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Inside The Pinstripes

Pat Murphy's Surprise Jab at Yankees Is What They Needed to Hear

Pat Murphy's comments about the New York Yankees after the Brewers won the World Series weren't off base.
Joseph Randazzo|
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy took a veiled shot at the New York Yankees after the World Series, but he wasn't wrong.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy took a veiled shot at the New York Yankees after the World Series, but he wasn't wrong. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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New York Yankees

The New York Yankees season is long over, and last week's postmortem press conference left very little to be desired. It was the same song and dance from the organization's brass, and they found little wrong with their process, which, for the 17th year in a row, led to another World Series-less season. The team known for its illustrious winning history has done everything, but that come October.

This is why, when other teams take shots at the Yankees, it's hard to be mad anymore. This is a team whose owner has blamed the players for its failures, without looking in the mirror and asking who has picked these guys in the last decade-plus of early postseason exits.

The latest person in baseball to take a jab at the Yankees was Pat Murphy. The moment he ripped them was caught on camera when Milwaukee's skipper embraced journeyman-turned-star Jake Bauers. According to Murphy, the Yankees team Bauers played for was selfish.

"You're going to be a rich f---er," Murphy told Bauers, in an overjoyed yet expletive-filled rant, according to ESPN. "Just remember when you were on that horses--- Yankees team and you guys were all playing for yourself? Just remember, say, 'This is the way we used to do it.'"

Murphy was right to rip the Yankees, even if he isn't in the clubhouse

The team Murphy is talking about was the 2023 Yankees, which missed October baseball. Bauers was in the middle of that lineup for most of the year after Aaron Judge crashed into a wall at Dodger Stadium.

While it's hard to say what was actually going on in the clubhouse Bauers was part of, the Yankees haven't done themselves any favors by avoiding getting ripped like this. The aforementioned postmortem presser was a glimpse into the arrogance that has come from the brain trust led by Hal Steinbrenner—a mostly absentee owner—Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone.

The fact is, if you asked these guys whether they take any blame for what's happened since 2010, Cashman and Steinbrenner show little accountability. In many ways, Boone is the perfect manager for them, and his quotes about turning the corner and pretending everything is okay despite debilitating losses are exactly how the Yankees hold themselves. They never look inward at everything that has plagued the Yankees since their last championship.

It's one thing if the Dodgers and Joey Kelly are ripping the Yankees. Those guys are corny—Kelly being the biggest cornball of them all—and the way that team spent the off-season knocking the Yankees felt more like a group of sore winners. It wasn't that long ago that they were the team that had miserable postseason exit after miserable postseason exit.

Murphy, on the other hand, is a respected manager. He has helped build a winning culture in Milwaukee, and the team is on the cutting edge in data and how it's applied.

Murphy is an old head with an old-school mentality that has adapted perfectly to the modern game. You can see that his players have essentially taken on the fire he brings to the team during a World Series run in which they suffocated some of the best pitching staffs in the big leagues.

If Murphy is ripping you, it's not out of mockery. It's an astute observation, and yet another instance of the Yankees needing to look in the mirror. They won't, though. The Yankees are happy with their process. Steinbrenner, Cashman, and Boone will never admit it, but they carry themselves like a triumvirate that's already won something. They haven't, though.

Barack Obama was in his first term in office in 2009, and Cashman and Steinbrenner haven't won a championship without a player from the Gene Michael era. It's why Murphy's barbs are deserved. If they won't make changes, they'll keep landing on the wrong end of insults from around the league.

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Joseph Randazzo
JOSEPH RANDAZZO

Joe Randazzo is a reference librarian who lives on Long Island. When he’s not behind a desk offering assistance to his patrons, he writes about the Yankees for Yankees On SI. Follow him as @YankeeLibrarian on X and Instagram.