Thomson on return to NY: 'It's good to come back'

NEW YORK -- It’s homecoming at Yankee Stadium for Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who spent 28 years (1990-2017) with the Bronx Bombers in several capacities, including 10 seasons on the Major League staff as bench coach (2008, ‘15-17) and third-base coach (2009-14).

Thomson, 59, doesn’t have to think twice about his favorite moment in pinstripes. It occurred in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series when the Yankees won their 27th championship by beating the Phillies, 7-3.

“It’s always good to come back to New York. I have a lot of history here, a lot of great times, playoff games, World Series games,” Thomson said. “I don’t know if it was any different as a manager or a coach. I just kind of feel the same. It’s good to come back.”

During his years with the Yankees, Thomson formed a close relationship with principal owner George Steinbrenner. The two became friends when Thomson was the field coordinator of the team starting in 1998 while both were based out of Tampa, Fla.

“I would usually get three or four phone calls a day with having to update what was going on in the Minor Leagues,” Thomson said. “I loved the man because he paid attention. He was on top of everything. He cared. He was passionate about the Yankees, about his organization, making sure that everything was first class. He was like [Phillies managing partner and CEO] John Middleton. I love that about [Steinbrenner].”

Thomson acknowledged that he wanted to become manager of the Yankees after Joe Girardi was dismissed after the 2017 season, but the job went to Aaron Boone.

When he didn’t get the job in the Bronx, Thomson had given up on his dream of becoming a skipper. When he joined the Phillies as a bench coach in 2018, Thomson thought it would be his last job. But as fate would have it, he became manager of the Phillies during the middle of last season, replacing Girardi and guiding them to the National League pennant.

“When I went to the Phillies, I sort of shut down the idea of managing,” Thomson said. “I just wanted to finish doing my job as a bench coach and try to be the best coach that I could be. Then all the stuff happened last year. It came as a surprise.”

As to why he had given up on becoming a manager, Thomson said, “I figured at my age and where I was in my career, I interviewed prior to that, It probably wasn’t going to happen. Why worry about it? Why even think about it? You would be wasting your time thinking about it. Just focus on what your job is.”