MLB WORLD SERIES: RAYS VS BREWERS

October 28, 2026

Pat Murphy

Tropicana Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame 5 Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Congrats to the World Series Champion Milwaukee Brewers. Pat, do you like the sound of that?

PAT MURPHY: It sounds great. Really grateful.

Q. At this moment, does all your previous lives in Claremont and Eugene and Tri-Cities just seem like a weird path that took a long time to get to here?

PAT MURPHY: Again, I just try to look forward. I'm really thankful for everything I've experienced. I think all those experiences help us, but I'm just thinking about 2026 and the group of guys that made the commitment, as Boss would say, to be the last man standing.

That's what I focus on right now. They went after it. They were on common mindset. They cared about each other. They set standards. They were undaunted when things weren't going well. Like last night, undaunted. Came back today and were focused.

Q. What do you think this means to you and how you'll look back at it versus if you had never gotten this?

PAT MURPHY: I'm at that age that, when I retire someday -- maybe never -- but when I retire someday, maybe I'll look back on it and enjoy. Right now it's about these guys, getting these guys in a good routine. My kid's playing in the Mexican winter league, so go to see him play, be around my grandkids.

Yeah, that's really what I'm thinking about right now. I'm just really, really grateful, really thankful that we did it. Like who believed it? There's so many things that led up to it now that I look back, and see the years of getting eliminated or being beaten last year by the Dodgers, that was a blessing because we learned from it and we grew, and we came in with a different attitude. We came in with a spirit about us, and we weren't going to be denied.

What happened yesterday, we weren't going to be denied. I got a bunch of hate mail last night and a bunch of people saying what an idiot I am and all that kind of stuff. That's great for you. That motivates you sometimes to be able to experience that and disregard it and do your thing the way you do your thing.

Q. Congrats on the win. Just curious, growing up in central New York, about an hour and a half from Cooperstown, did you ever dream when you were younger of being a World Series champion? Now that you are, what might you say to some of those other young guys that have that same dream?

PAT MURPHY: That's just it. People can talk about dreams or whatever, but it's the thoughts that -- you put your mind on something, you have a vision. When you have a vision when you're young, it might not be the exact vision of winning a World Series champion as a manager. I didn't have that vision.

But I had visions and I followed them, and I wouldn't be denied. I didn't let what other people said keep me from going after things. I learned from them. I wasn't afraid to learn. I wasn't afraid to be wrong. I wasn't afraid to stick my foot in my mouth. I'm still continuing to do that from time to time.

But it's acting in spite of that fear and keeping going that enables you to then think about, hey, Cooperstown will remember the 2026 Brewers.

Q. Just a quick follow-up, do you think after the rookie's performance, there might be a new Cooperstown brewing up in Milwaukee?

PAT MURPHY: Coop is special, man. You chart that kid and how he lives his life, you see what he's about. He's got a ton to learn. I know guys listening to this will chuckle, he's got a ton to learn. But they trust him because he is undaunted and he's focused, and he's focused on the right stuff. Yeah, you can't replace that.

Q. You guys are very open about our way. Win our way. You see it everywhere. And you scoff and everything, but it works. Why did it work?

PAT MURPHY: I don't like it -- like, the Brewer way or our way, I don't personally relate to that because I think we're just doing it the way we need to do it. We're establishing standards amongst our group of 26. It ended up being 58 players this year that suited up for us. But we're establishing our standards and holding each other accountable to those standards.

It's not different than Tampa. I have great respect for Kevin and the group he's put together. They had an incredible season. I don't think it's that different. I think it's just that undying -- I said this. The Padres could have easily beaten us. They were every bit as good as us. We had Ueck knock that ball down, and then we had Chourio's incredible walkoff hit against Miller, or we might not have got out of the first round -- or whatever it was, the second round.

But they were committed to it, and we did the little things, and we stayed in the moment. I'm not saying it's luck, but I'm just saying there's a lot of teams every bit as good as us. The difference was these guys believed and they paid attention to detail.

