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.
Comments (129)
I understand the reality of firing one coach making a few hundred grand over firing multiple players making tens of millions, but I'm not sure it is going to help the Phillies' offense. Maybe it will shock the players into finally performing or maybe the idea that several players themselves got Thompson fired might do the trick. Greg Gross is now the scapegoat in waiting. I always liked GG, but I do not remember seeing many good-great hitters come through Lehigh Valley (other than the last few weeks of Brown) over the his stint as hitting coach on that team. Guess it goes to show that coaches need good hitters more than hitters need good coaches (in general.)— MrPhillie- Milt isn't in the batters box.— lostInPhilly
Comment removed.- Uh, wasn't Charlie Manuel supposed to be a top shelf hitting guru? Seems to me that was how he built his rep, and was brought here as security blanket for Jim Thome? If Charlie isn't helping the hitters, what else is doing. Surely isn't here for his game management skills and tactics.— rogerrepoz
- Brown is killing it in AAA maybe this is to smooth the transition.— Phillyphan26
- Mike, Sharpton is on line 2, as I'm walking out the door.— EL Zorro
- I feel bad for Milt. By the way, Murph is usually ultra-through with detail, but not here. believe it or not, the Phils aren't that far off from lastt year's offensive numbers --well, not as far as you might think. Last year, they led the league in runs scored, this year they are 6th 9 a big drop, but still ahead of 10 other NL clubs, and int he top half, even if it does not fell like it. BA? Last year, they were only tied for 9th in the NL. We have the stat of 32 of 95 games with two or fewer runs. I'd liek to see how often they scored two or fewer last year. Sure, the offense is down, but it looks worse than it is. We're averaging 4.6 runs per game, while last year, we averaged 5.06. It seems like we're down well over a run per game, but it's only about half a run.— MG44
- Milt's face turning blue ? Do the NAACP and the AgDept know about this ? Will Vilsack hold a press conference ? Has Shirly been consulted. EZ, we need answers.— mick314
- Charlie is the problem here. Milt was a fundamentally sound hitter and that was exactly what he preached as a batting coach. Charlie was a bench player and bad HR hitter, who hit .190 in his cup of coffee in the ML. And as manager loves the 3 run homer as much as Tommy LaSorda loves another plate of Spaghetti. That's where the philosophies clashed. Milt can tell the players to hit the right way until his face turn blue, but when your boss, the self-proclaimed hitting guru, preaches the long-ball, things won't work for you.— EL Zorro
- awful! Yeah, sure...it's all Milt's fault! Give me a break!— Phront_Runner
I heard Greg Gross will have the bat boy bring Shane his bat AFTER the first two pitches are thrown.
reidbetweenthelines You do realize they had been in the five offenses for four years or something like that. And thats with their terrible situational hitting. They were always leaving men on base. Still tops in the major offensively. Milt Tompson was not the problem here. It the injuries and player that just can't get it done. Hitting is supposed to be Manuel's specialty. Everyone infielder except for Howard has been injured. This was a "message" move. These are professional player on a championship caliber team how much instruction should they really need concerning their approach at the plate.- @reidbetweenthelines what happen to GG the first time????? Who replaced him???? Learn the history of the Phillies before you comment.— lacboi
- Starting to get concerned with Ruben's acumen as GM.— ctvince
- I love Milt Thompson. I remember when he was a part of the 93 Phillies. I do not think the hitting problems are his fault. However as they are playing something must be done to get the players attencion. This is a shot accross the bow. wake up phils— tpaps111
- People: Hitting... COACH. He was not getting it done. Hasn't been for quite a while. Relax. Gross is a hitting coach.— reidbetweenthelines
- Live by the three run homer, die by the three run homer. The Phillies are on pace for 60 fewer HR's this year compared to last year but are about .253 compared to .258 last year...their hitting (just on average) hasn't been that good for a while but they've gotten by with power. Now that the power is gone, Milt gets the blame...perhaps we should look at giving Ibanez a three year contract @ $8 mil/year (hitting .245 since his injury last year) and having a bench that can't produce...brought to you by the golden boy of GM's Ruben Amaro.— Dickie Dunn
- This wasn't the headline I was expecting to see. While you can't say he didn't have a hand in the woeful hitting slump, he doesn't swing the bats. I'm not their on the inner workings of the hitting sessions, but this just seems like a knee jerk reaction....— phigglesfan75
- So the phillies fire Milt Thompson they better be in first place by August or I'm done with them.......hell with it.... eff the phillies when they fire charlie and ruben and rich dubee let me know.— lacboi
