Former ASU baseball coach Murphy named San Diego Padres interim manager

ASU’s tradition of “MLBU,” going from college to the big leagues, doesn’t just apply to players.

Former ASU baseball head coach Pat Murphy was named the San Diego Padres interim manager Tuesday.

The @Padres name Pat Murphy interim manager for remainder of 2015 season. pic.twitter.com/jnoMPR6RZr

— MLB (@MLB) June 16, 2015

Murphy will take over on an interim basis for the rest of the 2015 season after San Diego fired manager Bud Black Monday.

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann first reported that Murphy was en route Monday to San Diego. MLB Networks’ Peter Gammons said Monday that Murphy arrived in San Diego to interview for the interim manager position.

Source tells me #Padres AAA mgr Pat Murphy is en route to SD, and is himself unclear whether it's to become Manager or Bench Coach.

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) June 15, 2015

Pat Murphy going to San Diego tonight to. Interview for Pads job

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) June 15, 2015

The Padres fired Black after the team struggled to live up to expectations following the acquisitions on Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, Will Meyers and James Shields this offseason.

San Diego is currently 32-34 and sitting in fourth place in the NL West, six games behind the first-place Dodgers.

Murphy, who coached at ASU from 1995-2009, has been serving as the manager of the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate. The Padres announced earlier Monday that longtime manager Bud Black had been relieved of his duties, with former Padres outfielder Dave Roberts taking over as interim manager until a new manager is hired.

Murphy oversaw one of the most successful periods in school history at Packard Stadium, coaching future major leaguers such as Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier, among others.

Both Pedroia and Ethier have spoken often raving about Murphy during and after their time in Tempe.

Murphy was a four-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year, earning the honor in 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2009 while guiding the Sun Devils to two College World Series appearances. He had a 629-284-1 record as the head coach at ASU.

Murphy resigned as ASU coach in 2009 after the NCAA found the Sun Devil baseball program to have committed seven major violations and two secondary violations from 2004-09. The violations included impermissible telephone calls, violations of recruiting and financial aid legislation, violation of coaching staff limitations and lack of institutional control, among others.

The NCAA’s punishment included three years of probation from 2010-13, a 2011 postseason ban and scholarship reductions, among others.

Murphy has been in the Padres organization since 2010, and has never played or coached at the major league level.