Rob Thomson

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This article is about the Minor League Baseball player and Major League Baseball coach. For the Major League Baseball player and coach, see Robby Thompson. For other people, see Robert Thompson (disambiguation) and Robert Thomson (disambiguation).
Rob Thomson
Rob Thomson 2011.jpg
Thomson at Yankee Stadium in 2011.
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 59
Coach
Born: (1963-08-16) August 16, 1963 (age 58)
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Teams
As coach
Career highlights and awards
Member of the Canadian
Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg Baseball Hall of Fame Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg
Induction2019

Robert Lewis Thomson (born August 16, 1963) is a Canadian former minor league baseball player, who is currently the bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.

During Thomson’s playing career, he was a catcher and third baseman in the Detroit Tigers organization, from 1985 to 1988.

Following his years as a player, Thomson wore many minor league hats, including coaching, spending one season as manager of the (Class A) Oneonta Yankees, and several more years in various front office (executive) capacities (including his term as Major League Field Coordinator for the New York Yankees). He then served as the Yankees’ bench coach (2008), third base coach (2009–2014), and bench coach again (2015–2017).

Career[]

Olympics and minor leagues[]

Thomson was born in Sarnia, Canada.[1] He represented Canada in baseball, which was a demonstration sport, in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. For one year, he played baseball for St. Clair County Community College.

Thomson was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 32nd round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft from the University of Kansas. He played catcher and third base in the Tigers' minor league system until 1988, reaching as high as Class A.[1] In 661 at bats he hit .225/.312/.304 with seven home runs and three steals.[1] He played 136 games at catcher, 55 games at third base, and pitched in one game.[1]

Coaching and front office career[]

Thomson then became a minor league coach for the team. In 1990, Thomson joined the New York Yankees organization as a third base coach for the team's Class-A affiliate in Fort Lauderdale. He moved into the front office in 1998 as a Field Coordinator, and became Director of Player Development in 2000. Prior to the 2003 season, he was named Vice President of Minor League Development, and he was named to the Major League coaching staff in November of the same year.

Major league coach[]

New York Yankees[]

On September 27, 2006, Thomson took over as first base coach of the Yankees in place of Tony Peña, who had learned before the game that his father had died. He filled in at the position for four games, and Peña returned in time for the season finale on October 1.

Prior to the 2008 season, incoming manager Joe Girardi named Thomson his bench coach.[2]

On April 4, 2008, Girardi fell ill with a respiratory infection and designated Thomson to manage that night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays.[3][4] It was Thomson's first major league game as a manager, and he became the first Canadian to manage a Major League game since George Gibson for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934; the Yankees lost 13–4.[5][3] Thomson also managed the April 5 game due to Girardi's illness.[6] He served as the team's third base coach for six seasons, and was a member of the coaching staff for the Yankees' 2009 World Series championship. Prior to the 2015 season, Thomson was named bench coach.[7]

Philadelphia Phillies (2018-present)[]

Thomson has held the position of Philadelphia Phillies bench coach since 2018.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Rob Thomson Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "YANKEES COACHING STAFF". New York Post. November 21, 2007. Retrieved November 30, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b "Manager and Coaches". New York Yankees. MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  4. ^ Hoch, Bryan (April 4, 2008). "Girardi misses Yanks game with illness". New York Yankees. MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  5. ^ "Kennedy, bullpen can't contain Rays". mlb.com. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  6. ^ Hoch, Bryan (April 5, 2008). "Respiratory ills again sideline Girardi". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  7. ^ Kuty, Brendan (January 13, 2015). "Rob Thomson takes over as Yankees' bench coach". NJ.com. Retrieved November 30, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Gordon, Patrick (November 18, 2018). "Phillies and Kapler finalize coaching staff for 2019". Philadelphia Baseball Review. Retrieved November 18, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

Preceded by New York Yankees Third Base Coach
2009–2014 		Succeeded by
Joe Espada
Preceded by New York Yankees Bench Coach
2015–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Larry Bowa
 Philadelphia Phillies Bench Coach
2018–present 		Succeeded by
incumbent
Retrieved from ""