June 3, 2022

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

The Philadelphia Phillies have fired manager Joe Girardi and have named Canadian Rob Thomson as their interim dugout boss for the remainder of the 2022 season.

The Phillies made the announcement on Friday.

Thomson, who was in his fifth season as Phils’ bench coach, has stood in as manager for Girardi several times during their tenures together with the Phillies and New York Yankees, but this will be Thomson’s first extended run as a big league skipper.

Here is the official statement from the Phillies released on Friday:

The last Canadian to be a full-time major league manager was George Gibson (London, Ont.) with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934.