Rob Thomson sat at the podium following Game 1 of the World Series and made it seem like the responsibilities of a baseball manager were so unimportant that if you give three chimpanzees a lineup card and a Sharpie, eventually they’ll manage a winning team, too.

“I’m not really doing the work, the players are doing the work,” he said. “I’m just sort of making the final decision on who goes where.”

Maybe, at times, managing baseball does seem that simple. Maybe at times it becomes rote. You stick with what has been working in terms of lineup and pitcher usage and you take it from there, using your pre-scouts to determine how to pitch and defend opposing hitters or how to attack pitchers when you are at the plate. There are some other in-game decisions that may crop up – should we try to steal a base here? Lay down a bunt there? Intentionally walk a batter to set up a double play?

Otherwise, it’s stick-to-what-you-know and don’t deviate from it.

And that might work to a point. But come playoffs, you have to be prepared for anything. Because now the games matter just a little bit more.


It’s the time of year, though, when managers often do the wrong thing – especially when it comes to managing pitchers. The bullpen is often where the biggest mistakes lie. Either they bring the wrong guy in, or leave a pitcher in too long while the right guy in rotting away in the bullpen.

The Phillies have seen it plenty this postseason on the other side:

  • St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol leaving Ryan Helsley out to dry in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the Wild Card Round.
  • Atlanta manager Brian Snitker not getting Spencer Strider out of the game soon enough once it was obvious his velocity had dipped badly.
  • San Diego manager Bob Melvin not using Josh Hader to face Bryce Harper in the critical at bat in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the NLCS.
  • Hell, Houston manager Dusty Baker using Luis Garcia and not Ryan Stanek, he of the 1.14 ERA in the regular season, in the 10th inning of Game 1 of the World Series (more on that to come).

But Rob Thomson has pushed a lot of bullpen buttons in these playoffs and so far, he’s been as effective as 2008 Brad Lidge.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Thomson turned to his most reliable late-inning reliever in the fifth inning, his Game 3 starter in the seventh inning, his closer in the eighth inning, or his most experienced playoff reliever, who had never earned a post season save in 38 appearances, to lock it down in the 10th inning.

The result was a dramatic 6-5 win in 10 innings, giving the Phillies a 1-0 World Series lead.

They punched a previously undefeated Houston Asterisks Astros team in the mouth and did so when the heavily favored, 106-win A.L. champions were ahead 5-0 with surefire Hall-of-Famer and likely 2022 AL Cy Young Winner Justin Verlander on the mound.

And while the knockout blow was J.T. Realmuto hitting a solo homer in the top of the 10th, and there were some other offensive roundhouses in the fourth and fifth innings that tied the score, it was all the little jabs administered by Thomson  along the way that wore down the heavyweight and left them staggering.

Aaron Nola had a little bad luck but also had some poor pitch selection and execution and Houston, specifically outfielder Kyle Tucker, made him pay for it.

In the end, Nola pitched only 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs. A couple of the baserunners he yielded were on cheap hits or a good swing on a well-positioned pitch. That said, he left Tucker a couple of cookies in his wheelhouse, and both times, Tucker gobbled them up and deposited them into the outfield seats.

Those two homers accounted for four of the five runs Nola allowed. The other scored on a two-out single by Martin Maldonado that had an expected batting average of .130 because it was a bleeder through a shift that would have been a simple groundout if Jean Segura was where second basemen normally stand.

Still, they were trailing 5-0 after three innings, especially when Verlander had been perfect up to that point had things looking bleak for the Phillies. At the end of the third inning, the Phillies win probability was 7%. It dipped to a game-low 6% with two outs in the top of the fourth. But that’s when things started to change:

Nicky Singles Delivers

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1586168512862486528

Nick Castellanos’ seeming lack of discipline at the plate often frustrates fans, because he can’t stop chasing pitches, but the reality is, he’s turned himself into a bit of a bad ball hitter, assuming he makes contact. Case in point was this single, which got the Phillies on the board and trimmed the Houston lead to 5-1.

