‘This has been just fabulous’ – Phillies Nation

LOS ANGELES — With a towel over his shoulder and beer in his full head of hair, Rob Thomson mirrored on an surprising journey that has modified his life.

The 62-year-old Phillies supervisor was thrown into the hearth in June 2022, tasked with turning round a struggling franchise buried within the strain that comes with an 11-year postseason drought. He started the 12 months content material with retiring on the finish of it.

A former minor league catcher within the Detroit Tigers system, Thomson has lived a correct baseball life. In the identical stadium the place his membership clinched a second straight division title on Monday night time, Thomson represented Canada as a 21-year-old within the 1984 Summer Olympics. “He was a glue guy,” one in every of his previous Olympics teammates mentioned this 12 months. “Everybody likes the guy.”

His goals of creating the massive leagues as a participant resulted in 1987 in A-ball when a collision on the plate with Brian McRae destroyed his shoulder. He started teaching a 12 months later, moved to the Yankees group in 1990 and rose to farm director by 2000. Thomson received the World Series in 2009 as a third-base coach. He was promoted to bench coach for a second time in 2015, however moved on on the finish of 2017 when the Phillies made him a suggestion he couldn’t refuse.

Thomson is the fourth supervisor in main league historical past to make the postseason in his first 4 seasons in cost.

“Being in charge isn’t that much fun,” Thomson joked.

But Thomson has discovered success in what might be his final job in baseball.

“The last four years have been the most fun I’ve had in my 40 years in baseball,” Thomson mentioned. “And I can tell you that truthfully. This year’s been special because we’ve had some guys go down. Losing a guy like (Zack) Wheeler could really affect a team. And it didn’t with these guys. And that’s a big loss, no doubt about it, but they just kept grinding, kept fighting and kept moving forward.”

As Thomson spoke within the visiting supervisor’s workplace at Dodger Stadium, his gamers sprayed champagne and drank beer out of a funnel in a good clubhouse.

Why is all of it a lot enjoyable?

“It’s because of the guys,” Thomson mentioned.

The group has developed over time, however a couple of constants stay.

Kyle Schwarber’s arrival in 2022, in addition to Thomson’s promotion, coincides with the Phillies’ revival. Schwarber’s presence past this 12 months shouldn’t be assured, but it surely’s been fairly a experience to date for the slugger placing up MVP caliber numbers. “Keeping that great feeling” is the objective heading into October.

“We should be proud of the baseball we’ve played the last three-and-a-half years,” Schwarber mentioned. “Making the playoffs isn’t easy. Playing meaningful baseball in September, that’s not easy. … I feel like when you bring something that means a lot to a fanbase and organization, that shouldn’t be taken for granted.”

The bar is far larger now than it was when Schwarber arrived and Thomson grew to become supervisor. Getting to October was the holy grail three years in the past. The Phillies in 2025 mathematically clinched a postseason berth as they have been ready for his or her airplane to take off for Los Angeles. Even with the group all collectively, the Phillies waited till the division was clinched to have a toast.

Did Thomson anticipate to have this a lot enjoyable — and this a lot success — when he agreed to his dream job in 2022?

“No. I didn’t know what to expect when I took the job, to tell you the truth,” Thomson mentioned. “This has been just fabulous.”