Migos gang in the building! Ding Dong, Brewers culture has proven itself for a 4th straight year. I have spent the last three days soaking up every bit of content I can from Cubs fans and media. The overwhelming question they all ask is how is it possible the Brewers did it again. They have more money, they have the MVP, they have our old manager. The answer is so painfully obvious.
Culture.
It’s pretty impossible to miss it. How else do you explain $100 Million difference in payroll and still being 10 games back from your biggest rival? Culture.
You know what culture breeds?
A good development program
A good scouting department
A team who plays hard every day
A team who plays fundamentally sound
A team who gets the best out of each player
That last point is my favorite of that group. It’s why they are better now than they were with Craig Counsell as manager. Pat Murphy is a people manager, not a baseball manager. His baseball management is hilariously bad sometimes, but his people management…that is the secret sauce.
Every Brewers fan has seen it. Watch a Cubs Brewers series. One manager is sitting in his dugout pacing, nervously running his hands through his hair. The other is standing there calm, confident, and giving his players a pep talk when it is needed.
Pat Murphy is a product of the culture and also is the culture. I know that doesn’t necessarily make sense, but let me use the great prophets from Migos to explain it to you. “Do it for the culture. They gon’ bite like vultures.” It’s exactly what the Cubs tried to do. They thought they could just steal the Brewers culture. We can’t beat these guys – let’s just try to steal what they are doing.
That’s not how culture works. It’s bigger than a manager, a GM, or an MVP player. It’s the scouting department knowing the guys to draft or sign. It’s the manager getting the 21-year-old rookie to smile before he goes up to bat in extra innings. It’s even the longtime radio announcer hanging out in the clubhouse with the team making them laugh (RIP Ueck).
Maybe one day culture will be enough for the Brewers to win it. It’s the foundation of every championship team. Unfortunately, sometimes on top of culture you need a little more (dolla dolla bills y’all) to win the big one. But I don’t care (I do care). I am enjoying every second of these Brewers glory days. I am going to tell my kids nonstop about these years like my dad did with the 1982 season. So if you are reading this as a Brewers fan, my hope is you aren’t like Andy from The Office.
Enjoy it while it is here and hope the culture lasts us a long time.
P.S. I also wanted to take a full paragraph to shit on Craig Counsell, so I am putting it at the end since I didn’t want to ruin the moment talking about Pat Murphy. That dude has zero feel for the game. He thinks he is the smartest guy in the room because he has some nerd give him spreadsheets before the game. He throws everything else out the window and just goes with the numbers. I think numbers are great and helpful, but when you don’t have a feel for the game…well you are seeing what happens. He did it with the Brewers and he is doing it again with the Cubs. It’s why we all suffered watching him tinker with the lineup or who was on the mound or I don’t know trying to make Jesse Winker happen (random example). Couldn’t be happier that guy isn’t managing our team anymore. Bleh, what a loser.
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