Pat Murphy has taken over as Padres interim manager for the rest of the season. (Photo : reuters.com)
San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller is hopeful that Pat Murphy, who was named interim manager for the rest of the season, could bring his winning ways to the team.
Preller noted that Murphy was successful at every level in his 30 years as coach and manager.
The 56-year-old Murphy is the first and youngest NCAA coach to post 500 wins, which he accomplished while he was with Arizona State from 1995 to 2009.
He went 629-284-1 with Arizona State, leading them to four Pac-10 championships in 2000,2007,2008 and 2009 and two College World Series appearances in 2007 and 2009.
Murphy was awarded Baseball America's Coach of the Year in 1998 and Pac-10 Coach of the Year in all four years they won the conference title.
He also coached Notre Dame from 1988 to 1994.
Murphy later skippered managed the Padres' Triple-A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas, to a 180-172 record in three seasons.
San Diego's front office prevented him from taking the Milwaukee Brewers head bench coaching job earlier in the season. This led to speculation that he was being groomed to replace Black.
Under ex-manager Bud Black, the Padres never reached the playoffs in nine years and last savored a winning season way back in 2010.
Black was fired Monday after a 32-33 start despite a record payroll with the offseason acquisitions of James Shields, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton, Matt Kemp. While Black's record is not the kind that will usually induce firing, the Padres were expected to win now.
However, Preller was known for his penchant for pulling the trigger and putting in his own guy, so when he took over last winter observers figured that Black's days were numbered.
Murphy was already at the helm on Tuesday night when the Padres lost to the A's 6-5. They are currently 32-34 and are in fourth place in the NL West.
