'It's not about me': Murphy opens first Spring Training as manager

PHOENIX -- Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy has done this before, but not exactly this way.

Murphy reminisced as he sat behind the desk in his office at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Wednesday morning, when catchers and pitchers and a few position players reported for the opening of Spring Training.

• Brewers promote Pat Murphy to manager

This phase of Murphy's storied baseball career only vaguely resembles the way his first managerial experience unfolded.

Murphy served as the San Diego Padres’ interim manager in 2015, when he was promoted to replace Bud Black on June 16 and served until the end of the season, when he joined the Brewers as bench coach.

(Trivia question: the Padres’ first interim manager in 2015? Dave Roberts, who spent one day on the job before Murphy arrived.)

This time, for example, Murphy has had more than seven hours to prepare for his first game.

“I literally got the [Padres’] job at 10 after 7 and I was on the front step [of the dugout for a home game against Oakland] at noon,” said Murphy, who moved up from the Double-A El Paso Chihuahuas.

Murphy at that time was thrust into a situation where he knew few of the Major League coaching staff, other than to know most would have liked the chance to replace Black. And he was familiar with only the handful of players he had worked with in his five previous years in the system, the first of which were spent managing the Eugene Emeralds to first place finishes in the Northwest League.

“And I wasn’t in Spring Training with any of those guys because I chose to be with the Minor League guys,” Murphy said. “Totally different situation, but those eight years learning in the big leagues have been very helpful.

“Those eight years were virtually the only eight years of my life I have ever been an assistant. And I’m really thankful that I did that. I needed it.”

Murphy on Wednesday called that time the golden age of Brewers baseball, and now he has been chosen as the steward.

“It’s certainly exciting,” Murphy said. “I’ve had my eyes wide open for the last eight years. [Craig Counsell] did a great job. It’s an honor to be in the room. The difference between a bench coach and a manager is a huge jump, Triple-A to the big leagues.”

Humility remains prominent on his to-do list. Murphy’s Law, this is not.

“Truly, on my daily list of mantras, it is not about me,” Murphy said. “I want to live that. So it doesn’t come up. I have a job to do … responsibility. I’ve had so much good fortune. I’ve had plenty of injustice. But I’ve had plenty of good fortune.”

Murphy is a communicator, and he already seems to have strong rapport with not only the players he has spent time with but also the newcomers.

Throwback nicknames come second nature. Six-foot-4 first baseman Rhys Hoskins is Pee Wee, after Pee Wee Reese. Pitcher Vinny Capra is Buzz. Colin Rea is “Code Red,” which stuck because of a skewed pronunciation by a former pitching coach. DL Hall is Billy Bob.

“That is really such a blessing to know the players,” Murphy said. “Half the group is new, but to know the other 30 and to have been here with my eyes open -- it’s an advantage for me, but that’s not all that important.”

The first day of camp seemed to hold no special significance, he said, other than to reassemble with the group.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Murphy said. “I feel like I’ve been in the chair since November.”