Bard-ball: Brewers manager Pat Murphy references Shakespeare ahead of playoff game

CHICAGO (AP) — The MLB playoffs took a Shakespearean turn on Thursday, courtesy of Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy.

With Freddy Peralta going to the mound for Milwaukee for Game 4 of its NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs, Murphy was asked if the All-Star right-hander had been overlooked when it comes to baseball’s best pitchers.

The 66-year-old Murphy, a top contender for NL Manager of the Year after he won the award last year, said he didn’t know how much credit Peralta received in the media because he reads “a lot of Shakespeare and things like that” in his free time.

After declaring that the William Shakespeare reference was a joke, Murphy jumped into a few lines from “Hamlet” — Shakespeare’s famed tragedy.

Well, a rough few lines, at least.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question. Whether it’s nobler in the minds to suffer the slings and arrows of begotten fortune, or bear arms — I’ll stop,” Murphy said. “What is that, Hamlet? Was that pretty good?”

Asked for his favorite Shakespearean tragedy, a smiling Murphy responded: “I’ve got to go with `Hamlet.’”

While Shakespeare made no mention of baseball, which was invented several centuries later, Claudio in “Much Ado About Nothing” comments: “The barber’s man hath been seen with him, and the old ornament of his cheek hath already stuffed tennis balls.”

Baseball’s resident bard — Dodgers bullpen coach Josh Bard — was unavailable for comment, given Los Angeles was on the field facing the Phillies in the other Division Series.

Peralta and the Brewers went on to a 6-0 loss to the Cubs in Game 4.

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