Lost Ballparks

Mike Murphy (Giants HOF)

• Mike Koser • Season 8 • Episode 9

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He started as a batboy at old Seals Stadium in 1958 and spent the next 65 years inside the Giants clubhouse at Candlestick Park and beyond. Along the way, he became great friends with Willie Mays, found himself at a private dinner where a legendary singer answered the door, had an unexpected run-in with a Hollywood cowboy at spring training, "borrowed" something from Bob Uecker and even ran the clubhouse for the biggest band in the world. This month on Lost Ballparks, longtime Giants clubhouse manager Mike Murphy shares stories you won’t believe. 

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Commercial:

Hey, Pop. What's a giant? What's a what? What's a giant? A giant, well, it's a great, uh, big, huge, tremendous. You know, it's like a super colossal.

Russ Hodges:

This is Ross Hodges And Lon Simmons. Well, in case you had any doubt, that's what a giant is. To some, a giant is a Willie Mays, a Willie McCovey, or a Juan Marichal. But to many others, a giant is a composite face of immortal heroes. A history of legendary exploits performed by Titans.

Mike Koser:

One such Titan is Mike Murphy. Murph is a giant's legend, a giant amongst all the giants. One who never actually played a single inning. From bat boy to clubhouse manager, he spent 65 years as the heartbeat of the Giants Clubhouse. Starting at Seals Stadium in 1958 when the team moved west to San Francisco, and continuing through the candlestick park era and beyond. Along the way, he found himself at a private dinner where a legendary singer answered the door, developed a close relationship with Willie Mays, had a surprise encounter with a Hollywood cowboy at spring training, and even played host to the biggest band in the world. This month on Lost Ballparks, Murph shares incredible stories from a lifetime in baseball. Mike Murphy is my guest on this month's episode of Lost Ball Parks. Mike Murphy, welcome to Lost Ball Parks. How are you?

Mike Murphy:

All right, good, sir. Good, good, Mike.

Mike Koser:

Mike, when you were eight or nine years old, your dad started taking you to games at SEALs Stadium. That beautiful San Francisco ballpark was situated on 16th and Bryant Street, where the Triple A San Francisco Seals played. Do you remember the first time, what it was like the first time you saw a game there? Like the sights and the sounds and the smells?

Mike Murphy:

Oh, it was great. I used to play catch at the park, you know, because we lived we lived right off of 10th Street down there. And uh I used to go to the park, the little park on 7th and 7th and uh Folsom. And we lived on 10th Street, and my father took me to the game, and I fell in love with baseball right then. And after a couple of years after that, I used to sneak in there in center field to see the games.

Mike Koser:

The Hamms Brewery was on the was that on the right field side?

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, Hamms Brewery, yes. The filled up. Yeah, for people who never saw that. It was just a big glass that it filled up, you know, like you're pouring a beer, and then the foam would be on top, then it'd go blank, and then all of a sudden it'd come up back up again.

Mike Koser:

So it'd refill every few seconds. And then on the um on the left field side was a a great little bakery, too. Was it ...

Mike Murphy:

Stempells.

Mike Koser:

And then close by, uh right across the street, uh the double play bar and grill.

Mike Murphy:

The double play, that's it - double play right there.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, it was right across the street. And even though SEALs stadium was demolished in 1959, that little neighborhood bar continued to thrive all the way up to a couple years ago when tragically it burned to the ground. I was there a few months before that happened, and I mean honestly, it was like walking back in time. There was giants memorabilia and irreplaceable things all over the walls. The SEALs stadium photographs, and man, it was so disappointing to see that happen.

Mike Murphy:

Oh, I know. Tell me about it. You know who used to look used to I used to tell Will Clark about it, so he I took him up there and he really enjoyed that the lunch up there.

Mike Koser:

Oh, the food was good too. The food was really good.

Mike Murphy:

And then across the street was uh on the corner was the the plaque that uh that Peter Magowan put on uh on the corner there.

Mike Koser:

To uh commemorate SEALs Stadium.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah.

Mike Koser:

As a kid, Mike, your dad would let you go to SEALs Stadium sometimes by yourself, and this is like when you're you're 10 or 12 years old.

