FRANKLIN, Wis. — Kids tightened their gloves, tapped home plate and swung for the fences at a Brewers youth skills camp taught by the team's manager Pat Murphy.
"It is all about giving back," Murphy said.
The camp was at the Mosh Performance Center in Franklin and hosted several age groups throughout Sunday.
Participants got to swing in the batting cages, ran catching drills and got inside tips from Murphy. Even though he has a wealth of experience to share, his goal was just to get kids interested in the sport.
Watch: Pat Murphy helps run youth baseball camp:
"I don't know if I taught them anything, but maybe just by being around it they might have picked up something," Murphy said.
Murphy, originally from Syracuse, NY, played college ball at Florida Atlantic University and later played professionally for the San Francisco Giants, the San Diego Padres and Indy ball.
He later was a head coach for Notre Dame from the late 80s to the mid-90s where he helped build up over 300 wins. In 1995 he moved to Arizona to coach for the Sun Devils, where he averaged 44 wins per season and won over 600 games.
From 2010 to 2015 he coached professional ball for various teams until he joined the Brewers to be bench coach under Craig Counsell for the 2016 season. In 2024 he was named the team's 16th manager in the franchise history.
Murphy holds Wisconsin in high regard when it comes to creating baseball talent.
"There are great club programs that are here," he said. "Wisconsin is a place to go to get some guys and more than ever before they are producing players."
With Murphy's confidence in Wisconsin baseball and a good turn-out for the club, who knows, maybe some of the kids who attended will go on to one day play for the Brewers.
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