Opinion: Pat Murphy and the Milwaukee Brewers never quit. That's why loss hurt so deeply.

Man, it hurts. It hurts because we care . It hurts because Milwaukee Brewers Manager Pat Murphy and his feisty Crew gave us such a fun season . It hurts because the team and its fans gave it their all.

Thank you, Pat Murphy. He set the tone. These guys will never, ever quit. "Murph" will make sure they don’t.

Thank you, Willy Adames , for your leadership, for that constant smile, for your love of the game. Oh, and all those 3 run homers helped a little, too. Thank you, Christian Yelich, for inspiring us, whether you were able to play or not. Same with “Coach” Brandon Woodruff. Excited to have you guys back next year.

Thank you, William Contreras; tough as nails, a great catcher, a great hitter, great leader.

Who is the GOAT of basketball? LeBron James deserves NBA crown over Jordan.

Thank you to the great Brewers infield kids, Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz, spectacular defense, and, with Turang on first after an opposition base hit, he was going to be on second very, very soon with one of those 50 steals.

Thank you, Rys Hoskins. You set the tone against the Mets opening weekend! I know you didn’t hit the way you wanted, but that didn’t stop you from being a strong clubhouse presence.

How about that outfield. Blake Perkins can jump over any wall, pulling back any homer in his reach; Sal Frelick would run through any wall to snag that ball; and Jackson Chourio, holy cow, something special at age 20!

A brilliant starting pitching staff on the injury list: Woodruff, Wade Miley, Robert Gasser; but, no problem, we’ve got Freddie Peralta, Tobias Myers, Colin Rea and now Aaron Civale and Frankie Montas. Devin Williams out for half of the season - no problem! Trevor MeGill for the save! Kudos, Chris Hook, best pitching coach in the game.

Garrett Mitchell, Aaron Ashby, and DL Hall finally got healthy, excited to see what they do next year.

The biggest thrill was seeing the Chicago Cubs behind every single day

I have to admit, it was really, really fun to check the standings every day and see the Chicago Cubs , ten or more games behind every single day! Murphy’s moves were masterful in this series from pitching to pinch hitting. Chourio and Mitchell going deep in Game 2, the crowd goes wild. How about Bauers, with what looked like a series winner, and next pitch, Frelick matching him. Great, ecstatic moments.

Then, heartbreak. Williams, so good, in so many games. The walk to Lindor, a killer. Frelick would’ve run through that wall, if he could have, to catch that homer. Those last three outs in an elimination game are really tough to get. I feel for you, Devin Williams.

His daughter's heart stopped. An act of kindness brought him comfort.

It’ll take a while to get over, because we love our Brewers, and we love this scrappy team.

But soon, like this team, we will be hungry, and our hope will return. The seeds are there for another great year.

I toss my Jonathan Lucroy jersey into the closet, and think, only four-and-a-half months until spring training!

Jim Wilkinson is a retired teacher and high school baseball coach from Milwaukee.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Opinion: Pat Murphy and the Milwaukee Brewers never quit. That's why loss hurt so deeply.