Ahead of the World Series, the Brewers manager got to meet 'The Boss' New York Times (Online) Jayson Stark MILWAUKEE — It was already one of the most unforgettable weeks of Pat Murphy's life. And then … Bruce Springsteen called. The manager of the Milwaukee Brewers was just sitting at his kitchen table Wednesday morning when his phone lit up — with a FaceTime call from Freehold, N.J. “Holy s—,” Murphy said. “It's him.” It was him, all right. But what was this Hall of Fame rocker doing FaceTime-ing a man who was about to manage his first World Series game? It all stemmed from a couple of press-conference soliloquys by Murphy during the National League Championship Series in which he got poetic trying to explain his Springsteen fandom — and just happened to mention: “I'd like to meet him one-on-one and sit and talk to him.” Then, after the Brewers had finished off their NLCS sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers last week, Murphy dropped Springsteen's name again in his postgame, champagne-popping clubhouse speech, saying: “It's just like Bruce said. We have to be the last man standing” — a reference to a song from Springsteen's “Letters to You” album. Bingo. That, it turned out, got The Boss' attention. “I had heard from our clubhouse people,” Murphy said Friday, before Game 1 of the World Series. “And they said, 'So Springsteen heard you at the postgame … and he told his assistant: 'Get ahold of this guy.'” Murphy wasn't quite sure anything would come of that, especially after he was forewarned that Springsteen planned to call him Monday afternoon and that never happened. But two days later, Murphy picked up his phone and … “And he's sitting there, and he says: 'How are you doing?'” Murphy recounted Friday afternoon. Springsteen may not have known all the ins and outs of the Brewers' magical journey to the World Series. But he'd gotten the memo that his music had left its mark on more than just Murphy's mind. It was also stamped on the manager's left arm, where Murphy sports a Springsteen-inspired tattoo that says: “No Retreat. No Surrender.” So Murphy said Springsteen began the conversation by saying: “I heard we have some connection.” “To be honest,” Murphy went on, “I can't remember how he put it. It was more like, I just went right into it. I said, 'You have impacted me incredibly. And it's the weirdest thing. I'm not a music guy. I grew up on Black music. I didn't even like this type of music. Then I went to the Hollywood Sportatorium to see you in 1980.'” Murphy had talked at great length during the NLCS about the trip he took to that concert, in the pouring rain, and how it inspired his Springsteen fandom, in a way that was more spiritual than musical or political. “I just started following him, what it's about, what he sings about,” Murphy said last week. “The message just resonated. He grew up a Catholic kid in New Jersey. I was a Catholic kid from upstate New York. There's just so much that resonates with me how he speaks about things.” In private conversations, Murphy readily quotes lines from the Springsteen songs that are ingrained in his head, such as this one from “Darkness on the Edge of Town”: Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop I'll be on that hill with everything I got Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost Murphy said he didn't quote that one — or any other song lines — in his conversation with Springsteen, which was first reported by USA Today. But he did have a question about the song quoted on his tattoo. “I asked him (about) 'No Surrender.' I said that's something special to me, and it's about friendship, right?” Murphy recounted. “And he said: 'Yes, it is.' Then I asked him about his Broadway show. I said, 'Hey, you know what I do? … A good night for me is watching you in your Broadway show on YouTube.' And he said, 'I'm really happy I did that show.' I said, 'That was therapy for you, wasn't you?' And he said: 'You're exactly right.'” It was just a seven-minute conversation, because “I didn't want to take up too much of his time,” Murphy said. But before he clicked off the line, Springsteen had one last message: “So you've got my number. Any show. Any time.” Murphy shook his head in wonder. It was a moment and a memory. But now he had a World Series game to manage — and one last chance to make it real.