Padres name Pat Murphy as interim manager for remainder of the season

One day after firing long time manager Bud Black, the Padres have settled on a new manager for who will take the reins for the remainder of the season. They have hired their AAA manager, Pat Murphy, to do the job. Shortly after Black's dismissal it was rumored that Murphy was in San Diego. Some speculated that he would be the new bench coach with Dave Roberts already named as interim manager. However, Roberts' title was even more temporary than it seemed because the Padres press release specified that he would only be in place until a more permanent interim manager was found. There were also rumors that Murphy was interview for the more permanent interim manager position. It would seem that he won some people over.

In baseball circles, Pat Murphy is most well known for his time as head coach of the Arizona State University baseball team. Instead of trying to restate all his accomplishments there I'll just borrow generously from his wikipedia entry:

At Arizona State Murphy won the Pac-10 championship in 2000 and consecutive Pac-10 championships in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Twice in that same decade, Murphy had teams finish in the Top 3 in the country; a feat matched by only ten other schools. Murphy's ASU teams were consistently present in the national Top 25, including a streak of 100 consecutive weeks in the polls that lasted from 2000 until the middle of 2005. Murphy led the Sun Devils to the postseason for nine straight seasons and 11 of 12. His teams set an NCAA record of not being shut out in 506 consecutive games between 1995 and 2004, shattering the previous streak of 349.

Murphy is the youngest collegiate coach to reach 500 career victories.

In 1998, he won Baseball America's Coach of the Year award and was Pac-10 Coach of the Year four times (2000, 2007, 2008 and 2009). He led ASU to the College World Series four times (1998, 2005, 2007, 2009).

He also was the head coach at Notre Dame prior to moving to Tempe to coach the Sundevils. He came to Padres organization after being forced to resign as ASU head coach. He was found innocent of all the charges the NCAA was investigating, but had been forced out when the investigations began. Once with the Padres, he was able to ascend quickly. He began as many stars do in the organization, as a special assistant to the general manager, and worked his way up the ranks from managing the Padres' Northwest League affiliate (Eugene Emeralds) to the Padres AAA affiliate (first the Tucson Padres, then the El Paso Chihuahuas).  Earlier this year, it was rumored that ASU alum Craig Counsell wanted Murphy to join his coaching staff when the former major league infielder took over Brewers managerial duties, but the Padres denied the request. We can now see why.

Murphy is said to be a guy that A.J. Preller would like. According to the UT's Tom Krasovic, he is known as a baseball rat and his way of doing things can be seen as unorthodox. One similarity to Buddy Black is that nothing Murphy has done within the organization stands out from a wins and losses perspective . Other than his time at ASU, he doesn't come with an aura of being a winner. He's a guy that is respected in the club and, apparently, by the front office as well. It is expected that Murphy will keep the same coaching staff with Dave Roberts returning to the bench coach position after one game as temporary interim manager.