PHILADELPHIA — The baseball gods wasted no time in giving Philadelphia Phillies boss Rob Thomson his first big managerial moment in the Fall Classic.
Five months after taking over from the fired Joe Girardi, Thomson had already navigated the Phillies’ underwhelming end to the regular season and three challenging rounds of the postseason, including a three-game wild-card series that no manager had ever faced. Now, in Game 1 against the heavily favored Houston Astros, Thomson had a quick decision to make.
After going down 5-0 early, his team had just tied the game in the top of the fifth inning. Starter Aaron Nola, normally one of Philadelphia’s aces, was at 81 pitches already, and clearly struggling — but going to the bullpen after just the first 4.1 innings in a best-of-seven series was plenty risky, too.
Thomson picked the risky move.
He put in closer Jose Alvarado, who secured the final two outs of the fifth and the first of the sixth. But the 58 year old manager wasn’t done — he would use four more of his best relievers to ensure his team held on for a 6-5 road win.
“He has the pulse of it,” Phillies President Dave Dombrowski would say the next day. “And he has my support.”
It was just the latest example of the deft touch Thomson has shown during his first year managing the Phillies — though his biggest moments are undoubtedly to come as his team attempts to stay alive in the World Series, trailing 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Saturday night in Houston.
His message to the team could very well be one he’s told to himself about his own career. After all, this was not a man on the fast track to managing.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to panic,” Thomson said on Friday. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and concentrate on doing the little things. I always tell ’em, focus on the little things and big things will happen.”
Big things happened for Thomson in June, and they keep on happening well into October.
He’s already earned a two-year extension…
Source : espn
