The baseball manager who broke a nearly decade-long shutout streak
In short: In college sports, consistency is king. Pat Murphy led Arizona State to an NCAA record of 506 consecutive games without being shut out between 1995 and 2004. Today, he is making history as the first manager to win back-to-back National League Manager of the Year awards.
Pat Murphy's coaching pedigree is defined by long-term stability and high-level success across multiple tiers of baseball. At Arizona State University (ASU), his tenure was marked by a remarkable 100-week streak in the national top 25 polls from 2000 to mid-2005. His teams were perennial postseason contenders, reaching the College World Series four times and winning three Pac-10 championships between 2007 and 2009.
Despite these accolades, Murphy's career faced significant turbulence. In 2009, he resigned from ASU following an investigation into student-athlete employment and recruiting. While the NCAA found him innocent of violations—reprimanding him only for a "cavalier attitude" toward investigators—the program was sanctioned and banned from postseason play in 2012 due to a lack of institutional control. This period of scrutiny preceded a long journey through the minor leagues and international play, including managing the Netherlands national team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Murphy's recent ascent in Major League Baseball has been nothing short of historic. After serving as a bench coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, he was promoted to manager in late 2025. He achieved immediate success, winning the NL Manager of the Year award in both 2024 and 2025. By doing so, he became one of only two managers in history to win the award in their first two seasons with a team, mirroring Cleveland's Stephen Vogt. In 2026, he continued this trajectory by leading the Brewers to a league-best 103–59 record.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Pat Murphy (baseball manager)
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