Pat Murphy and Kevin Cash are meeting on baseball’s biggest stage for the first time as Major League managers, with Milwaukee and Tampa Bay chasing the first World Series championship in either club’s history. But the two dugout bosses have been across the field from one another before — long before either wore a big league uniform.
World Series schedule
| Game | Matchup | Time | Television |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game 2 | Brewers vs. Rays | 8 p.m. ET | FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One |
Their earlier postseason encounter came in Omaha in 1998, when Murphy was Arizona State’s head coach and Cash was a sophomore first baseman at Florida State. Murphy had spent years in the college game, guiding Notre Dame before taking over the Sun Devils, well ahead of his eventual move into the Major League dugouts with San Diego and Milwaukee.
Arizona State entered that College World Series as the No. 6 seed and drew the third-seeded Seminoles in its opener. Cash went hitless in five at-bats, but the game itself had plenty of the traits both current clubs value: pressure at-bats, balls driven around the field and runners creating action on the bases.
1998 College World Series meeting
| Team | Seed | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona State | No. 6 | 11 |
| Florida State | No. 3 | 10 |
Murphy’s Sun Devils erased the narrow margin with three runs in the seventh inning, taking the lead for good in an 11-10 classic. Arizona State kept rolling all the way to the title game, where USC won another wild one, 21-14.
Cash and Florida State returned to the College World Series the following year. He later signed with the Blue Jays as an undrafted free agent and reached the majors in 2002.
Murphy did not arrive in the Major Leagues until 2010, and his managerial career has included only the Padres and Brewers. San Diego has not returned to the World Series since 1998, while Milwaukee’s 2026 pennant put the Brewers back in the Fall Classic for the first time in 44 years.
Now the old college opponents are in opposite dugouts again, with a far different prize waiting at the end. One of them will soon guide his franchise to a first World Series title.