Mike Murphy:

Uh yeah, oh yeah. Well, you know, we were younger. We didn't fear nothing, my brother and I, you know what I mean? Yeah. You know, you know we were kids were going to school. So we used to go on the weekends when they were playing.

Mike Koser:

I love how resourceful you were too, Mike, because you had a we figured out a way to sneak in.

Mike Murphy:

Well yeah, center field, uh uh the two brothers were there, uh oh, they worked for uh the Cassidy brothers. And uh we used to sneak in there uh and they used to catch us all the time and say, uh, come on, you guys you guys are here all the time, you know what I mean? He'd turn turn his back and say, okay, sneak in there then so he let us go through the center field.

Mike Koser:

And then you and your brother would head out to the right field stands, is that right?

Mike Murphy:

Right, yeah. And then uh we'd pick up uh the cushions at uh at the end at the end of the ballgame. Big guy would give you a ticket. Piggy. His name is Piggy, you know. You pick up all the cushions around - the people leave this cushions, they throw them on the field, that stuff happening in the game. And you pick them up and he'd give you a ticket.

Mike Koser:

He'd give you a ticket for the next game?

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, oh yeah, for the next game, yeah.

Mike Koser:

And you would

Mike Murphy:

give bleacher tickets, bleachers, it would know you know, we'd sit out the bleachers out in right field.

Mike Koser:

And you would catch balls during batting practice too and throw them back like home run balls.

Mike Murphy:

Yes, I used to get there early and uh and Doc Hughes was a trainer and used to see me all the time. He'd give me a ball here and there, you know what I mean. So he said if you catch if you catch the balls in the stands, just throw them back in, and I'll take care of take care of you with a brand new ball. He always did, you know. Oh, good. Hey, good we played ball with it.

Mike Koser:

And then one day in 1955, the SEALs bat boy doesn't show up, and the SEALs equipment manager you just talked about, Doc Hughes.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, it was 1955, and he didn't show up. So Doc Hughes gave me a job of being on the lines, you know, like the line kid. The ball goes foul, you pick it up and just give it to somebody in the stands, a kid or something.

Mike Koser:

All right, tell me about that first game where you're you're down the line doing that. That must be like every kid's dream.

Mike Murphy:

I was scared as hell. That was my first time I was on the field, you know, like that. But I did a good job, you know. I helped the kid pick up all the bats, the bat boy. I see him now and then he's he's he's he's he's a little older than me now. But I see him around uh he come by and see me a couple of times at the ballpark when I was working. Yeah, I helped him, and and then the guy had a guy named Bill Soto on the other side. He needed a bat boy, so so I went over there for a year. In 50 uh 56 and 57 I became the bat boy for the SEALs.

Mike Koser:

In 1957, New York Giants owner Horace Stonham made this announcement.

Horace Stoneham:

At a meeting of our board today, they voted uh permission for us to transfer the New York Giant franchise to San Francisco. Will you still be known as the Giants? That's right. Where will you play in San Francisco? Uh the uh immediate plans are to uh start the season or most of the season seals stadium.

Mike Koser:

And Mike, little did you know that the Giants move to San Francisco would change your life.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah. You had our old uh general manager, Jerry Donovan, was the president of the SEALs. Uh almost uh maybe the last month of the season, he he was sitting outside and I said, Hello, Mr. Donovan, how are you? He just kind of he says, I don't know what I'm gonna do with you. I said, What do you mean? He says, the Giants are moving out, but I'll try to help you out as much as I can. If I get a job with the with the Giants when they move out, I'll see that you get a job as a bat boy. So then the Giants came out and he talked to Mr. Logan. He became uh the business manager for the Giants. That's how I got the job with the Giants, and that I did a good job for Mr. Logan. It was Roy McKercher, myself, and Stanfeld, Leland Stanfeld. His father uh owned the bar across the street, the double play.

Mike Koser:

And 1958 was the first time you met Willie Mays, right?

Mike Murphy:

Right, 58, yes, yes. Oh, he we we hit it off. Him and I hit it off pretty good.

Announcer:

I think one of the nicest things that anybody would want to do on a sunny afternoon in the early spring is lean here on the batting cage and without a care in the world, watch Willie Mays hit a few.

