Goss: Pat Murphy spins tales of his life in pro baseball

In the previous column covering Pat Murphy’s visit to Joliet as the guest speaker for the Old Timers Baseball Association of Will County banquet, the Milwaukee Brewers bench coach under manager Craig Counsell discussed his college coaching career at Notre Dame and Arizona State.

Here, he relates some of his experiences, with a humorous slant, in professional baseball.

Murphy began his pro career making $32,000 as the manager of the San Diego Padres’ Class A Short-Season affiliate.

A left-handed batter pulled a double into the right-field corner that could have won the game for the opposition. Murphy’s right fielder raced to the bullpen, which was down the line, picked up a ball and fired a strike, throwing out the potential winning run at the plate. It wasn’t the ball that was hit, however. That was 40 feet farther down into the corner. But there were only two umpires, and they didn’t see what the right fielder pulled.

On another occasion, Murphy had one of his young players convinced that it was a 10-minute ferry ride from Vancouver to China, and the player repeated that bit of knowledge. A teammate told him how wrong he was.

“He hated me the rest of his career,” Murphy laughed.

Another time, Nick Vincent, who now is with the Seattle Mariners, was scuffling in Triple-A when Murphy got a call from above that Vincent was being promoted the Padres from Triple-A El Paso. Murphy had him convinced he was being released and sent back home to San Diego, not going to San Diego to begin his big-league career.

“I got a call from him a couple hours later,” Murphy said. “He said, ‘Murph, are you messin’ with me? I saw on Twitter that I’m going to the big leagues.’ “

While managing at El Paso and driving to Albuquerque to open a series, Murphy received another call.

“The Padres fired Bud Black, and I got the call that they were going to have interviews the next day in San Diego,” Murphy said. “That asked me if I was interested in being interviewed. I finally got there at 11 p.m. The Padres were in last place and had just finished losing, 7-0, to the Oakland A’s.

“I’m having breakfast at 7:30 the next morning. I get a call at 7:35. ‘How would you like to be the next manager of the Padres?’ I said sure. ‘Then we’ll pick you up in five minutes.’

“I’m in my sweats, haven’t gotten ready for the day. And we have a game at noon, and we’re leaving right after the game for a 10-game trip starting in Oakland.”

In the first game at Oakland, Murphy saw a familiar face from his Arizona State days.

“A kid I called Soda Boy [Eric Sogard] is playing second base for the A’s, and he knocks one up the middle in the ninth and we lose,” he said. “I called him Soda Boy because when he was a freshman at Arizona State, he wasn’t starting and I made him carry the soda, the Diet Dr Pepper, to the dugout for me.

“​On Day 2 there, Pat Murphy is going to get his first win. You get celebrated, and it’s ugly. I was in this barrel, and it was cold in the shower. I felt my heart coming out of my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack. I could see the headline: ‘Murphy dead after first major league win.’

“There was a knock on the door later that night. I opened the door and there sits a six-pack of Diet Dr Pepper. Soda Boy brought it to me.”

Murphy said on that initial major-league road trip, “We got beat at Pittsburgh by guys I had coached, then Mike Leake hits three-run homer off us in the bottom of the second, then we get beat by Nolan Arenado. He signed with us but never played for us at Arizona State because he signed a pro contract instead.”

The Padres’ best player at the time was Matt Kemp.

“My first week on the job, Matt Kemp was facing [Madison] Bumgarner, and [Tony] Randazzo calls him out on strikes,” Murphy said. “Kemp just stands there, obviously waiting for me to come out of the dugout.

“I thought, ‘I have to support my players.’ ”

Murphy had Old Timers president Jim Hall act as Randazzo, and he demonstrated what went on next. He got in Randazzo’s face and was hollering, letting Kemp and the rest of the Padres know he would stick up for them.

What he was doing, however, was telling Randazzo that he was new on the job, the Padres hadn’t won in five days and he was out there letting his players know he had their backs. Randazzo went along with it, gave him four minutes at home plate, continuing the act.

Kemp later thanked Murphy for going to bat for him. In his way, he had earned their respect.

The audience at the Old Timers’ banquet, meanwhile, enjoyed his knack for spinning baseball tales.

HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS

The Old Timers each year recognize their high school softball and baseball players of the year. The honorees in softball were Providence catcher Jessica Cothern as Player of the Year and Lincoln-Way West’s Amanda Ruskowsky as Pitcher of the Year. Cothern is playing at DePaul, Ruskowsky at Saint Xavier.

In baseball, Providence’s Mike Madej, who is at Purdue, was cited as Player of the Year, while Joliet Catholic Academy’s Drake Fellows, who is at Vanderbilt, received his second Pitcher of the Year honor.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shawmedia.com.