Why Brewers Manager Pat Murphy Refused to Shake His Own Players’ Hands in Pregame Intros

The back-to-back NL Manager of the Year winner was at it again on Opening Day.

Murphy is in his third season as the Brewers’ manager. | Aaron Gash/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Handshake snubs have been a big topic of conversation over the last month or so in the world of baseball.

Leading the charge there, of course, is Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who denied Seattle teammate Randy Arozarena of a handshake during a clash between Team USA and Mexico in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Long before “Big Dumper” made headlines for snubbing his teammate of a handshake in the WBC, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was doing the same to his own players—all in good fun, of course.

Murphy was at it again Thursday during the Opening Day pregame festivities at American Family Field in Milwaukee, a game the Brewers won 14–2 over the White Sox to start the 2026 campaign in near-perfect fashion.

Before the contest, Murphy strolled out to the first-base line as his name was called by the public address announcer. Following Murphy was Brewers infielder Brice Turang, who didn’t receive the handshake from his manager that he probably was looking for.

Pat Murphy continues his tradition of not high-fiving his players during lineup intros pic.twitter.com/ty5wLVDfGx

— David Gasper (@dgasper24) March 26, 2026

Following Turang, every Brewers player strolled up to Murphy at the front of the line for any sort of acknowledgement, and all were denied before they jogged away to give out high-fives and handshakes to their teammates.

Sticking with his tradition, Pat Murphy is once again unfazed by the Opening Day festivities. pic.twitter.com/4eYMacc7pv

— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) March 26, 2026

The fun-loving Murphy knew exactly what he was doing. In fact, we saw him do this exact stunt just a handful of months ago.

Why Pat Murphy refuses to shake Brewers’ hands during pregame introductions

Brewers fans and reporters first noticed Murphy denying player handshakes while they were introduced before the NLDS against the rival Cubs last October.

Murphy explained the reasoning behind his handshake refusals.

“It’s tradition. It’s been a tradition; I’ve done it for 10 years now whenever we’ve had introductions,” Murphy said in early October. “I call [introductions] happy horse manure. It’s a bunch of happy horse ... it sounds better when I use the other word, but I’m not going to use it because I don’t use that kind of language in a public setting.

“It’s a lot of happy horse s---, you know what I mean?” Murphy continued, laughing. “You go down the line, shake their hands, and then they go warm up, and they come in the dugout and you shake their hands. You do some crazy handshake with them. I’m like, ‘This is a lot of happy horse s---. Let’s play the game.’”

There you have it. It’s not personal, Turang.

Pat Murphy has exceeded all expectations as Brewers manager

It’s hard to imagine a better start to Murphy’s tenure as Milwaukee’s skipper than the last two years.

The 67-year-old served as the Brewers’ bench coach from 2016 to ‘23 under Craig Counsell, who played for Murphy in college at Notre Dame. When Counsell shockingly departed Milwaukee for the rival Cubs, Murphy took over the Brewers’ dugout—and the organization hasn’t looked back since.

In 2024, the Brewers won the NL Central with a 93–69 record under Murphy’s leadership, finishing 10 games ahead of Counsell’s Cubs despite entering the year with little to no expectations of competing. Last year, Milwaukee won an MLB-leading 97 games and reached the NLCS, playing its maddening brand of baseball with a lineup filled with mostly unsung players who can play solid defense in multiple positions and piece together timely hits.

Murphy was named the NL Manager of the Year in both 2024 and ‘25,

In 2026, the Brewers are once again picked by many to finish behind the Cubs in the NL Central. Pick against Murphy at your own risk. While there’s no guarantee Murphy will lead his team to another division title, you can bet there will be no pregame niceties with his players on the first-base line. That’s a bunch of happy horse s---.

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