felt like.
“That’s great,” said Murphy. “Having the kids here, that’s really important to me because that is my priority in life. And to be the Brewers and that connection with the Brewers. It’s always come up in my life. I think about Sal Bando and Rick Majerus and Robin Yount. I’ve known Robin, Barry Alvarez, it keeps coming up in my life. So, it’s really a special day.”
“We did cast a wide net here,” said Brewers General Manager Matt Arnold. “We spent a lot of time and as we continued to assess the ingredients that we were hoping to get out of this role, we just kept coming back to all the qualities that Murph has. As far as the continuity, the culture and winning, he has all those.”
Murphy was Craig Counsell’s bench coach with the Brewers. He coached Counsell at Notre Dame. Counsell is now with the division rival Cubs.
“Please realize, I’ve got a 37 year relationship with Craig,” said Murphy. “It takes on many different forms, and it’s now going to take on a different form of competing against him.”
Former Brewers’ second baseman Rickie Weeks had been working in the team’s player development department. The Brewers named him Associate Manager.
“To me, it’s a very good homecoming for me” said Weeks. “Kids were born, basically raised in a baseball field. Now, being able to be here, you get a little emotional about it.”
Murphy and Weeks have known each other for years, giving the Brewers confidence they can work well together.