Brewers' Pat Murphy Etches Name In Record Books With Manager Of The Year Award

Copyright Sports Illustrated

Pat Murphy was just getting used to his manager title with the Milwaukee Brewers two years ago at this time. Now, he's a two-time Manager of the Year. On Tuesday night, Murphy took home 27 of 30 first-place votes to win the National League's Manager of the Year title for the second year in a row. He handily beat out second-place finisher Terry Francona of the Cincinnati Reds and third-place finisher Rob Thomson of the Philadelphia Phillies. But in a remarkable moment of symmetry, Murphy's counterpart from the other Central division, Stephen Vogt of the Cleveland Guardians, also won the Manager of the Year Award in the American League. Murphy, Vogt carry torch for Central divisions Murphy and Vogt became just the third and fourth back-to-back winners of the award since the Baseball Writers' Association of America took it over in 1983, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The other two were Bobby Cox of the Atlanta Braves (2004-05) and Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays (2020-21). After leading his team to a franchise-record 97 wins and an appearance in the National League Championship Series, Murphy humbly gave the credit to the entire organization and the culture he's played a part in building. “I think it's a statement for the Milwaukee Brewers, from ownership to the ivory tower to our coaching staff,” Murphy said, per Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. “It’s an organizational award, and I'm very pleased to be part of this organization. "I think one of the great accolades you can get paid is there is a brand that you think about when you think about the Milwaukee Brewers. There's a way they play the game and a certain level that everyone's held to and they want to please each other.” Murphy and Vogt took different paths to the award, in that the former spent many years as both a college head coach and major league bench coach, while the latter became a manager only a year after he stopped playing in the big leagues. It all goes to show that great managing in the big leagues can take many forms, and for as uncertain as the Brewers were about losing Craig Counsell two offseasons ago, they couldn't be more thrilled to have Murphy at the helm now.