Inside the end of the Phillies' Rob Thomson era

PHILADELPHIA — Rob Thomson was still the Phillies manager last Saturday evening when Alex Cora called Dave Dombrowski. It was a little before 6 p.m. ET; news of the Boston Red Sox cleaning house would not become public for another hour. A dozen Phillies pitchers were playing catch in left field at Truist Park as Dombrowski took the call in foul territory. Dombrowski and Cora, league sources said, spoke multiple times that night and for extended lengths.“He just called me as a friend,” Dombrowski said.Thomson, one of the more successful managers in Phillies history, had 67 hours left on the job.Advertisement