How Bruce Springsteen Greatly Influenced Brewers Manager Pat Murphy’s Mindset

Pat Murphy names every season after a Bruce Springsteen song. This year, Springsteen noticed. And then he called.

"Bruce reached out to you? This actually happened?" Rich asked the Milwaukee Brewers manager. "Walk me through this entire process, soup to nuts, please."

Murphy explained that every season he coaches has a saying taken from a Springsteen song, like "Prove It All Night" or "Thunder Road." Usually his buddy John Flanagan, a Springsteen fanatic, comes up with it. This year's choice was "Last Man Standing," and Murphy mentioned it in his talk at the end of the team's celebration.

Springsteen was watching. He had his assistant track down how to contact the Brewers, and while the team was on the plane coming back from LA, Murphy's assistant came to him with news. "Hey, Springsteen's office called," Murphy recalled. "He wants to arrange to have a conversation." They set it up, and then it didn't happen.

Then, one early morning, Murphy was sitting at his table when a call came up on FaceTime from "732, Freehold, New Jersey."

"And I'm like, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" Murphy said. He swiped, and there was Springsteen doing the same thing Murphy was doing, just sitting and having his coffee.

"He's like, 'Hey, I think we got something in common,'" Murphy said. "I'm like, 'Bruce, you have affected my life, you have no idea.'"

From there, Murphy said, it all came pouring out. How Springsteen has impacted him. How he names every season. He even showed Springsteen the tattoo on his arm. Springsteen just smiled.

Then Murphy shared his most personal confession. On a free night without his kids, he puts on Springsteen's Broadway show on YouTube. "I laugh, I cry, I do everything," Murphy told him. "It's like therapy for me." Springsteen's answer: "It's like therapy for me when I did it."

"Come on, man. That's so awesome," Rich said.

Murphy guessed he's been to about 10 shows and has had chances to go backstage and meet Springsteen. But he said that wasn't how he wanted to meet him. He wanted it to happen exactly the way it did. "A call from Freehold, New Jersey saying, 'Hey, what do you got?'" Murphy said. "What a thrill."

He tried to explain what the music means to him. "It penetrates me," he said. "If you don't get it, you don't get it. I'm not going to try to convince you." Murphy said he can't carry a tune and has no musical ability, but he grew up Irish Catholic in New York and relates to what Springsteen talks about. "It's beautiful."

Rich has his own Springsteen history. He grew up on Staten Island, his wife is a massive fan, and so is his brother-in-law. He's seen Springsteen at the Atlantic City Convention Center and saw him close the old LA arena that Springsteen called "the dump that jumps." "There's nothing like him, man," Rich said, adding that he thinks it speaks to Murphy's managing style too.

Then Rich asked for the list. Top five Springsteen songs for Pat Murphy?

"You got to throw Darkness in there," Murphy said. Then "No Surrender" and "Prove It All Night." He mentioned the one with the line "if I should fall behind," which someone had just sent him. Then "The Rising."

"The Rising is amazing," Rich said. "Seeing The Rising live, I get goosebumps even thinking about it."

Rich offered "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," the moment when the lights come up and Springsteen introduces the band. "Yeah, the big man," Murphy said.

Murphy said the last time he saw Springsteen was at Wrigley. That got a reaction from Rich. "You're allowed there as a citizen?"

"I snuck in," Murphy said, laughing.

Rich figured a Brewers manager isn't terribly popular in Chicago. Murphy agreed. "It hasn't been the friendliest place."