Phillies fire hitting coach
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Phillies fire hitting coach
Paul Hagen
After another disappointing offensive showing at Busch Stadium today, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said something had to be done to spark the lineup.
After the team charter landed back in Philadelphia, that something turned out to be firing hitting coach Milt Thompson. He was replaced by Greg Gross, hitting coach at Triple A Lehigh Valley.
The Phillies have been first or second in the National League in scoring the last five years, averaging 837 runs per season. But this year they've scored two or fewer runs in 32 of thie 95 games, so Thompson became the scapegoat.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. did not return a message, seeking comment.
They are hitting .254 as a team, 13th in the National League and 24th overall. They are coming off a four-game series in St. Louis in which they scored a total of eight runs and have been shut out seven times this season.
Thompson, 51, joined the big league staff in 2003 and took over as hitting coach in 2007. He was the only coach to remain on the staff when Charlie Manuel was hired.
Gross has been a coach at Triple A for the Phillies for the last three seasons and was the big league hitting coach from 2002 to '04 before he was reassigned to player development in 2005. He spent 10 years as a player with the Phillies, including the World Series in 1980 and '83.
i can't believe this. they were an offensive machine before for the past few yrs. they had milt then like they do now. will this wake the team up?— liberty_bell- Milt was just fine when they were hitting - - - Can you say scapegoat?— PhightinPhil
- Hopefully, Thompson can remain with the organization in some capacity. He can't swing the bats for them.— bacbank
- Not Milts fault!!! This is just a low blow to blame someone other then THEM SELVES!— STR8xH8TE
- phils needed a scapegoat, and Milt was the guy. Not sure how much this is going to help.— cnova000
Good move...gotta shake things up with the offense.
I guess Milt took some stupid pills over the winter. Then he told everyone to swing at the first pitch. No sense making the pitchers work. It's all Milt's fault because you can't fire all of the players.- should of fired the bullpen coach. he was the one that got caught stealing the signs!!!— ArtieLange
- Yes Milt is a scapegoat but this was the easiest thing to do and should be the first step in trying to wake up this underachieving team. King Ruben should be fired if the Phillies do not make the playoffs this year and especially if he does not make a high quality trade like getting Oswalt.— Bob65S
- yeah, he's the problem.......what a joke!
Thx Milt....shame ur the fall guy for these under achieving dopes!— The Philly Shadow- Too bad it had to be Milt to send a message to the players. Baseball's a funny game.— smel4727
- Just an FYI, but Milt wasn't on the 1980 or the 1983 Phillies teams. He was however on the Phillies 1993 WS team.— philliesfan980
- Next it will be Ruben putting on the uni like Paul Owens did back in 83.— Dull
- Ruben the Booben strikes again.— Leron