Mike Koser:

Hey, yeah, and 58 Mays, he's just a kid, he's 27 years old himself. And didn't he give you a couple bucks to play pepper with him behind home plate at Seals Stadium?

Mike Murphy:

Used to get all those kids together, you know, whoever cut the ball spaws you when you play pepper. Yeah. And he'd give them five bucks. My feeling was uh wasn't that good, you know. Sometimes I'd I'd lose and he says, I'll take care of you later. So he used to give me a five dollar bill.

Mike Koser:

That's so great.

Mike Murphy:

The Giants bring back a lot of old memories, like like if 1958, I don't know if you do this, that Jeff Chandler was their uh their hero, you know. He used to work out with the Giants all the time. 58 59 at uh SEAL Stadium.

Mike Koser:

Jeff Chandler, you're talking about the the actor, Jeff Chandler.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah.

Mike Koser:

Probably his most famous role was the 1950 movie Broken Arrow.

Jeff Chandler:

I am the leader of my people. They do not betray me and I do not betray them. We fight for our land against Americans who try to take it.

Mike Murphy:

That's the guy. Yeah, Jeff Chandler, the movie star. Mr. Stoneham loved them.

Mike Koser:

Over the years, you became really close with Willie Mays. Tell me about the time in Palm Springs uh where you had a uh once-in-a-lifetime dinner.

Mike Murphy:

We were in Palm Springs playing the the Angels, and then after that we were going to uh play the San Diego Padres down in uh

Mike Koser:

Oh in Yuma.

Mike Murphy:

Yuma, yeah. Yeah, Yuma. So we were gonna go play them. I'm helping Logan do the do the laundry, and I'm I don't so Willie says, wait, where are you gonna go for dinner? I said, uh I'll go to the coffee shop. He says, get yourself uh a sweater and everything. I got you know just a shirt with a sweater and a jacket, a pair of slacks. He said, We're going to dinner with my friend's house. So okay. So we get in this car and all of a sudden you go through Palm Springs, it's dark as hell, way out there. So we go to uh the country club. "Oh, Mr. Mays, how are you?" He's waiting for you. I walk in and it was him.

Mike Koser:

Wait, you walk in and it's who?

Mike Murphy:

It was Frank Sinatra's house, yeah.

Mike Koser:

Oh my gosh.

Mike Murphy:

Oh my heart, you know, I I was, you know, I was kind of double talking, you know what I mean? When I met him.

Mike Koser:

All right, so just to set the stage, it's you, it's Willie Mays with Frank Sinatra at Frank Sinatra's house in Palm Springs, and um former Brooklyn Dodger manager, Leo Durocher, is also there.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah. And so we're eating dinner about nine o'clock there. Leo's getting in the into the whiskey, and so is Frank, you know. And Willie gets... he touches me on my head and I gotta go, I gotta play tomorrow. We had to leave.

Mike Koser:

Oh my gosh. Yeah, I break the bread. You know, when you sit down your first time in his house, he makes you sit down and you you break the bread for the Italians. That's what Italians do, you know, you break the bread. Yeah.

Mike Murphy:

I really enjoyed it.

Mike Koser:

Over the years, you saw Sinatra many times.

Mike Murphy:

Oh, many times.

Mike Koser:

and didn't you even send him a like uh a uniform for was his 70th birthday or

Mike Murphy:

70th birthday? I sent him a uniform and he Yeah,

Russ Hodges:

by the way, by the way, that didn't make Tommy Lassorda too happy because he was buddies with Frank.

Mike Murphy:

Oh no, Tommy, Tommy, he said, you're taking my man away from me. I said, I'm not taking your man, I I didn't got nothing. I just he wanted something, so I gave it to him. Well, I don't I don't hang around with him. You know what I mean? Yeah. Tommy says, Oh yeah, you're trying to get in there and good getting good graces with him. And I said, I don't. He asked me to do something. I said, to Be truthful, with you Tommy, I don't even have a picture of him. Never never took a picture with him. He used to come to Candlestick, you know, he'd be with the ball players and I'd bring the ball players over to see him. And hey, I never got a picture with him. You know, he did with McCovey and Willie and the rest of the guys, you know, but I didn't uh I was uh I never liked to take pictures anyway.