- Rollins hasn't been decent offensively since 2007. Ibanez is completely washed up. Werth is what he is- a .260s hitter with some pop. Utley is out of the line-up. It doesn't matter who is coaching them- though they could be more patient- there just isn't enough firepower. Thankfully we have Howard.— jtj06
Just a damn shame.. Milt didn't deserve to be fired..- Good to see Gross back. Always a solid contact, situation hitter.— reidbetweenthelines
- @Powelton: He couldn't even lead them to water, only to 5-hour enery muddy pools of non-situational hitting— reidbetweenthelines
- Everybody coming to Milt's defense, please understand it is the hitting coach's job to have the batters know what to do in "situations." Their situational hitting has been ABYSSMAL. Werth used to be a guy that would do anything the team needed at any time. Now he's just pop up, strike out, pop up. Victorino? Don't even get me started with him and his fellow How to pop out to third base companion Dobbs. Thompson was the fortunate son of power hitting in a small ballpark in a terrible division for years.— reidbetweenthelines
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You can lead the horses to the water but can't make them drink it!- what a pathetic attempt by the boy genius GM to take attention away from his own past failures and his dismal prospects to land a big name by the end of the month. Now that Milt is gone, should we expect past-MVP Jimmy Rollins to do something other than swing for the fences with every swing he takes, or expect big-mouth Shane V. to change that sweet left-handed swing of his which guarantees either a pop to left or a chop to 2nd? Or expect the next great star Jayson Werth to start swinging at strikes and looking at balls instead of the other way around? Of course not. None of this will change because Charlie will never demand it. He'd die before he show any of these guys his displeasure with them. GG will face the same nonsense, that Charlie has "his guys" backs all the time, no matter how poorly they play. Time for Charlie to start managing or send him away and time to make the real problem - RAJ - disappear. Maybe when they visit the D-Backs next, RAJ will take the trip with them and see if that fence works both ways.— advantasux
- You had to know this was coming. This is the other definition of "taking one for the team". Its easier to get rid of Thompson than it is to get rid of the dead weight in the lineup. Its a shame. Injuries to key players combined with guy just not performing up to expectations leads to this. Charlie should have sat some guys down a long time ago just to get the refocused. How many games have they lost just giving up 5 or less runs, and they keep talking about bringing a pitcher??? They don't make opposing pitchers work.
- Silly move.— PhillieJoe
- One of my favorites as a kid and always ready to sign an autograph but Milt had to go. I know he doesn't do the hitting but the offense has been so bad just getting a knew approach in there will help. Still, Milt will always be a class act and one of my old time favorites.— SFPhillyphan
- Ruben screwed up BIG TIME letting Lee go & signing Blanton and Ibanez to ridiculous contracts.— Irish Frank
- The idea of replacing the hitting coach is to bring in a better coach. Gross was horrible under Bowa and was replace by Thompson. So now they go from Thompson's wimps to Gross's goofs. This is meaningless without major trades to get a quality pitcher and bat!— jpelle36
- This reminds me of the Bush Administration, and how they scapegoated anyone they could to cover for their criminal activities and fealty to Haliburton, Big Oil, and Wall Street.— eldiablodelsol2009
- milt knows the deal. he's taking one for the team. thanks milt.— notch44
- Enter "Dutch"..... I'll have 'em hitting by 2012.....then it won't matter anymore.— solexy
- EAGLESCALI he would be better at hitting coach than sportscaster. This is to cover Amaro's inability to make a deal that won't finish off this team. He's been trying since he was named G M— tobyjoe
- Maybe the other teams figured out what Milt was teaching. But it's hard to believe that a new coach will have a near-term impact— phillyguy36
- I think the biggest difference with this team this year is the power numbers. Something is wrong when Victorino is 2nd on the team with HRs. With the power numbers down, all of the problems with the offense that have been there since 2006 or 2007 are in the spotlight. The team can't hit for average. They can't situational hit. They can't get runs home with less than two outs and RISP. They can't bunt. These are not new problems, just exposed problems. Is it Milt's fault? In part, yes. It is also Charlie's fault. He's the guy who brags about being a "hittin' guy" yet he builds teams who live and die on the long ball.— grumpifrog
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- Funny that they hired GG. I thought they'd hire Shirley Sherrod.— andrewfrombrooklyn
- Now they'll win the rest of their games! Great move,guys!— pizzzmoe
- If they were going to make this move to shake up (and hopefully wake up) the slumbering bats, it should have been done weeks and weeks ago. At this point, this move is just grasping at straws by Amaro... or a distraction from his inability to deliver the goods that he so smugly promised the other day. We're onto you, Ruben.
