Rob Thomson of Sarnia, Ontario became the third Canadian manager in Major League Baseball history on Friday according to Tyler Partridge of Fansided. He took over the interim helm of the Philadelphia Phillies, after the firing of Joe Girardi.
Thomson joins George Gibson of London, Ontario, and Arthur Irwin of Toronto, Ontario as the only there managers in Major League Baseball history. Gibson managed the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1920 to 1922, the Chicago Cubs in 1925, and the Pirates again from 1932 to 1934. He had a record of 413 wins and 344 losses for a winning percentage percentage of .546. Irwin managed the Washington Nationals in 1889, the Boston Reds in 1891, the Washington Senators in 1892, 1898, and 1899, the Philadelphia Phillies in 1894 and 1895, and the New York Giants in 1896. He had a record of 416 wins and 427 losses for a winning percentage of .493.
Thomson is 58 years of age. He spent ten years as a coach with the New York Yankees from 2008 to 2017. Thompson held the roles of first base coach, third base coach and bench coach during that time. He was the Yankees bench coach in 2009 when they won the World Series. Interestingly, the Yankees beat the Phillies to win the 2009 World Series and Girardi was the Yankees manager at the time. After his time with the Yankees, Thomson was the bench coach of the Phillies from 2018 to 2022.
In his Major League managerial debut, Thomson had outstanding success. The Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Angels 10-0. This was the second largest shutout by a manager in his Major League debut in Major League Baseball history. The largest was by Wilbert Robinson, who guided the Baltimore Orioles to a 13-0 win over the Washington Senators on July 7, 1902.
