MILWAUKEE -- Even on the night his team became the first in the Majors in three years to win 100 games, Brewers manager Pat Murphy chose to send a message on Thursday night in Philadelphia about keeping the pedal to the metal.
Twenty-four hours later, his star catcher found a unique way to respond.
William Contreras sprinted down the line and dove headlong into first base on a first-inning groundout in Friday’s series-opening 8-4 win over the Cardinals at American Family Field, an apparent answer to getting pulled for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning of Milwaukee’s 5-1 win over the Phillies the night before at Citizens Bank Park.
Television cameras caught teammates suppressing grins. Even Murphy was seen chuckling in the dugout after Contreras’ surprise slide.
“That was entertaining,” Murphy said. “I think that was a statement to me. That’s the way we communicate. It’s beautiful. That’s why they call him Wild Bill.”
What was Contreras thinking as he barrelled down the baseline?
“Play hard,” he said. “Play hard like Milwaukee wants me to. I’m doing my job.”
What sparked this back-and-forth between the manager and star catcher of a team heading into the postseason as Major League Baseball’s top overall seed? It started Thursday night, when Contreras had not run hard on a groundout to shortstop Trea Turner in the fifth inning. Turner bobbled the baseball, but still had plenty of time to throw to first for the inning-ending out in a tie game.
“I don’t know if he could have been safe or not,” Murphy said. “Everybody knows how much William does for our team, how hard he plays and how much he competes. But he’s also a guy that people expect a lot out of. We don’t accept that. He knows that.”
A day later, Contreras was back behind the plate and declared the matter old news.
“I can’t answer for what happened yesterday. That was yesterday,” he said Friday afternoon.
So, it’s over?
“It’s over,” said Contreras.
He played like it Friday night. In addition to his dash and dive at first base, he tallied several hard contacts with no hits to show for the effort until he hit an RBI single amid Milwaukee’s go-ahead rally in the eighth inning.
Contreras also contributed behind the plate, going 5-for-5 on ABS challenges to begin the game before losing one on a pitch that missed the strike zone by less than one-tenth of an inch. The most notable of those challenges came in the second, when Contreras challenged a two-strike pitch to Cardinals third baseman Thomas Saggese that was called a ball, and was so confident he was right that he walked straight to the Brewers’ dugout while Murphy and starter Robert Gasser suppressed grins.
“Conviction,” Gasser said. “He’s convicted in pretty much everything he does. Having somebody as confident as him is great.”
For the record, it’s not uncommon for Contreras to pick his moments to run hard, and the Brewers generally don’t mind that he does. He’s played at least 141 games and started at least 108 games behind the plate in each of his four seasons with the Brewers, and is the first catcher in Brewers history to catch at least 1,000 innings in three straight seasons. His 1,076 2/3 innings behind the plate this year are most in the Majors.
“There’s never going to be a time when you’re not responsible for playing winning baseball,” Murphy said. “It’s a guy that has done so much for the Brewers, he still has to abide by all the same [rules]. He doesn’t have to go 100 percent every time down the baseline, but when a guy muffs it, you have to be going hard enough that you’re safe if he does muff it.
“That’s winning baseball. Because that at-bat is important. Because every one of those at-bats is important.”
How did Murphy’s move land in the clubhouse?
“I think it’s great. I’m sure you guys have heard him say it because he says it to us all the time: ‘You can’t coast uphill,’” said first baseman Jake Bauers, who supplied Thursday night’s winning hit. “He wants [us] to keep [our] foot on the gas. We want to keep the foot on the gas. And we don’t want to go into the postseason feeling like we already did something. It’s really just, keep our heads down, keep working, keep preparing and go out and execute at a high clip.”
To be fair, Contreras was not the only player who raised Murphy’s ire. A manager always sees ways his team can be better.
“The guys, they like being together and they like this winning thing,” Murphy said. “They can’t take it for granted, because it’s special. But you have to put in the work to do it.”