Sidelines
Just what on earth might Pat Murphy be thinking? Now we know why
Murphy may leave ASU(What could any of us be thinking?)
Arizona State is easily one of the top 10 baseball coaching jobs in the country. It could make the top five or six. Think about it.
Miami. Florida State. LSU. USC. Texas.
Arizona State.
That's the 18 College World Series appearances, five national titles Arizona State.
That's the Reggie Jackson, Bob Horner, Oddibe McDowell, Barry Bonds (yes, that Barry Bonds) Arizona State.
Arizona State has it all to be a top 10 job: Tradition, history, proximity, facility.
Texas, with its 28 College World Series appearances, no doubt feels that it's No. 1. Twenty-eight CWS berths speak for themselves. But a better barometer? Former Cal State Fullerton coach Augie Garrido left the Titans after seven CWS trips, including three titles, to take the job at Texas.
Why leave one power for another?
Because it was Texas.
One of the top five jobs in the country. Maybe the best.
So why does Murphy leave one of those jobs?
He don't. You don't.
You win every year, make a lot of money and retire a legend.
So even though UH has a strong history and a great facility, there's no way that we could realistically expect someone to leave a top five job like Arizona State for the University of Hawaii. UH was once a top 25 job. Potentially, it could be a top 15, or better.
But those top five or six jobs are something special. The Mount Rushmore of college baseball. Leave one of those for UH? Silly!
How could we justify even thinking such a thing?
Well, now we know, thanks to reporting from Pedro Gomez of the Arizona Republic and our own Al Chase, why anyone in his right mind would even consider walking away from the baseball coaching job at Arizona State.
Arizona State already has its legend. And it's not Murphy.
Murphy receives "dozens of vicious hate e-mails a week," according to Gomez. Gomez says that Murphy "has gone through a living hell" thanks to "abusive fans and influential alumni." After Jim Brock, nobody's good enough for some Sun Devil fans.
Garrido knows the story, after taking over Texas in the shadow of Cliff Gustafson. Seven CWS trips and three national titles at Fullerton? Doesn't mean you're good enough to coach our 'Horns, son.
Those top five jobs aren't all they're cracked up to be.
I asked Garrido about this last June in a small back room under Rosenblatt Stadium. He had finally gotten the monkey off his back by taking Texas to the CWS. It was not a pleasant topic. Garrido stiffened, glared, but soldiered on.
"The expectation level for the baseball team at the University of Texas is to be in the College World Series on a regular basis, and regular is as often as possible," Garrido said.
"And anything short of that makes a lot of people uncomfortable."
Including the coach.
That's life at a top five job.
There have been Internet postings as recently as this week calling for Garrido's firing.
Maybe Hawaii doesn't look so bad to him either.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com