The Other Pat Murphy Maxim to Which the Brewers Must Adhere in the Postseason

Pat Murphy has proven to be a media-friendly manager in his first full season in the role. His authentic and straightforward communication has made him a source of quotes and soundbites all year long. It was no surprise, then, when the Brewers adopted one of Murphy’s unofficial mottos as the tagline of its marketing campaign for this year’s postseason.

During one of his club’s few regular-season slumps, Murphy issued a vocabulary lesson on the word undaunted. Now it adorns the banner plastered throughout the walls of American Family Field and the city of Milwaukee. It’s been attached as a hashtag to most of the club’s social media posts since the Brewers clinched the NL Central on Sept. 18.

The undaunted and relentless nature of Murphy’s club is one of the many driving forces behind a level of success that few outside the organization saw coming. However, he used a different word when asked how his team must approach the fresh challenge of October baseball.

“Response is the word I think of, more than anything,” Murphy said. “How are you going to respond to whatever immediately?”

While the call to remain undaunted remains active, it’s a different Murphy aphorism that could prove most crucial in practice in the postseason.

Winning baseball is energetic, but it’s also thoughtful and grounded. Murphy tries to thread that needle with another adage that he has employed to less fanfare. He’s used it just as frequently, though, including multiple times over the final weekend of the regular season.

“The game gets very cruel when you’re trying to control the game,” he said Friday in his office. “You can only meet the game halfway.”

That means recognizing what one can and cannot control, and responding properly to whatever cards he’s dealt.

“Oftentimes, we want what we want, and we want it now, and that’s not the way it is,” Murphy explained on Saturday. “This game’s way bigger than all of us, so just be okay with being part of it. What can I do to be ready for when opportunities come? And I think that’s just what these guys have done.”

Murphy preaches the concept to his hitters, noting that they’re in a reactionary state and at the mercy of the opposing pitcher and defense. The only thing they can fully control is whether or not they swing the bat.

“If it’s a ball six inches outside, it’s what it is,” he said. “You can’t do anything about it. If I try to put that in play, I’m not going to be able to do anything with it. So I’m going to play the pitch, meet the game halfway. If he gives me a pitch to hit, I put my swing on it.”

Showing up prepared and responding accordingly to whatever the game throws at you is not exclusive to the nine hitters who will start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday afternoon. It applies to everyone in the dugout, including Murphy.

“No doubt,” he said when asked if he holds a responsibility to meet the game halfway with his in-game decisions. “I think it’s absolutely the truth.”

Regular season or postseason, the Brewers are playing the same sport. The context changes, though. The regular season is a long game in which the cream typically rises to the top. With playoff baseball comes the madness of small sample sizes, which usher in added implications behind each pitch and randomness for which even the best players, managers, and front offices cannot account.

In that kind of setting, reminders that baseball often affords its participants limited control over certain outcomes are as vital as ever.

All the Brewers can do is put themselves in a position to succeed by meeting the game halfway. Hitters must make smart swing decisions. Pitchers must be ready to contribute in what figures to be an all-hands-on-deck approach to covering innings. Murphy and his staff must be prepared and balance thinking ahead with seizing opportunities right in front of them (which may include letting certain hitters swing the bat instead of encouraging a bunt attempt).

“It’s easy sitting here talking about it,” he said.

As recently as mid-August, the team faced a real test in this regard, when the Dodgers came to Milwaukee. Murphy saw his charges respond less than perfectly at the time.

The luxury the manager and his team carved for themselves was to learn from those moments without being pushed into a lesser position for the one ahead. They've had their trials, and they've gotten some practice with that magnitude of crowd and opponent.

Now it’s time for the Brewers to apply it on a brighter stage, with higher stakes.