Brewers promote Pat Murphy to manager

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers have long prioritized continuity in their staffing decisions, and they are putting that philosophy to use in the choice of their new manager.

The club made it official on Wednesday by promoting Pat Murphy to manager after he served as Milwaukee’s bench coach for the past eight seasons. The club also confirmed that former Milwaukee infielder Rickie Weeks is joining the Major League staff in the role of associate manager to backfill Murphy’s spot, continuing a meteoric rise through the coaching ranks that began with Weeks’ hiring as a player development assistant in February 2022.

A news conference is planned for Thursday at 11 a.m. CT to reintroduce Murphy, who turns 65 later this month. He was the only managerial candidate mentioned by name by Milwaukee GM Matt Arnold since the search began with Craig Counsell’s departure for the Cubs last week.

The rest of Milwaukee’s coaches are all returning. They are pitching coach Chris Hook; hitting coaches Ozzie Timmons and Connor Dawson; first-base coach Quintin Berry; third-base coach Jason Lane; and assistant pitching coach Jim Henderson, run prevention coach Walker McKinven and Major League field coordinator Néstor Corredor -- the final three with new job titles. They are to be joined by Weeks, 41, who was the second overall pick in the 2003 Draft and played parts of 14 seasons in the Majors, including with the Brewers (11 seasons) and three other teams, making the National League All-Star Team with Milwaukee in 2011.

At the helm will be Murphy, who was Counsell’s college coach at Notre Dame and came to Milwaukee as bench coach in 2016, when Counsell was going into his first full season as Milwaukee's manager. Before that, Murphy spent decades in the college ranks, having led programs at Notre Dame and Arizona State before jumping into pro ball with the Padres. Murphy picked up some Major League managerial experience with the Padres in an interim role in 2015 and compiled a 42-54 record.

Arnold said Wednesday from the General Managers Meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., that the team was “in very real discussion” with Murphy to make him the next manager.

“Pat Murphy brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and passion for the game of baseball as well as a familiarity with the Brewers organization, players, staff and culture,” Arnold said in the Brewers’ statement announcing the promotion. “Pat has been a significant contributor in the run of recent seasons of unprecedented success in franchise history. We are pleased to have Pat remain in the Brewers family and excited to name him manager today.”

Asked what qualities he was looking for in the next manager, Arnold said, “I want to start with the best human, is probably the way I would characterize it. It’s hard to go wrong when you have, if you’re using the scouting scale, an ‘80’ human. I think that would be our priority here.”

Murphy played four years of Minor League baseball before Notre Dame hired him ahead of the 1988 collegiate season. It was in Murphy’s second season that Counsell arrived on campus, beginning a relationship that continued as Counsell went off to play pro ball, and Murphy went on to be head coach at Arizona State before the Padres hired him in 2010, first as a special assistant and then as a Minor League manager beginning in 2011. In '15, Murphy was managing San Diego’s Triple-A team when Counsell tried to hire him away as bench coach; the Padres denied permission and eventually elevated Murphy to interim manager in the Majors later that season.

The following year, Murphy joined the Brewers staff and he’s been in Milwaukee ever since. He suffered a heart attack in 2020 during so-called “summer camp” as teams readied for the pandemic-shortened schedule, but Murphy recovered fully and has not endured any health-related absences since.

One unexpected twist in Wednesday’s announcement was Weeks’ job title. The Brewers have had a bench coach on the staff every year since 1998, but “associate manager” is a new name for that individual within Milwaukee’s organization.

“Rickie was a hard-nosed, homegrown player for the Brewers for many years and is now a valued member of our coaching staff,” said Arnold in a statement. “We look forward to him bringing many of the attributes that he possessed as a player into the dugout in his new role.”

THE PAT MURPHY FILE

• Born Nov. 28, 1958, in Syracuse, N.Y.
• Attended college at Florida Atlantic University, where he was a pitcher and utility player. He was inducted into the school’s baseball hall of fame in 2008.
• Pitched professionally in the Minors for the Giants (1982) and Padres (1983) organizations, then in Australia for Sydney (1984) and in the Northwest League with Tri-City (1985-86), where he served as a player/manager in 1986.
• College/international coaching experience: Posted a 1000-457-4 record as head baseball coach at Maryville College (1983), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College (1986-87), Notre Dame (1988-94) and Arizona State University (1995-2009) and was 1998 National Coach of the Year after leading the Sun Devils to the national championship game. In 2000, Murphy managed the Dutch baseball team in the Sydney Olympics and defeated Ben Sheets and eventual gold medal-winning Team USA in exhibition play.
• Professional coaching/managing experience: After spending 2010 as a special assistant to baseball operations for the Padres, managed at Class A Eugene (2011-12), Triple-A Tucson (2013) and Triple-A El Paso (2014-15) in San Diego’s system and went a combined 273-230 before taking over the Major League team as interim manager on June 15, 2015, after Bud Black was dismissed. The Padres went 42-54 under Murphy. They hired Andy Green as manager that offseason.
• Brewers experience: Named bench coach on Nov. 2, 2015, replacing Jerry Narron.
• Personal: Has a daughter named Keli (who is married to Brewers special assistant Pedro Alvarez) and three sons named Kai (an outfielder in San Diego’s Minor League system), Austin and Jaxon. Murphy also has two granddaughters, Lucelia and Nayli Rose.