MILWAUKEE (AP) ā Milwaukeeās Pat Murphy and the Chicago Cubsā Craig Counsell have a friendship that goes back well over three decades. That wasnāt going to end now that theyāre managing NL Central rivals.
āIām sure all of you have great friends in the world, people that youāve been associated with for many, many years in different way,ā Murphy said Friday before the to the Cubs in the season's first matchup between the teams. āMaybe the relationship changed a little bit. Maybe you used to live in the same town. Maybe now you donāt. But your really, really true friends, you donāt have to call them on the phone every night and say, āWhat happened last night? What did he say? Or what did he say?ā
āCraig and I will be close forever. I respect him. I love him. I love his family.ā
Counsell and Murphy had worked together in some capacity for much of the last 35 years or so before his job as Milwaukeeās manager to become the Cubsā skipper after the 2023 season. Murphy, a key part of Counsellās staff in Milwaukee,
Their relationship started long before either reached the big leagues.
Counsell played college baseball on Notre Dame teams coached by Murphy from 1989-92. When Counsell was hired as the Brewersā manager after the 2015 season, he made Murphy his bench coach.
They saw each other just about every day for most of the next eight seasons. Now that theyāre working for different teams, they naturally donāt talk as often.
Nor can they confide in each other the way they could while working on the same staff.
āItās changed in that weāre competitors instead of teammates, so I think during competitive times, (the relationship is) different,ā Counsell said. āItās stayed the same in kind of when weāre off game time, weāre friends.ā
That friendship continues even as they work for rivals.
āI know people would love to have us get in a fight and have a back-and-forth between the Cubs and us ā fights and all that kind of (stuff),ā Murphy said. āMaybe that will happen, but weāll still always be friends. Heās done a lot for my life, and Iām very grateful for the friendship.ā
Counsellās decision to leave the Brewers enabled Murphy to get his first MLB manager opportunity since 2015, when he led San Diego on an interim basis. Murphy responded by leading the Brewers to a and becoming the Milwaukee's first .
āIām happy for his success,ā Counsell said. āThatās first and foremost. Youāre happy your good friend has tremendous success. Weāre obviously competitors. His wins donāt always bode good for me or for us. Youāre still happy for his success.ā
So far this season, Counsell has had more success. The Cubs' blowout win Friday enabled them to maintain their two-game lead over Cincinnati in the NL Central. The Brewers are in third place, four games behind the Cubs.
___
AP MLB:
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press