Although they made the playoffs and won the National League Central for the second straight season, the Brewers made an early exit as they lost to the New York Mets in the wild-card round.

The Brewers manager reflected to the Journal Sentinel on the final season and then the passing of one of his closest friends.

As the hours passed and the evening of Oct. 3 quickly became the early morning hours of Oct. 4, Pat Murphy, on the heels of a soul-snatching, season-ending playoff defeat, sat with a group of his ...