Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy led the Brewers to their first World Series appearance since 1982.
Murphy has led Milwaukee to the postseason in each of his three seasons as manager. He has also improved the Brewers’ win total each season.
In 2026, Milwaukee finished atop Major League Baseball with 103 wins. This is an improvement from 93 wins in 2024 and 97 wins in 2025.
Murphy is the reigning back-to-back National League Manager of the Year and has a great shot at winning that award again this season.
Before Murphy’s rise to stardom as Milwaukee’s manager, the 67-year-old skipper spent some time as a coach in college baseball.
Murphy and his stints at Notre Dame and Arizona State
In 1987, Murphy was hired to be Notre Dame’s head baseball coach. From 1988 to 1994, he led the Fighting Irish to 318 wins and four NCAA Tournament appearances.
He also led Notre Dame to five Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament titles. The Fighting Irish won four straight conference tournaments under Murphy from 1991 to 1994.
Before the 1995 college baseball season, Murphy left Notre Dame to be the head coach at Arizona State.
In 15 seasons with the Sun Devils, he won 629 games and led the program to the NCAA Tournament 12 times.
Arizona State made the College World Series four times under Murphy. Although they did not win a national championship, the Sun Devils did play against the USC Trojans in the national championship in 1998.
During that same 1998 season, Murphy became the youngest college baseball coach to reach 500 career wins. During his time at Arizona State, Murphy also won the Pac-10 Coach of the Year award four times in 2000, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
The Sun Devils won four conference titles under Murphy during the same years he won his coach of the year awards.
After the 2009 college baseball season, Murphy left Arizona State to work within the San Diego Padres organization as a special assistant to baseball operations. He spent five years with the Padres before joining the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 2016.
Game One of the 2026 World Series
After winning the National League pennant, Murphy’s attention turns to the 2026 World Series. He will lead the Milwaukee Brewers against the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays.
Game one of the World Series will be on Friday, October 23, at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The first pitch is at 8 p.m. ET and can be watched on FOX.
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