"Murph"

Have you heard of “Murph”? He has cleaned Willie Mays’s spikes, ordered bats for Barry Bonds, and rubbed baseballs for Juan Marical. In the realm of sports superstars, Mike Murphy plays a small but essential role for his pro baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. Recently, he was the one who presented the world series trophy to the world champion San Francisco Giants. He had helped the Giants win their first World Series in 52 years, and Mike was on the job for the entire 52-year journey. But you won't find his name on the scoreboard. You won't see him endorsing new products for millions of dollars per advertisement. He'll never make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

"Murph” has been with the team since 1958, starting as the team's batboy, before moving up to his roles as the clubhouse attendant and finally the equipment manager. Throughout his 52 years of faithful service, Murph has worked behind the scenes so his much more famous teammates could achieve success.

No one has been through more of the heartbreak from a field-level perspective, from the Game 7 losses in the 1962 and 2002 World Series to the earthquake that turned the 1989 Series upside down. Murphy, 68, was here when the Giants lost 100 games in 1985, and for seven seasons, including 2008, when they lost 90 or more.

“I was here in the bad times,” said Murphy, who is a grandfather and lives in San Bruno, just south of San Francisco. “I wasn’t sure this would ever happen. Maybe someday in the future. I guess the future is now

According to an article in The New York Times, "If anyone embodies the 52-year endurance test the San Francisco Giants underwent to reach baseball's summit, it is Mike Murphy." That's one reason why the owner of the team handed the World Series trophy to Murphy so he could present it to his ecstatic teammates.

While everyone else celebrated, Murphy slipped away and made a phone call to a very special former player, Willie Mays. Asked how Mays sounded, Murphy smiled and said, “Very happy.”

A few minutes later, he turned to a clubhouse attendant and pointed to some bags. There was equipment to be loaded onto a truck. Murphy was back at work.