Mike Koser:

Speaking of uh spring training, Alvin Dark was the San Francisco Giants manager from 61 to 64. And uh correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you given the assignment of driving his Cadillac back home from spring training?

Mike Murphy:

Oh yeah, I drove it down and drove it back for him.

Mike Koser:

Were you not... how old were you at that time?

Mike Murphy:

I was I was uh let's see, I was I was 18.

Mike Koser:

How nervous were you driving it back up to San Francisco?

Mike Murphy:

I I took my time, I didn't rush. He said, Take your time, don't rush, don't rush. Uh Alvin took good care of me. He was one of my favorite managers, so is Felipe ALou, Dusty, and and the great Bochy.

Mike Koser:

One game against the pirates at Seals Stadium. This would be late 1950s. You had to be bat boy for both teams. Tell me about that.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, uh 1958 we had a bad boy named Roy McKercher. He played uh for the high school, you know. He he was one of our bat boys, but you know, he thought he was a big next pitcher coming back as his left-hander, and you know, he was like a hot dog, we used to call him. Uh you know, I mean he was a good guy, but we actually call him a hot dog. You know, like he pretended he'd be working out on the side with the people showing so one day he doesn't show up, and Mr. Logan was kind of worried. And I'm always there. Mr. Logan says, You better you better see George over the visitors, he's hurting. I said why? he says, Roy McKercher is not showing up today. So I go over to see George, he says, You want to be the bat boy? I said, Yeah, I'll be the bat boy. I'll handled the two teams.

Mike Koser:

Think about the logistics of that. Between every inning, you're changing uniforms.

Mike Murphy:

Willie said to me, You tired yet? I said, Oh, I'm I'm getting tired. I said, Willie, I don't know how you do it. You're like you like he used to tell me it's uh you tell Hank Sauer to play close to the lines and and uh Cepeda play close in right field, placed to the lines on the right field. He said, I'll cover everything in the middle. He was running all day that day.

Mike Koser:

Well, yeah, well, just like you, and did by the way, didn't Willie give you uh an a little extra money for your effort for that game?

Mike Murphy:

Oh yeah, he took care of me. He gave me a couple bucks. He was good. He was good to me. I told him I didn't want the money. He said, Oh no, you think it's buy yourself something, buy yourself something. He always said that. Buy yourself something, buy yourself lunch.

Mike Koser:

He was a generous guy, right?

Mike Murphy:

Yes, he was, very generous.

Mike Koser:

He'd go to New York and pick up a shirt for you, or

Mike Murphy:

he'd take care of me. He says, he says, Come on, I'll get you a suit. Go to the place and people throw just throw suits at him. He says, Give one to skinner. He used to call me skinner. Give one to skinner. We used to go get uh the sweaters, those...remember those nice ones, alpacas.

Mike Koser:

Oh, yeah.

Commercial:

Soft with a luxurious feel, lightweight, yet warm and weather resistant.

Mike Murphy:

Well, those were expensive. They would give them 20 or 30, blah, blah, blah, different colors, and really say, take a couple, get yourself a couple. I just took two. Two's good enough for me. I'm not too picky.

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Lindsey Nelson:

Willie McCovey with the chance all around him coming across the first baseline, heading back towards the dugout, and this crowd is on its feet as one. And a salute to Willie McCovey.

Mike Koser:

Mike, the first time you saw Willie McCovey was 1959 in the clubhouse at Seals Stadium, right?

Mike Murphy:

Right, yes.

Mike Koser:

And you see that guy, you see that guy walking through. What do you think?

Mike Murphy:

No, it was all started where we're uh uh Brigney was staying late. He was doing something, and Logan went across the street like over to the double play. Logan used to him to travel the secondary to see they'd say all the time, oh we gotta go over across the street, guy owes us some money for leaving tickets. You know, I bought him some tickets, so he said told Logan used to say, I gotta go pick up my money. You know what I'm going to drinking. Right, yeah. So I'm so I'm doing the shoes, hanging up all the wet stuff. Rigney says, Hey man. And he said, Mr. Rigney, he said, We're bringing a big Irishman in tomorrow. Oh, good. Wait to see him. I thought he was a white, you know, a white Irishman.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, right.

