Phillies name Don Mattingly interim manager

Don Mattingly (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Associated Press on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Phillies made a managerial change. They decided to fire Canadian Rob Thomson and name Don Mattingly of Evansville, Indiana as their interim manager.

Do not be surprised if the interim tag is temporary for Mattingly. That is because he has spent 12 years as a Major League Baseball manager. Mattingly was with the Los Angeles Dodgers for five seasons from 2011 to 2015, and another seven seasons with the Miami Marlins from 2016 to 2022. He posted a record of 890 wins and 950 losses, and was the 2020 National League Manager of the Year while with the Marlins.

The reason for the firing is because it has been a disastrous start for a Phillies team that had World Series aspirations. As of Monday, the Phillies were last in the National League East at nine wins and 19 losses.

Mattingly is the second interim manager to be named this week. The Boston Red Sox named Chad Tracy of Charlotte, North Carolina their new interim manager on Sunday.

As a player, Mattingly spent 14 seasons in the Major Leagues with the New York Yankees as a first baseman from 1982 to 1995. He had 222 home runs and 1099 runs batted in with a batting average of .307, and was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1985. A six-time American League All-Star, Mattingly led the American League in hits twice (207 in 1984 and 238 in 1986), doubles thrice (44 in 1984, 48 in 1985 and 53 in 1986), runs batted in once (145 in 1985), batting average once (.343 in 1984), slugging percentage once (.573 in 1986), and total bases twice (370 in 1985 and 388 in 1986).