- Cant fire the players.— Reggie92
Milt Thompson has been a CLASSY member of the 'FIGHTENS' as a player and coach; sure hope MILT stays with the team in some capacity. johnnyu- Seems like a very bad call. How did he go from saint to sinner in a couple of months after multiple years of success? Is there a "back story" we all missed here? Methinks the hitters ought to man up at some point and "think out" their at bats like they did in the past. Bad decisions with the bat in your hand after knowing the right decision isn't Thompson's fault.— PHL2PHX
- This offensive collapse is unbelievable. Two other collapses that come to mind are the 1964 Phillies and the 2007 Mets who could not win down the stretch to hold late season comfortable first place positions. It was like the Baseball Gods had declared that neither team was going to win despite any adjustments they made or how hard they tried. But both of these teams were kind-of flashes in the pan when compared to the 2010 Phillies who for the last 3 years have firmly established themselves as an elite team (especially offensively). Milt's dismissal reflects the depths of frustration that is starting to accompany this prolonged slump. In the early 1970s the Pirates had a pitcher by the name of Steve Blass who for a while was one of the better pitchers in the National League. All of a sudden he could not throw strikes anymore and had to retire. The 2010 Phillies more and more are starting to resemble Steve Blass.— Beck
- This offensive collapse is unbelievable. Two other collapses that come to mind are the 1964 Phillies and the 2007 Mets who could not win down the stretch to hold late season comfortable first place positions. It was like the Baseball Gods had declared that neither team was going to win despite any adjustments they made or how hard they tried. But both of these teams were kind-of flashes in the pan when compared to the 2010 Phillies who for the last 3 years have firmly established themselves as an elite team (especially offensively). Milt's dismissal reflects the depths of frustration that is starting to accompany this prolonged slump. In the early 1970s the Pirates had a pitcher by the name of Steve Blass who for a while was one of the better pitchers in the National League. All of a sudden he could not throw strikes anymore and had to retire. The 2010 Phillies more and more are starting to resemble Steve Blass.— Beck
- The Phils may have better luck calling a team meeting and watching Moonstruck. They need to pay particular attention to Cher when she says, "snap out of it." They need a little streak at home so they can close the gap. Virtually every division leader has a much better home record. The braves lead the way with a 34 and 13 home record. The yanks are 16 games over 500 at home. The Phils need to get hot at the Bank, so lets get the lumber going this homestand. Who would've thought Chooch is hitting 50 points higher than JRoll. The new batting coach should sit Jimmy, Shane, Raul and Jayson down and let them watch the last half dozen Pirates games where the bucs scored 50 runs. Yep, the 34 and 61 Pirates scored 50 runs in their last 6 games so hitting can't be that hard. A couple of telling stats reveal the story of The Phils plate troubles. When you're 29th in the league in base hits and tied for 5th in strikeouts that's a concern. Bring back David Bell and we can lead the league in double plays too. Easy on the bubblegum Charlie, when you wear the gum out you tend to lose your mind and let Blanton bat in the 7th inning of a tie game with the bases loaded and 2 outs. We love you Charlie, however letting Blanton bat in the spot is almost as painful as watching Andy Reid try to manage the clock.— salurb
- eaglescali: Improve the hitting and the TV viewers' experience in one fell swoop! I like it! (Though we'd still be stuck with T-Mac and Wheels for a full nine innings. Uggggh.)— ben715
- This team is fading fast. Out with Thompson, Moyer appears to have career ending injury and no deal in sight. Next year, fans, next year!— walt1
- @eaglescali: The Gary Matthews idea is genius!— drbob1
Let's get the "Fire Ruben!" chant going. "Rube must go, Rube must go!"- Well , the good news is that RAJ just signed the immortal Timo Perez, who hasn't appeared in a major league game since 2007, so we got that going for us..— drbob1
- What about Sarge--it would get him out of the booth at least.— eaglescali
- Look, so long as this is followed with some moves like trading Werth and, I'd say, Rollins, for a top pitcher and some energized blood, so be it. The status quo sure ain't working, Cole Hamels aside. Great outing from him tonight and his year has been an overlooked comeback.— eman
- @chuckw: I love it, that's priceless, especially lefty being the 5th starter!— drbob1
- I understand Shirley Sherrod is available.— eaglescali
- When the team strikes out 14 times in one game, 8 of those times taking strike 3 with the bat on their shoulders, something has to happen. Milt obviously wasn't getting through to them anymore. Sorry to see him go but it was time.— downtheshore
- Allow me to co-sign about Milt...how can he be the problem? But in baseball, you send signals like this, and that's the way it goes...— BySaam
