Pat Murphy Named 2026 National League Manager of the Year
Murphy Becomes the First Skipper Ever to Earn Manager of the Year in Three Consecutive Seasons
MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has been voted 2026 National League Manager of the Year as he bested fellow finalists Walt Weiss (Atlanta) and Don Mattingly (Philadelphia). Murphy becomes the first manager in either league ever to win the award in three consecutive seasons and the 10th to earn the honor at least three times.
“With his ‘win tonight’ approach, Pat Murphy led our club to another historic season and the first World Series championship in franchise history,” said Brewers President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Matt Arnold. “His leadership has played a tremendous role in our success, and this third consecutive Manager of the Year Award is a well-deserved recognition of everything he means to our organization. We could not be more excited for Murph and his family.”
Murphy, the only Manager of the Year in franchise history, led the Brewers to a franchise-record 103 victories in 2026 as the team posted the best record in the Major Leagues (103-59) for the second consecutive season. Milwaukee went on to beat the Padres in four games in the National League Division Series before sweeping the Dodgers the National League Championship Series and defeating the Rays in five games in the World Series.
In three seasons as manager of the Brewers, Murphy has guided the team to a Major League-best 293-193 (.603) regular-season record along with three National League Central division titles. Including the postseason, he has 308 wins with Milwaukee (308-203, .603), trailing only Joe Torre (326 with NYY), Ralph Houk (317 with NYY), Joe Maddon (311 with CHC) and Dave Roberts (310 with LAD) in Major League history for managerial victories over the first three seasons with a team.
Murphy, who turns 68 on November 28, was named the 20th manager in franchise history in November 2023, replacing Craig Counsell. He spent eight seasons (2016-23) as bench coach with the Brewers before he was named manager. Prior to joining Milwaukee, he served as interim manager of the Padres in 2015, replacing Bud Black on June 16 that season (42-54, .438).
In addition to his Major League experience, Murphy managed in the Padres farm system from 2011-15 at Class-A Eugene (2011-12), Triple-A Tucson (2013) and Triple-A El Paso (2014-15), going 273-230 (.543). He served San Diego as special assistant to baseball operations in 2010.
Murphy has also had a distinguished career in the college coaching ranks, spending 25 years as a head coach at Maryville College (1983), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (1986-87), the University of Notre Dame (1988-94) and Arizona State University (1995-2009). He went 1,000-457-4 (.686) as a college coach and was on pace to become the winningest coach in NCAA history at the time he transitioned into professional coaching. Along with his head coaching experience, he was assistant coach at Florida Atlantic University (1984-85).
Murphy spent the majority of his head coaching career at Arizona State University, where he went 629-284-1 (.689). He earned 1998 National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Sun Devils to the National Championship game. He won PAC-10 Coach of the Year honors four times (2000, ‘07-09). While at the University of Notre Dame, Murphy posted a record of 318-116-1 (.732) and was named Midwest Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year three times (1989-90, ‘92).
Murphy was born in Syracuse, NY and resides in Mesa, AZ. He has a daughter named Keli and three sons, Kai, Austin and Jaxon. His son, Kai, is an outfielder in the Padres organization.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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