Rob Thomson: Opposing playoff manager calls Citizens Bank Park “four hours of hell”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson was in attendance at last night’s Philadelphia Sports Writers Association dinner and spoke on the magical Phillies playoff run that somehow, just ended about three months ago.
When asked about the atmosphere at Citizens Bank Park, Thomson said he received a phone call from an opposing manager (who was not named), and was told that playing postseason baseball at CBP was “four hours of hell.”
Rob Thomson: Opposing Manager Calls CBP “Four Hours of Hell”
“They couldn’t concentrate. They couldn’t think straight. Playing in your stadium with the way you guys play and the electricity of your fans…it was four hours of hell.”
Again, Thomson declined to say which manager made these comments, but we’ve really narrowed it down to two.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said CBP wasn’t a hostile environment while interviewing with the media before Atlanta made the trip to Philly. So unless he had a complete change of heart and actually admitted he was totally wrong, I think it’s safe to say we can scratch him off the list.
That would narrow it down Bob Melvin and Dusty Baker.
Bob Melvin would make the most sense. Melvin put on a coaching disaster-class while in Philadelphia, leaving his “All-Star” closer on the bench in the bottom of the 8th inning in Game 5 of the NLCS. Rafael Iglesias did not have enough juice left for Bryce Harper, who would eventually have “The Swing of His Life,” sending the Phillies to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
The Padres traded for Josh Hader at the deadline, and threw him just one inning in the NLCS. That certainly sounds like a manager who was shook and “couldn’t even think” during the playoffs in South Philly.
Dusty Baker has been to many stadiums and many playoff environments, and although Philly is the worst, I think he would’ve been more used to the playoff atmosphere than Bob Melvin. Rob Thomson did say “coach,” which doesn’t fully imply that it was a manager, but for content’s sake, it just had to be Bob Melvin.
Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater for the start of Spring Training on February 16th. Baseball is coming, folks.
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