What followed is what got the wheels turning in Thomson’s head for a path forward in this Game 1, which, in his mind, was not to be chalked up as a loss just yet.

Bohm Delivers

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1586168731251744776

The Phillies could tell Verlander was starting to lose command of his fast ball and were spitting on them, sitting instead on curveballs in the zone. Bohm took advantage and suddenly 5-0 became 5-3. And Topper’s plan would begin to go into effect.

First he would need a shutdown inning from Nola, and got it. It was a nice rebound from Nola after being tagged the previous two innings. The Phillies could smell blood.

In the top of the fifth, they went after Verlander again, Brandon Marsh doubled, Kyle Schwarber walked, and after a Rhys Hoskins pop up, J.T. Realmuto came through with the first of two huge swings:

Note: Scott Franzke is killing it this off season with one great call after another, but it’s nice to see Tom McCarthy get a couple of this big plays during the two innings he’s calling on the radio. As nice a job as Joe Davis is doing on the National broadcast, it’s a shame there isn’t an option for the local broadcasters to have a chance to call it somewhere as well. 

At that point, Thomson knew exactly what the plan was.

Nola went back out for the bottom of the fifth, and got Jeremy Pena to strike out. Nola looked like he had settled down, but that was all he would get, and at 81 pitches, Thomson pulled him from the game.

The Phillies skipper would turn to Jose Alvarado – in the fifth inning.

“I thought that was the key to the game,” Realmuto said. “We had just tied the game, and he even said it on the mound. He was like, ‘This is the earliest I’ve ever brought him in but these outs are huge right here. We have the momentum on our side and we need to get these outs against three of their toughest hitters.’

“That was huge. Not all managers would bring one of their best guys in that early in the game. He just pushed all the right buttons from there and the guys responded. Everybody that we brought in threw the ball well.”

Alvarado got three outs on seven pitches. Zach Eflin followed with 1 1/3 scoreless. Then came Ranger Suarez, a surprise of sorts in Game 1, but Thomson wanted another lefty to face Yordan Alvarez and Tucker. Thomson has some flexibility with Suarez and can push his start to Game 4 and go with Noah Syndergaard in Game 3 instead. But, it was whatever it takes to win Game 1.

Seranthony Dominguez went 1 2/3 scoreless to send it to extra innings, but not without some heart stoppage. Jose Altuve hit a bloop single with two outs and stole second. It was really close, but replays appeared to show he was out. The Phillies challenged, but the call was upheld for inconclusive video.

This brought Pena to the plate and Castellanos became a defensive star for the second time in these playoffs:

L.A.’s heart can’t take it. Neither can millions watching at home. But maybe it was only right that they go to extra innings. After all this is the Phillies and Astros in the postseason.

It wouldn’t be one of those long extra inning games though. That’s because Baker went with Luis Garcia, who, let’s all agree, should never be allowed to wind up the way he does because he has the ability to alter it for deception and the whole point of balks is to prevent deception, rather than Stanek, who was lights out all season.

That’s how you knew somehow the magic would continue and it did when Realmuto sent Philadelphia homes, bars and roadways, with cars tuned in on the radio, into a frenzy:

Realmuto became the first catcher with an extra-inning home run in the World Series since Carlton Fisk’s walkoff for Boston in Game 6 of the 1975 Fall Classic against Cincinnati.

Then there was the issue of the bottom of the ninth as David Robertson allowed two baserunners and had two outs and a wild pitch was included in there, putting the winning run on second base.

Robertson then plunked pinch hitter Aledmys Diaz, only to have it overturned when home plate umpie James Hoye said Diaz “leaned into the pitch intentionally,” which he did. In fact, he tried to do it on the second pitch of the at bat but missed:

With the count 3-0, Diaz chased a pitch for 3-1 and then Diaz hit it to the wrong guy:

This doesn’t happen often. This is just the latest chapter in this storybook run:

I’m out of words. Except the following.

Friday night proved that the whole city should just Ride with Philly Rob.

and…

Three more Topper.

and…

Play the damn song.

This city is the greatest baseball city in the world.