Baseball is an odd sport in terms of where and how players make it to the Major Leagues, and former Notre Dame baseball coach Pat Murphy is no exception.
Murphy, 65, was appointed Craig Counsell’s successor as Milwaukee Brewers manager in the winter, but he spent a long time as a collegiate baseball coach before joining the MLB bench. This included an eight-year stay with the Irish.
But the way he got the job in South Bend was unusual and unparalleled. He recently discussed this on Jomboy Media’s “Chris Rose Rotation” podcast with Chris Rose, which aired Monday.
“A kid the previous day had walked in my office (at Claremont) … and said, ‘My name’s Chris Penny. My sister plays volleyball here. I’m here for graduation. I’m a baseball player at Notre Dame and the coach just resigned, Larry Gallo,'” Murphy said. “I had just asked Larry Gallo if I could be a graduate assistant there the year before. It didn’t work out.
“So when he left, I called Gene Corrigan, got the number from wherever you get the number from in those days and just called Notre Dame. … They transfer me. A woman by the name of Jeanne Neely answered the phone. … I said, ‘Jeanne, I need to talk to Gene Corrigan. My name’s Pat Murphy. I’m the next baseball coach at Notre Dame.'”
Murphy said: Neely smiled, but Murphy proceeded to sell his love of Notre Dame and knowledge of the Irish, even reciting off every football player’s number from 1968 to 1970, when Murphy grew up a Notre Dame devotee.
“I said, ‘I can tell you I adore this thing. “I’d rather be the coach at Notre Dame than the manager of the Dodgers,” Murphy stated. “Gene got on the phone. He snickered and laughed. He says, ‘It’s a part-time job. We don’t know what we’ll do. We may discontinue baseball at Notre Dame. We don’t offer scholarships.’… ‘Put your CV in, and we’ll contact you.'”
