Corunna native Rob Thomson will finish the season as interim manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Major League Baseball team announced the firing of manager Joe Girardi on Friday. He'll be replaced by Thomson who has served as bench coach since 2018.
In a news release issued by the Phillies, Thomson said he was grateful for the support from president of baseball operations David Dombrowski.
"I am extremely excited for this opportunity and I appreciate the confidence Dave has shown in me," said Thomson. "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."
Thomson previously spent 28 years in the New York Yankees organization from 1990-2017, which included 10 seasons on New York’s major league coaching staff as bench coach (2008, 2015-2017) and third base coach (2009-2014). Prior to his time with the Yankees, he spent two seasons (1988-1989) as a coach in the Detroit Tigers minor league system.
Originally drafted by the Tigers in the 32nd round of the June 1985 draft, Thomson played professionally for four seasons in Detroit’s minor league system, appearing in 136 games at catcher, 55 games at third base, four games at first base and one game each at second base and pitcher.
Thomson was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.