The San Diego Padres have named Pat Murphy the team’s interim manager, a day after announcing that Bud Black had been fired.
Murphy has worked as the manager of the El Paso Chihuahuas, the team’s Triple A-affiliate team, and has been affiliated with the Padres organization for six seasons. He has a 180-172 record with the Triple-A team, the team said in a statement.
Prior to coaching the Chihuahuas, Murphy spent two seasons managing the Short-A Eugene team, where he posted a 93-59 record.
“His leadership ability, his respect in the clubhouse and his familiarity with our system will make this transition a smooth one for our players and coaching staff,” Padres General Manager A.J. Preller said in a news release.
The Padres issued a statement on Monday that Black was being terminated, a decision Preller said in a news conference that he hadn’t made lightly.
Still, Preller noted the “inconsistencies” the team had experienced so far this year and said he was “looking for a situation here in the next month or so where we start playing at the level we've shown we're capable of at various times throughout the year."
The Padres have a 32-34 record and are six games back of first place in the NL West.
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Still, Murphy inherits a talent-laden team that sits two games under .500 with 96 games left to play.
The 56-year-old is in his sixth season in the Padres organization, including parts of the last three seasons as the manager of the club’s Triple-A affiliate. He joined the Padres organization as special assistant to baseball operations in 2010.
Murphy won 1,000 games as a collegiate head coach, most of them during a successful 15-year run at Arizona State University where he led the Sun Devils to the College World Series four times.
However, after the 2009 season allegations of academic fraud, recruiting violations and conflicts of interest involving players working for Murphy's non-profit youth athletic program were made by a former baseball program employee. He was told by the university to resign or be fired. He chose the former and soon caught on with the Padres.
Murphy is known for his fiery demeanor both on and off the field and his teams have often taken on that personality, as well. In a 2013 interview with The Arizona Republic, Murphy said the experience was a humbling, yet important lesson.
“I regret some of the things I said. I regret reacting to the NCAA the way I did,” Murphy said. “I just felt so violated I didn’t keep my cool. I didn’t have any idea the ramifications of my reactions.
“I realize so much more in hindsight. It made me evaluate what my weaknesses are, how a person that is always in control, always on top, sometimes doesn’t take the time to understand so much that’s going on around him. I wasn’t so good at any of that at the beginning, but this has been a great journey for me. It’s made me grow as a man.”
The Padres are looking for a comeback this year. Perhaps turning to a man who is on a comeback trail of his own is a good way to do it.
