An infuriated Thompson was thrown in defense of Stubbs, originally featured on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
BALTIMORE — When it comes to managerial flourishes, Rob Thomson will never be mistaken for a Billy Martin, Earl Weaver or Lou Piniella. If he’s annoyed at all, he rarely lets it show.
That makes what happened in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 8-3 loss at Oriole Park at Camden Yards so remarkable.
Thompson was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook after a heated argument that was ostensibly about whether Garrett Stubbs had been hit by a pitch, which New York’s replay team ultimately determined he had not been hit by a pitch, but given that the Phillies were down by six runs at the time, the real catalyst may have been frustration, a need for stress relief, and an attempt to liven up the clubhouse.
The altercation started calmly but ended with the Phillies manager red in the face, yelling and throwing his hat.
The Stubbs incident was the clincher, but prior to that there had been concerns about Estabrook’s strike zone, which may have made Thompson nervous.
“A lot of our hitters were frustrated,” he acknowledged. “It affected the game, but like I said, we’ve got to play better to overcome those things. Umpire calls. Weather. Whatever it is, we’ve got to play better.”
This marks the fourth time Thompson has been fired in his two-plus years as a major league manager.
The beginning of the end for him on Sunday came in the top of the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on first. The first pitch thrown to Stubbs by Orioles ace Corbin Burnes hit the ground, but the Phillies catcher thought it hit him in the leg, and Estabrook initially agreed.
However, as Stubbs walked to first base, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde came out and argued that his foot was off the plate, and after the umpires finished discussing it, they ruled that Stubbs was in the plate, but after further review, the pitch had not hit the plate.
“The umpire said he didn’t see the ball hit his leg,” Thompson said. “So I asked him, ‘Are you saying you could tell from 200 feet or 130 feet or even further away if the ball hit his leg?’
“So he told me, ‘Use the challenge.’ I said, ‘You’ve already given him first base, why not let them use the challenge?’ And that was it really. I don’t have it all figured out, but that’s the way it is.”
Stubbs said: “Yes, I was hit by a pitch. I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t think so. I understand you can’t tell on the video. That happens sometimes. So maybe they didn’t see it. What I did take issue with is I looked at Mike and said it hit me in the leg. He said, ‘Yeah. Time. Hit by pitch,’ and gave me first base.
“(The Orioles) were concerned that my foot may have left the plate, and I thought that may have been the case. I ended up watching the video and didn’t think my foot was left the plate. Regardless, they re-ruled it a hit pitch, and then for some reason it was no longer a hit pitch.”
Starters Zack Wheeler and Stubbs both mentioned how much it meant to them to have their coach support them.
“The first thing I did after the game was go up to him and tell him how much I appreciated it,” the catcher said. “It’s not just about me. He did it for the team in that moment, too. And the ball hit me on the foot. So the fact that they took it doesn’t excuse us having a runner on first base.”
Wheeler added: “Just a frustrating day overall. I felt like Stubby got hit by that pitch. And somehow the guy on second base (umpire Charlie Ramos) realized that Stubby didn’t get hit? It’s kind of confusing.”
“But we’ve got a long season ahead of us. We’ve got a really good team, so we’ll be OK. We just have to keep our mouths shut and keep the pressure on. Don’t let that stuff affect us. I feel like Rob took all our anger out on us, and I’m glad he stood up for us.”