LOS ANGELES – The typically mild-mannered Rob Thomson couldn’t hold back his tears.
Ten minutes after his team’s season was over, the Phillies manager fought through a crowd of smiling faces to get to his last postgame press conference of the season as his stunned group of players, coaches and staff members began to make sense of it all. The opponent next door had champagne on ice and loud music blasting from the batting cages covered in plastic tarp. A party awaited the Dodgers.
Thomson has done this four times before as Phillies manager. Each year that ends without a World Series stings in its own way.