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.
terrible— PhillyPhan4for4- Can't fire all the underachieving, spoiled rotten millionaires, can you? Gotta fire somebody that's likable, that kinda hurts the players in their little souls, wakes them up a bit...— my3cents
Wow, they actually got rid of MILT??? People can now stop crying about getting rid of him.- Disgraceful move. Other than the 1B and 3B, these guys have been on ego autopilot all year.— ArtMooney
- Long overdue. Good Guy, Poor Hitting Coach. Should have happened weeks ago. Next, Charlie of Mayberry.— cleusner
- Good move. It's his job to fix the bats. Like a salesman, you're only as good as your current numbers. Milt's numbers are down. The whole team is stepping back on average and hits from previous years. Coaching staff is to coach. Milt sot the jitters. Next is Dubee.— SuperJ
- Super Bowl! Oops. Wrong sport.— iceman
- WHAT!?? When Chollie sais, "They didn't get no hits," and "If you can hit, hit" he wasn't talking about Milt. Good grief!— SemperAugust
- Definitely a scapegoat move, but I think it needed to be done. If it works and the team starts hitting and they make a playoff run, nobody's gonna care too much that Milt is collecting unemployment.— SanDiego_Phils_fan
- True BillHicks....true. Something had to be done.— beefbr
- Hopefully Ruben is next out the door.— F. Harry Stowe
- All of the above and probably to follow. Good luck Milt.
- Ruben "Michael Corleone" Amaro make his first hit. I'm sure there will be many more before Rube finally takes the fall himself. This guy will destroy the Phillies. He's an arrogant, smug little weasel who has absolutely no clue what he's doing. I'm sure that firing Milt Thompson will make up for all of the horrendous mistakes that the little weasel has made.— phink
- Alos, RAJ decided to make a proactive move and trade Lee to add players before we need them. Let's hope ownership makes another proactive move and cans RAJ before fans stop showing up at games— SanDiego_Phils_fan
- Don't stop with Milt, may as well go all the way and fire the club house mgr. for changing soap for washing uni's! This was a pathetic move. Maybe it was a salary dump! Thanks Milt!— larryv