Mike Murphy:

The next day he walked through the door, he had six bats on his hand and a duffel bag. My eyes just went boom. McCovey oh, man. He was tall.

Mike Koser:

Big, big guy.

Mike Murphy:

Good guy, good stretch was all right. He was a good guy.

Mike Koser:

In 62, you made your first trip with the Giants back to New York to play at the polo grounds.

Announcer:

The polo grounds, New York, home of the old Giants, and a shrine to such legendary figures as John McGraw, Christy Matthewson, and other old timers.

Mike Koser:

And at that point, the polo grounds were the temporary home of the Mets who would move into Shea Stadium a couple years later. The clubhouses were in center field at the polo grounds. Tell me about the clubhouses at the polo grounds. What do you remember about that?

Mike Murphy:

The polo grounds. I said, You guys played at this ballpark? I never knew the clubhouses out in the center field. You had to walk across the field. That was the first time I ever did that.

Mike Koser:

And you think about those players after a really difficult game. Maybe a guy makes a couple errors that cost the team a win in the in the field, and he you gotta, it's like the walk of shame.

Mike Murphy:

Not only do you have to walk through and you had the visitors walking right behind you, the whole team and everything.

Mike Koser:

You gotta walk through the field, and then you have to walk up through the center field bleachers to get to the clubhouse.

Mike Murphy:

But Logan said this is where he was. I said, You had to move all them trunks up and down the stairs. Yep.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, Eddie Logan was the Giants bat boy at the polo grounds, and so he would have been responsible for schlepping all the bats, the hats, gloves, equipment up those stairs in center field.

Mike Murphy:

Right. Big huge trunks. There was no duffel bags in the early in the early days. All players would used to take a couple pairs of shoes, a couple of, you know, uh jock and a couple of pairs of shorts. Oh man. I don't know how they did it those days. Everything was the train. There was no no airplanes then. That's what Logan told me.

Mike Koser:

Early on, um, Mike, you became a jack of all trades, and when the team was in Chicago, Horace Stonham, who owned the Giants from 36 to 1976, was out drinking one night with Bill Veeck, and he called you, he called you at three o'clock in the morning.

Mike Murphy:

Go get me a pack of smokes. Uh those were the good old days, though.

Mike Koser:

Mike, in 62, the World Series was this close to belonging to the Giants. Naturally, you were at uh Candlestick Park for Game 7. The series is tied at three apiece. The Yankees score a run in the fifth. It remains 1-0 into the ninth when Willie Mays is on second. Maddie Alou is on third. Willie McCovey comes to the plate with two outs and one more chance to win it all.

George Kell:

George Kell and Joe Garagiola at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. And this place is a madhouse right now. The Yankees lead one to nothing, the bottom of the ninth. The Giants have runners at second and third with two outs, and Willie McCovey is the batter.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah. When when Matty was up at first when he went all the way around, he said he would have scored. He would have made the what's his name through that throw him out.

Mike Koser:

Oh, from right field.

Mike Murphy:

From right field, yeah. Roger Maris.

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Mike Murphy:

He says, I he said, I wouldn't have stopped. He said, I made it fine. If I didn't, I know I can make it.

Mike Koser:

But he's thinking McCovey's up, so what do I need to go for?

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, well, yeah, yeah. Figured McCovey's gonna hit a home run.

George Kell:

So, it's one strike to Willie. Boy, everything is riding on every pitch here in the bottom of the ninth.

Mike Koser:

I mean, honestly, you can't hit a ball harder than McCovey did.

George Kell:

Here's the pitch to Willie. There's a liner straight to Richardson. The ballgame is over and the the world series is over. Willie McCovey hitting it like a bullet. A line drive straight to Bobby Richardson at second base. Had that ball got out of his reach. The Giants would have been the winner. Now it's the Yankees who have mobbed ralph terry in the center of the diamond and well they should.

Mike Murphy:

Oh, geez, Bobby Richardson . I couldn't believe it when he caught when he caught it that day.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, Bobby Richardson's playing second for the Yankees and just makes this like if he's really one foot over to the right or left, he doesn't make that catch.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, that's right. He was over to the left a little bit. Holy Toledo. Wow.

Mike Koser:

In 1966, the Beatles were at Candlestick Park for their final concert. You ran the clubhouse for them that day.