- Hey Dave, Mitl has been the hitting instructor for the Phillies since 2004, he replaced Greg Gross.— tumrc63
- I am not a huge Milt Thompson fan because I feel that the Phils have always been a flawed hitting team, especially with runners in scoring position (remember the 2008 WS and all the problems they had in the first three games with RISP). That said, firing Thompson is a joke. The people that are to blame for the Phila offensive woes are: JRollins, Shane "Don't Boo me Bro" Victorino, Raul Ibanez and Jason Werth (since mid-May). We all know Ibanez has not been the same since the middle of last year. Rollins has not done anything since coming back from his injury. Jmmy has has never been a prototypical lead off hitter and he is not disciplined enough. He swings at the first pitch too much and is looking to hit home runs instead of singles. Victorino just has too much empty space between his ears. Oh, and valdez sucks at the plate. No amount of coaching can help that dud.— Philalawyer
- you guys are missing the point; Greg Gross was a fine pinch-hitter. He will be activated and come off the bench as well as coach. Then Mike Schmidt will be brought in as a fielding coach, third baseman, with Polanco going to second. Steve Carlton will be the 5th starter. We are on a roll.— chuckw
- Come on guys! Lighten up. This is just something they are trying to change things up and get something going. Doesn't mean Milt was'nt a good coach or that he is a problem. Just the way pro sports are. How many coaches win a championship and get fired within 2-3 years? The Phils would be criticized if they did nothing, and they are criticized for this. Fact is...nobody has the answer to why they aren't hitting right now. Get a life and don't make more of this than it is.— bartfr
- Designated scapegoat.— ijj
- The problem is that the phillies as I said before need to play like Billy Martin used to manage and the way Mike Soscia does: hit and run, bunt, steal bases, double steal, etc. This will keep the opponents honest. Believe me this will wake up the offense. Also Manuel needs to get more emotional and greet his players every time they do something good with a bat or on the field.— fjulio
- "under achieving dopes!" what short memories. The team except for Ryan Howard and Polanco is hitting poorly, very poorly. The team is in a terrible hitting slump, but if they are healthy who else takes the blame. Milt should have known it was coming. Even with injuries the hitting is terrible.— charladan
- They do seem to have a poor approach at the plate this year. Every swing seems to be for the fences. No moving runners, coaxing walks, etc. Part of the business...— Dtownfan
- Milt is the fall guy for players overswinging. There are a lot players that need to look in the mirror. The team is floundering when then make knee-jerk demotions and firings. The Phillies management can't stand the heat of the fans anger from the consistent losing, and find scapegoats. Shameful!!!— RunningTheBases
- Smart move. Wasn't his fault but he obviously wasn't helping either. Getting a new hitting coach is a reasonable first step that needs to progress if these guys don't improve. Should of actually happened earlier but they probably didn't want to fire him.— pgcd3
- That's too bad. I'm sure Milt makes a fraction of the salary the players make. Another hard working American out of work thanks to corporate incompetence.— TripleOption
- I guess Milt told too many players to show up at the plate without a game plan, to have no idea what pitches the oppositions pitchers featured, to swing at bad pitches , and to not work the count. Either that, or he explained that type of thing like a million times and had the players still not get it. I'm disappointed in Charlie, scapegoating one guy like that. Unless this was a RAJ production, then it's typical of his GM work.— drbob1
- TOTAL BS MILT CANT SWING THE BATS FOR THESE PRIMA DONNAS WHO HIT JUST FINE UNDER HIS COACHING IN 2007,2008,2009. NOW THEY GOT FAT AND HAPPY AND STOPPED HITTING SO ED WADE,OOPS , RUBEN AMARO FIRES MILT??— DONDEN31
- I thought they should have gotten rid of Milt years ago. He has shown that he cannot get the hitters ready for game situations. Plus, he has no clue on how to do changes mid-game depending on what the opposing pitcher is doing. There have been no in-game adjustments for years. It has been frustrating over the last few years because there really have been no clutch hits that weren't home runs.— buttermilk67
- Why was Greg Gross demoted as hitting coach in 2005?— Gnip Gnop
- Anyone else remember that Gross' teams couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat?— JSaq
- Might as well fire UncleCharlie too. Isn't he supposed to be the world's best hitting coach?— StevenT
- Hey, we made it to 40 comments and still no one has dragged out the old "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" comment.— J H
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- Look,,he's the hitting coach, and we all know how the team is hitting and scoring runs..ssooooo...he goes.Don't know if he is the problem, but someone has to go...
