The Philadelphia Phillies dismissed Joe Girardi as their manager Friday morning, but he still made his scheduled appearance on MLB Network Radio shortly thereafter.
In what turned into a post mortem about the parts of three seasons he spent as manager of the Phillies, Girardi did express hopefulness that his long-time right-hand man Rob Thomson will succeed as the team's interim manager:
Thomson, 58, was on Girardi's staff with the New York Yankees between 2008 and 2017, serving as the third base coach and the bench coach at different points throughout that decade. He was, of course, part of the staff that guided the Yankees to a World Series title in 2009, which ironically came at the expense of the Phillies.
When Girardi was fired as the manager of the Yankees after the 2017 season, Thomson did interview for the vacancy and was considered one of the six finalists. Instead, the Yankees elected to go with Aaron Boone as Girardi's successor.
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Since 2018, Thomson has been the bench coach for the Phillies, first under Gabe Kapler and then under Girardi. While acknowledging how bittersweet it is to get a chance to manager after Girardi's dismissal, Thomson said Friday morning that he's passionate about righting the wrongs that have doomed the Phillies to a 22-29 start.
"I am extremely excited for this opportunity and I appreciate the confidence Dave [Dombrowski] has shown in me," Thomson said. "Having said that, this is an emotional day for me, having worked so closely with Joe for so many years. This has been my home now for the last five years and I care deeply about this franchise, this city, our players, our coaches, our staff and our fans. I am ready to lead this team and look forward to getting to work and turning this around."
Judging by how quickly "Chase Utley" trended on Twitter after the firing of Girardi, many Phillies fans are already pondering who the franchise will pick as their long-term manager next offseason. But Thompson has 111 games to state his case to be more than an interim manager. We'll see what he's able to do with it.
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