Mike Murphy:

Yes, I did. Yes, I did with the Beatles.

Beatles:

Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. And hello.

Mike Koser:

What kind of must haves did they have on their on their list? You know, like the their rider. What did they need to have in the clubhouse?

Mike Murphy:

Well, they they just wanted sodas and and uh and and beds. They laid down before they played the concerts and stuff like that. They didn't lay down on the beds because they had a lot of visitors. You know, Jerry Garcia was there and uh Linda Ronstadt. She came in and a couple other rock and rollers. People came by and visited them.

Mike Koser:

You are experiencing Beatle Mania.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, they were huge, but they didn't fill the house up.

Mike Koser:

Really?

Mike Murphy:

You know that the tickets were?

Mike Koser:

How much?

Mike Murphy:

Five dollars and fifty cents.

Mike Koser:

Oh my gosh.

Mike Murphy:

The whole bottom part was full. Nothing on the upper deck was nothing up there, and it was cold and windy and foggy that night.

Mike Koser:

Like a typical day at candlestick, right?

Mike Murphy:

Five five dollars and fifty cents, and the whole bottom was the whole bottom part was filled. That was it.

Mike Koser:

In 1976, Mike, the Giants are in Casa Grande for spring training, and you're sitting outside the clubhouse making rosin bags out of old socks.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, over the third base, uh over the triple A side. You know, I'm just because that's where the sun used to shine. Yeah. Logan uh was going somewhere and make some make some we needed some duffel bags. And then who roll who rolls up? Uh an old guy. It was a guy in an old jalopy, you know, truck. I recognized uh the voice. I said, I know that voice from somewhere. And he asked me if the giants were playing. I said, I know we're off today. He said, I'll I'll I'll I'll see him later. So he took off. And I said, I know that voice from somewhere because he had a beard and everything.

Mike Koser:

You initially think it's some like guy looking for autographs, right? Some collectors.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah. Right. I had a lot of farmers from there used to bring the kids, you know, looking for autographs. And it turned out to be it was uh John Wayne.

Mike Koser:

John Wayne.

Actor:

I'll count three. And if you're not out of the house by then, I'll loose the dogs on you.

John Wayne:

If you say three, mister, you'll never hear the man count ten.

Mike Koser:

Unbelievable. You spent 19 years at the visiting team as the visiting team clubhouse manager at Candlestick, and one of the guys you became close with was Joe Torre. Uh managing the Braves and the Cardinals.

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, he's come in, go get me the french bread, wine, Uh Pretzels, and I had to get there early in the morning just to go get all that stuff.

Mike Koser:

And Joe one day brings into your office at Candlestick a comedian. Actually, a couple of comedians.

Mike Murphy:

The one used to hang around up with us was Robin Williams, and he brought Billy, Billy Crystal. And Willie was in there. So I let them all all them three guys were all laughing.

Mike Koser:

So just to set the scene, it's you, it's uh Willie Mays, Joe Torre, Robin Williams, and Billy Crystal.

Mike Murphy:

Billy Crystal, yeah. Oh my gosh. I didn't say a word, but they had Willie laughing.

Mike Koser:

Was n't Robin one of your clubhouse attendants for spring training?

Mike Murphy:

Yeah, he had yeah, he came down to spring training and he wanted to meet Matt Williams. So I said, Here's your brother. And he laughed at me. And then he says, Can my son be a bat boy? Yeah, yeah. So we gave him a little uniform. He went out, they took care of him, and he said, Where am I gonna sit? I said, You're gonna be working with me in the clubhouse, pal. So he worked, he hung around the clubhouse hanging up wet stuff and really enjoying himself.

Mike Koser:

Oh my gosh, that's...

Mike Murphy:

a good guy.

Mike Koser:

Mike, long before social media and TV movies and music in the palm of your hand, there was Club Murph after ball games at Candlestick. Can you tell me about Club Murph?

Mike Murphy:

Well, we had uh the food, the beer, and everything ready to go. That's why it was Club Murph.

Mike Koser:

Guys would hang out after games.

