Thompson: "I'll be there alumni weekend."
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Thompson: "I'll be there alumni weekend."
David Murphy
If there are any hard feelings between Milt Thompson and the Phillies over his recent firing as the club's hitting coach, the veteran baseball man was not letting on.
"I have nothing but praise for the Phillies and the organization," said Thompson, who was fired late Thursday night with the team mired in a lengthy offensive slump. "I've enjoyed it as a player and as a coach. They've treated me well... I'll be there alumni weekend."
The Phillies, who announced the move in a brief press release Thursday night, have not commented publicly on the move.
Thompson said he thinks the biggest problem with the Phillies offense is that the line-up has spent most of the season trying too hard to make up for the absences of key players like Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Chase Utley. Since Utley went down with a thumb injury in late June, the club is hitting just .233. In the 21 games immediately preceding the injury, they hit .263.
"I think they were just trying too hard to make up for the losses in the line-up," said Thompson.
Thompson said he is good friends with Greg Gross, a former Phillies teammate who will take over as hitting coach.
"I just wish the best for them. I hope GG comes in and gets them going," Thompson said. "He's a good friend and a great baseball man, and I wish him the best. If he can find a way to get these guys to relax throughout all of this, that'd be great."
Thompson said he is confident that he will find another job in the sport.
"I'm a baseball man for life," said Thompson, who lives in South Jersey. "I'm going to land on my feet. Take a little time off, relax -- I've been doing it for a long time -- and then put the resume together and go try to find antoher job."
Thompson was named the hitting coach in 2005, Charlie Manuel's first season as manager. The Phillies finished first in the National League in runs three times during his tenure and finished in the top three in the other three. Currently, they are sixth.
Look, I don't know how much was Milt's fault. But people defending him by saying that this veteran team should be doing what they are capable of doing is short-sighted. Why have a hitting coach at all if their production is so automatically inherent? I'm not saying he should have been fired, but he definitely plays a part in the offense's lack of production. They're not hitting, he's the HITTING coach.— Rotcod
mtbelly - you are truly a total buffoon.— knebman- I'll wager that Thompson is offered another position with the organization in some capacity next year. Whether he takes it or not, well we'll see. Also GG will not be the hitting coach next year unless there is some miraculous turnaround. They needed someone to fill the job for the balance of the year. GG was in the organization, so he's the man. Lastly as some others have pointed out, the purposes of this firing was wake the players up .... to bring home to the players that their poor performance has consequences.— DPL
- Hey Dave, my jukebox isn't playin my record. Can ya go give it a rap on the glass...ehhhhhhhhh Jump any cars lately?....ehhhhhhhhhhhh -not bob levy— remyy
- Those who are criticizing Milt Thompson did not see him as a player. He was a very well-coached individual who played with skill in every area of the game. He wasn't a blue-chip talent, so he didn't put up great numbers, but his baseball IQ, as reflected by the breadth of his skills, is outstanding. He was a good coach.— Bobby G
Comment removed.- delcodanno - as a lifelong Flyers fan, I must say that I think your comment is rather silly after the Flyers got Rid of Simon Gagne in a salary dump after what he has meant to them the last 10 years and especially in the playoffs this past year— JesseH
I STILL THINK IT WAS THE PITCHING COACK THAT NEEDED TO BE FIRED. HAS IT NOT BEEN THE BULLPEN BLOWING SAVES? I DISAGREE WITH TIS MOVE. I DO NOT THINK WE WILL MAKE IT TO THE BIG ONE THIS YEAR. OUR PITCHING STAGFF GOEAS ABOUT 3-4 PITCHERS DEEP AND THERES A BIG DROP OFF IN QUALITY. OUR HITTERS WENT VERY DEEP IN QUALITY. I WILL STILL BE ROOTING THOUGH. I WILL BE SURPRISED IF WE GET THE PENANT.- We all know this is the Phanatic's fault. And all that time, we thought he was jinxing the oppossing team's pitcher...— Timmy
- what's an "incite"— khazoie
- We do not know what went on behind the scenes but, it is easier to fire a coach than a GM.— Edae
- manuel claims he is a hitting guru why didn't he get fired? blaming thompson for the hitting woes is ridiculous, he is not swinging a pitches in the dirt or out of the strike zone when these hitters get 2 strikes on them they should 'choke up on the bat maybe 1 inch to cut down on their swing,know your hitting zone and take a good hard level swing that is all they can do.— only 9
- love milt. what a class act, taking it in stride. a true professional.— sore richard
- As someone who was also calling Milt to hit the showers, I agree he's a great guy and his catch in San Diego in '93 set the tone for that year. However, this current crop of players has no approach at the plate and don't know the first thing about "working" a pitcher or taking a pitch. I for one am tired of watching _____ (fill in the blank)swing at the first pitch after the batter in front of him WALKED! Why aren't these guys better disciplined in their approach. Ibanez is a disgrace; I've seen 90 year old softball players with better hand and eye coordination than he demonstates. Time to bring up D-Brown. GG is a nice guy; however, unless these guys learn situational hitting the season is lost. Another starting pitcher at this time will do little since the bullpen is a mess (forget yesterday).— mad2002mad
- Didn't the bad slump begin in mid-May after they got caught tealing signs?— Rabe56