- Amaro needed a scapegoat to take some of the spotlight off of himself. Milt didn't suddenly become a bad hitting coach in the last 2 months. They fired Greg Gross once before. What makes them think he's the answer now? Who are they going to blame next for the team's problems? Mick Billmeyer?— SteveS11
- What a joke!— jraab12
- I thought Challie was the hitting guru... Can you say, scapegoat?— Brauny
can't fire the lousy players who need a boot up their .......- 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
- 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
- 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
- All of the above and probably to follow. Good luck Milt.
- Hopefully Ruben is next out the door.— F. Harry Stowe
- True BillHicks....true. Something had to be done.— beefbr
- 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
- 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
- Super Bowl! Oops. Wrong sport.— iceman
- 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
- Long overdue. Good Guy, Poor Hitting Coach. Should have happened weeks ago. Next, Charlie of Mayberry.— cleusner
- Disgraceful move. Other than the 1B and 3B, these guys have been on ego autopilot all year.— ArtMooney
Wow, they actually got rid of MILT??? People can now stop crying about getting rid of him.- 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
- terrible— PhillyPhan4for4
- it has to be meant as a wake up call, because otherwise, it's totally misplaced scapegoating. What, Milt just forgot how to coach this year after helping the Phils become an elite offense the last two years? Truth is, injuries and lack of focus have killed the offense all season. Unfair or not, I hope this wakes the bats up for the stretch run.— phily_phan_n_nyc
- with the team not hitting, everyone could guess eventually milt would lose his job. Batting averages are down on a lot of teams this year so maybe it's not his fault...then again..maybe it is...including Manual too. For the longest time this team was never a " station-to-station " team...but a home run hitting team. Most of the players were trying to hit it out of the park everytime. Maybe concentrating on home runs soo much and not the other " little things " that go with situational hitting caused this team to go on a cold streak in the worse way. And hardly anyone saw it comming...'cause we were winning games...— tony b
- Im confused Milt has been the hitting coach the last 4 years and has done alot for bums like werth and victorino and they let him go??? Maybe if Shane didn't swing and pop up every first pitch then Milt would have his job.— Joe WS
- should have done this one month ago as this is just a "shake-up" move designed to supoosedly wake the clubhouse up, right? so why wait so long? we all know that milt is a scapegoat. i'm all for getting rid of charlie if we miss the playoffs, as well as the team needs new direction for 2011 if they can no longer get it up for manuel.— wavydavy2000
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- Philliesfan980, it says Gross was on those teams, not Milt. Please read more carefully.— phillyinsd
- im shocked....this isn't Milt's fault. We have been at the top of MLB in runs scored for the last few years. This one is on the roster not the coaches. They just don't have the fire right now— nittanyapollo
- Our outfielders suck and have cost Milt his job. Hope you are happy Ibanez Victorino and Werth. Their my main guys that have sucked at hitting this year.— Joe WS
- Unreal. That's like changing the horn in a car that needs a new battery. Ridiculous move. They Phillies are seeming more and more desperate as the season continues to dissolve into oblivion.— knebman
- Ah, nevermind, I can't read. Didn't realize he was talking about Greg Gross.— philliesfan980
- The Phils have been one of the best offensive teams in baseball for the last three years and no one said much about Milt Thompson then. I guess all of a sudden over the last couple of months he became a bad hitting coach. Yeah right. Milt Thompson is not the one swinging at balls in the dirt, swinging at balls over his when the count is 2-0 or 3-1. Taking fast balls right down middle and then swinging at pitches a foot out of the strike zone. These players are not rookies. They are veterans making millions of dollars yet they have no idea when they are at the plate as far as what approach they should take or what to look for from a pitcher that they have faced countless times in the past. This is nothing but a PR move. The blame for the lack of offense lies squarely on the players. They get paid big money to hit; and right not they are not hitting.— halarn
Cosmetic change. Just an attempt to distract from the real problems.
Wow... only 6 weeks late.- Comment removed.
- Next it will be Ruben putting on the uni like Paul Owens did back in 83.— Dull
- Ruben the Booben strikes again.— Leron
Sacrificial lamb.- 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
- Too bad it had to be Milt to send a message to the players. Baseball's a funny game.— smel4727
Thx Milt....shame ur the fall guy for these under achieving dopes!— The Philly Shadow- yeah, he's the problem.......what a joke!
- 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
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
Good move...gotta shake things up with the offense.- phils needed a scapegoat, and Milt was the guy. Not sure how much this is going to help.— cnova000
- Not Milts fault!!! This is just a low blow to blame someone other then THEM SELVES!— STR8xH8TE
- Hopefully, Thompson can remain with the organization in some capacity. He can't swing the bats for them.— bacbank
- Milt was just fine when they were hitting - - - Can you say scapegoat?— PhightinPhil
- 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
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