Mike Murphy:

At the game, yo yeah. I used to leave um Matt Williams and Will Clark and Robbie Thompson and all the other guys, Bo Mel, they used to all play cards in there all night. And would you tell them, hey, listen, lock up when you leave or what? I used to lock them up on Friday night and get there, get there the next day, open up, and they'd be still playing cards. There were good kids then. They were good, great guys. Yeah, I know you must have changed a little bit, but nowadays.

Mike Koser:

I know you must have received strange requests for things from ball players as clubhouse manager. Didn't Bob Uecker, by the way, didn't Bob Uecker, when he was still playing in the 60s, what did he want you to do for him? Do you remember?

Mike Murphy:

Oh, take a car back.

Mike Koser:

Oh, a rental car.

Mike Murphy:

A rental car, yeah. And I, you know, he says, take it back. I said, Yeah, I'll take it back for you. Because he came in and my car wouldn't start that day, so I drove his car around for a couple days and he calls me up. He says, Hey, did you drop that car off? Yeah, uh, I still got it. My car broke down, so I've been using it. "It's costin me money." So he became a good friend of mine.

Mike Koser:

But that's resourceful. You're like, hey, I don't have a car. I got Uecker's car. What do I need?

Mike Murphy:

I got Uecker's car. Yeah (laugh)

Mike Koser:

You shared a couple of beers during spring training a time or two with Billy Martin, right?

Mike Murphy:

Oh, definitely. Oh, Billy was my man.

Mike Koser:

And there probably were times that places at bars and wherever where people would come after him, just knowing...

Mike Murphy:

Oh I know it, if you look at him, you know, we were at the one night at the pink pony, which everybody hung around at. I was in there, and uh he came in, we had a few beers, you know, and uh he was having drinks, but I was drinking beer, and some guy was looking at him and said, I don't like this way, this guy looking at me. I I don't like that. I said, Billy, Billy, Billy, take your time, don't get in trouble. I said, Let's go somewhere else, where they don't know you. So we went to somewhere else, but they didn't know, but somebody knew him then there too.

Mike Koser:

So yeah, wherever he would go, that's kind of like what that kind of stuff would follow him.

Mike Murphy:

I know, yeah. Even with the Yankees, even with the Yankees, you know, he used to call me up. Hey, you going on the trip? I said, No, I'm staying home because I know you were coming. He said, Well, all good, we go to lunch. So we go to the lunch over at Berkeley. He loved this one place. Oh, I can't think of the name, but in Berkeley, we'd have lunch and all of a sudden you start drinking. I said, Billy, you bet you've been better like, yeah, because you got uh you have to mannage. He said, Oh no, I can make it. He said, Once you walk up them stairs or go out to the field and those lights are on, you know what you're doing.

Mike Koser:

Gosh. Mike, Mike, what a career. Listen, when I think about it, there had to be, I think the number is something like 1800 Giants players who came and went through your clubhouse during the time that you were there. Is that right? About 1800?

Mike Murphy:

About 1800, maybe 2,000 with coaches and stuff like that. Yeah.

Mike Koser:

Amazing. What a career.

Mike Murphy:

And uh yeah, it's been a great career. Giants threw me a nice party, and I got uh they they gave me a and put me on the wall of fame outside the ballpark.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, as they should. And you got World Series rings.

Mike Murphy:

Uh three World Series rings and three championship rings.

Mike Koser:

Now listen, when you when you go out to the grocery store, Mike, do you wear that ring? Do you I

Mike Murphy:

No I don't wear them. They're still in the safe. I don't wear rings.

Mike Koser:

I think I would wear it everywhere I would go.

Mike Murphy:

I 'm not that type of guy. Steve, Steve always Steve Vucinich from Oakland A's (clubhouse manager). You know, he used to say, Murph, why don't you wear your rings? I said, Oh, I don't wear them. You know I don't wear a ring. I I hate wearing a ring when you're working, doing shoes and doing everything, you know, much stuff, put stuff in the dryer.

Mike Koser:

It's a good problem to have. Hey, listen, Murph, thanks so much for the time.

Mike Murphy:

Okay. All right. Al

Mike Koser:

l right, thanks, Mike.

Mike Murphy:

Good man.

Mike Koser:

Take care, buddy.

Mike Murphy:

All right, thank you.

Head Shot

Mike Koser

Host