We weren't great at a lot of things, but we were relentless.

Q. When Misiorowski came up last year, as soon as people saw him, they knew he was special. But he took a huge leap this year to be the last pitcher standing essentially.

PAT MURPHY: Last man standing, love it.

Q. For a 24-year-old kid who throws that hard, how difficult is that, and how proud are you of him?

PAT MURPHY: No question. Miz is -- I joke and label him Forrest Gump because he goes about his day, dee, dee, and just I'm going to do it, and he just does it. But he worked really hard developing who he was, he worked in the weight room, and he got himself better.

And I got news for you, he's not even scratching the surface of how good this kid can be. It's not even scratching the surface. He's got so much more to work on, and he kind of has an inkling of that.

He won the trust of the players this year. He won their trust. They saw him work. They saw him come in 30 pounds heavier. They saw the work he does in between his starts and he won the trust of the ballplayers. And when you win that trust -- I don't care how talented you are, when you win that trust, you can help us.

Sal Frelick, he's a guy that you trust him. He probably broke his hand today and couldn't feel his hand for three or four innings, but you just trust him. I said, when this last out is recorded and we're the last man standing, Sal Frelick will be on the field. That's just because of who he is.

Q. How fitting is it that Misiorowski got to be the winning pitcher on the night the Brewers win their first World Series?

PAT MURPHY: I think it is fitting. He had an incredible year for us. It isn't easy for a young kid with that much expectation. Every time he goes out and doesn't touch 105, people are like what's wrong? He maintained that 100, I think, through all 5 2/3 pretty much, and he hadn't done that lately.

He was focused beyond belief. He knew the responsibility. He knew the standard we set. He knew we were going to be the last man standing at some point, whether it was tonight or two days from now. He knew we were going to be the last man standing.

Q. Obviously he didn't pitch tonight, but Aaron Ashby, what he did for you guys in the postseason, you probably don't get here without him.

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: There's no question. He was one of the MVPs for sure because he took the ball every night, didn't make any excuse. Wasn't worried about his number, wasn't worried about his role. Wasn't worried about saves or holds or anything like that. He was worried about one thing, the Milwaukee Brewers winning. When you've got guys on your team like that, it's special.

Q. How happy were you to see William Contreras get rewarded with the MVP and get recognition the way he deserved?

PAT MURPHY: Ask him. I told him before the game, you will be the MVP of the World Series because people recognize -- I don't know. Who votes on it? I don't even know who votes on it.

THE MODERATOR: Rights holders, media.

PAT MURPHY: Here's the thing. I knew they were watching baseball and they know baseball. I knew those people recognized what that kid did for us. There was no doubt in my mind. Yeah, he's special.

And he's learning, you know what I mean? He's still a young player. He's learning. Yeah, I'm excited about his future, that he built a belief system that he knows I'm a good player. I don't need to prove anything to anybody anymore.

Q. You can hear upstairs, there's still a throng of people from Wisconsin going crazy. I'm sure they're going crazy all over Milwaukee. What do you think this parade is going to be like?

PAT MURPHY: Wow, I haven't even thought about it. When is the parade? Do we know?

Q. Friday.

PAT MURPHY: Friday, the parade? Do you have a baseball game? We might have to miss the parade. Do you have practice Friday? You don't? You can't miss a game for the parade. We'll decide later.

Just for the city, for the people that have -- you say they've been waiting so long, that's one thing, but it's more about their undying commitment to this team. It started growing and growing throughout the year, grew last year, and then you see what it means to them.

It's not just the city of Milwaukee. It's the whole state of Wisconsin. I hope they're proud. I hope they're proud of these guys. I hope they realize how special this group is because we didn't get a rating -- we didn't get picked to win the division by one outlet. We didn't get picked to win over 85 games by anybody.

I don't know Las Vegas, I don't follow the line there, but they didn't pick us. But those fans of us, they picked us. The guys felt the energy, and they played accordingly.

