The Philadelphia Phillies season appeared to be over in June when the team had fired highly respected manager Joe Girardi. Girardi, a 3-time World Series Champion as a player and one time World Series Champion manager, was at the helm for 2+ years and they never reached the postseason during his tenure. At the time of his firing, Phillies President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski had this to say, "I believe that we have a talented group that can get back on track, and I am confident that Rob, with his experience and familiarity with our club, is the right man to lead us going forward."
Dombrowski's faith in Rob Thomson paid off, the team went on to win the first eight games after the manager change. Thomson set a franchise record for the quickest manager to reach 40 wins as he did so in only 59 games, when you consider that the Phillies have been around for 140 years that is quite the accomplishment. Even more impressive, the Philadelphia Phillies are heading to the postseason for the first time since 2011.
The former Skipper guided the Phillies to one of the most impressive turnarounds in all of sports. Thomson becomes only the 4th manager in MLB history to take over a team at least 7 games below .500 and lead them to the playoffs. Since Thomson took over his Phillies are an absurd 20 games over .500, providing him with a legitimate shot at Manager of the Year.
Thomson provides the Phillies with 40 years of collegiate and professional experience on the diamond. His college playing days started in Port Huron, Michigan when he attended St. Clair County Community College and was a member of the 1982-83 Skippers baseball team. Rob went on to play at the University of Kansas and was a member of the 1984 Canadian Olympic team. He then went on to spend four years in the Detroit Tiger's minor league system where he played catcher and third base before hanging up the cleats to become a coach. From 1990-2017 Thomson served the New York Yankees in a variety of roles but most notably as third base coach and bench coach. He also worked in various front office roles with the Bronx Bombers. With the Yankees, Rob piled up quite the trophy case as he owns 5 World Series rings.
When Thomson was named manager of the Phillies, he became the first Canadian MLB manager since 1934. He's only the third Canadian manager in the history of Major League Baseball. He was also inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Thomson continues to build on his storied baseball career and we at SC4 are so proud of his continued success. Best of luck in the playoffs to Rob and his Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, we'll be cheering you on!
