No Mo Milt, Thompson Fired

Written by Mike Mariano | 24 July 2010

There's always a fall guy, it's the law of sports.  To date the Phillies have been so surprisingly bad offensively that it cost Milt Thompson his job.  I'm categorically against firings of this nature and here's why.  Unless said coach evidently lacks the skills necessary to be an assistant coach or causes problems/issues on the side, how is it his fault that Raul Ibanez can't hit his weight this season?  On a team full of veterans how much does an assistant coach even matter?  Does Greg Gross (his replacement) bring new knowledge on the game of baseball to the table?  What was Milt doing this year that was so wrong, compared to the last six seasons?

I understand that the point of coaching is to get the very best out of your players and that for underachieving you, as coach, should assume some of the blame.  However mid-season firings of bench/assistant coaches are media moves.  Making a change to make it appear as if a problem is being solved and frankly it's unfair to Milt.  If the hitting coach is this important and has this much affect, why are we running the guy out of town who nurtured Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino & Jimmy Rollins into stardom?