Q. When you were a college coach, did you ever envision this?

PAT MURPHY: I really didn't. I really didn't. They had a way of pushing me out of college baseball. That's for another time. But I had a great experience. 25 years in college, and just a great experience that I learned and learned and learned.

I wasn't a very good coach. I had a lot of wins maybe, but there was so much I had to grow. Kind of getting pushed out of college baseball helped me have to change and grow and do all those types of things that's led to being able to represent the Brewers.

Q. What did Jacob learn in the last year where he could get by the last month and succeed without the swing and miss that he's used to?

PAT MURPHY: Well, credit Tampa because they know how to not swing and miss. They commit to that contact. But Jacob is learning the whole time. He's way past his, quote, innings limit, but he didn't let that spook him. He went out there and had to learn a little bit more about himself.

But his desire, the biggest thing he had -- and this is unquestionable -- the biggest thing he had, he knew the guys in the room trusted him. Relied on him and trusted him, and he lived up to that standard, and that's the beauty of it.

Q. Of all the catchers you've seen, what personality, what makes William the leader he is in that clubhouse?

PAT MURPHY: Yeah, William leads a little differently, I've got to be honest. It's very effective, but like I said, he's our pitbull. You don't just walk up and pet him. There's a chance you get nipped.

Him and I have developed a relationship, and it's taught me a lot. It's taught me a lot. Yeah, this guy's great. This guy's going to be -- you think about his first four years in the Big Leagues, or five years now in the Big Leagues, think about what he's achieved, and he's disappointed his numbers aren't better. He's disappointed that he isn't Gold Glove or whatever -- which I don't know how all that's picked and it's none of my business. But that guy's as good as there is back there, and he proved it.

Q. What did you learn?

PAT MURPHY: Tyler, I learned that you've got to love all your players. The ones that are toughest to love need the love the most. The ones that are toughest to love need the love the most, and he's a guy that needs the love, and it has to be real.

You have to make the adjustment. You can't BS him. You have to make the adjustment, like I understand this guy and you've got to learn to love him, and that's what I committed to.

He's not the only one. If you commit to that, the job as a coach, like you're of service, and you can't just pick who you want to play. There it is, this is my team. This is the best guy for the job. But he's really hard to get along with maybe. Then you have to figure out that effective way. That doesn't mean be easy. That doesn't mean kiss his butt. That means you have to figure out that effective way.

Yeah, I'm very thankful. He taught me that.

Q. Your team had this incredible finishing kick. You went 11-2 in October. You've lost three games in the last six weeks. You've lost five games since Labor Day.

PAT MURPHY: When was Labor Day?

Q. Labor Day was September 7th.

PAT MURPHY: What's the date today?

Q. Today is October 28th -- 29th actually now.

PAT MURPHY: We had a lot of days off.

(Laughter).

Q. Do you think that your guys smelled it at that point, that they understood they had a chance to do what they did tonight?

PAT MURPHY: I think they had it in mind. I don't think all of them were clear enough on what it was going to take. Yeli kept speaking it into existence. He kept saying, hey, you know, we're going to win the World Series, and everybody kind of snapped their head like you believe that? Did you see us play last week? That type of thing.

The Padres series did something for us, it really did. The Padres series -- because they're every bit as good as we are. They could have won the World Series too. But things went our way a little bit, and we did some clutch things. Jackson's walkoff hit, again, changed the course. But it was the at-bats before that, the Yeli walk, stolen base, Sanchez. You think of those at-bats we had, now we get to bases loaded and Jack Jack puts together the at-bat of a lifetime.

That really changed the course there. People said, you know what, this might be meant to be. Once that happened and we went into L.A., we weren't walking in there to just play pattycake. We were walking in there with a mission, and it worked out.

Q. I got one more. When you show a little faith, is there magic in the night?

PAT MURPHY: See, the Boss is going to say this guy's sickening, man. I had a whole thing written. Point blank, you know what I mean? I had to go down thunder road. We were born to run and all that.

Last night there was a little darkness on the edge of town, I promise you.

(Laughter).

Today is glory days.