Major League Baseball

Pat Murphy named interim manager by San Diego Padres

Published Jun. 16, 2015 3:32 p.m. ET

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SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Padres picked Triple-A manager Pat Murphy to serve as the big league club's interim manager for the rest of the season Tuesday, a day after firing Bud Black following a lackluster start.

"I just have to learn, to get up to speed," Murphy said. "I need to try and get as much information as I can and try to hit the ground running.

The 56-year-old Murphy, who had a successful but turbulent 15-year tenure as head coach at Arizona State, has been with the Padres organization since 2010 and has managed the Padres' Triple-A affiliate in El Paso and Tucson for the last three seasons.

"It's definitely an opportunity that he's earned," said Padres general manager A.J. Preller. "I think it's a chance for him to go out, the team to go out, and show what he's capable of."

Murphy was head coach at Notre Dame before taking over ASU's program in 1995. Craig Counsell was one of his players at Notre Dame, and Counsell attempted to hire Murphy for the Brewers coaching staff when he was named Milwaukee manager in April, but the Padres refused to free Murphy from his contract.

Murphy was a four-time Pac-10 coach of the year at ASU and had a 629–284–1 record while leading the Sun Devils to four appearances in the College World Series, but he was forced out in November 2009 during an NCAA investigation of the program that led to it being placed on probation. Murphy was not found guilty of any NCAA infractions, but he was reprimanded for treating investigators with a "cavalier attitude."

Black, who was in his ninth season as manager, had a 649-713 record but never took San Diego to the postseason.

He was named 2010 National League manager of the year after leading the Padres to a 90-72 record, the most wins by San Diego since a franchise-record 98 in 1998. The Padres haven't had a winning season since then and last year finished 18 games behind Los Angeles in the NL West.