The 59-year-old rookie manager made all the right decisions as Philadelphia edged out the Padres for a critical NLCS Game 3 victory.
PHILADELPHIA – He grew up on Lyndoch Street in Corunna, a slice of Ontario so blue collar that it is known as Chemical Valley, not exactly a real estate agent’s siren song to sell homes. His father worked in a factory that manufactured what are known as carbon blacks, the material used in tires and other products. After 37 years of quietly working his own factory hours in baseball, mostly under the cloak of anonymity, Rob Thomson earned his first major league managing job with the Phillies this summer.