Browsing: Rob

Phillies manager Rob Thomson will be back in 2026, multiple sources confirmed on Monday.

There had been speculation about a managerial change since last week, when the Phillies lost to the Dodgers in the best-of-five NL Division Series. Instead, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and Thomson will address the future of the franchise — including potential changes to the roster and coaching staff — during a press conference on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

A change felt a little like a long shot, but the Phillies have invested hundreds of millions into the payroll and key cogs like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Zack Wheeler arenâ€t getting younger. So it wouldnâ€t have been a stunner if it had happened, either. The Phillies want to win.

Thomson, 62, has made the postseason in each of his first four years, including 2022, when he replaced Joe Girardi in June and led the Phillies to their first postseason berth since 2011 and their first NL pennant since 2009. He is one of only four managers in baseball history to make the postseason in each of his first four full seasons as manager.

Dave Roberts, Aaron Boone and Mike Matheny are the others.

But the Phillies†postseason has ended in enormous disappointment in the three years since, despite a talented roster and a top-five payroll.

The Phillies got bounced in seven games by Arizona in the 2023 NL Championship Series, losing the final two games at Citizens Bank Park. They lost in four games to the rival Mets in the 2024 NLDS and again to the Dodgers this year. And this year, Thomson took heat for in-game decisions that backfired, including a decision to play for the tie in Game 2 and have Bryson Stott bunt with a runner on second and no outs in the ninth inning.

The Phillies are 3-10 in the postseason since they took a 2-0 lead over the Diamondbacks in the ‘23 NLCS. They are 1-5 at Citizens Bank Park.

But how much of that is on the manager? The Phillies†offense has hit a combined .199 with a .626 OPS and has averaged only 3.2 runs per game since Game 2 of the â€23 NLCS.

Phillies relievers have a 5.58 ERA in that span.

“I love Topper, man,†Harper said. “Heâ€s done a great job for us. I donâ€t know what the future holds. I have no idea. I think thatâ€s a Dombrowski question. But obviously, you know we love Topper in here. Heâ€s been great for us.â€

Thomsonâ€s contract runs through next season, but he knows anybody in baseball can be fired at any time for any reason.

“It’s out of my control,†he said after Game 4 last week. “I’m not even thinking about it. I’ve got 60 people in there that are brokenhearted right now. So I’m thinking about that more so than my job right now.â€

By bringing back Thomson, the Phillies are saying the teamâ€s shortcomings lie beyond the manager. Thatâ€s why changes are expected elsewhere.

The Phillies have a host of free agents, including Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Ranger Suárez, Harrison Bader (mutual option), José Alvarado (club option), Max Kepler, David Robertson and Jordan Romano. They tried to trade Alec Bohm last offseason. They tried to trade Nick Castellanos each of the past two offseasons, which might be easier this winter because he is entering the final year of a five-year, $100 million contract.

They have Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford and Aidan Miller waiting in the wings in Triple-A.

It isnâ€t easy to win, regardless of the talent on the roster. For argumentâ€s sake, letâ€s remove the Dodgers†2020 pandemic-shortened World Series championship from Roberts†résumé. He finally won a full-season World Series title last year in his eighth full season.

Thatâ€s seven NL West titles in eight years (again, excluding 2020) but only one World Series title to show for it.

What happened those other years?

Braves manager Bobby Cox led the Braves to 14 consecutive NL East titles from 1991-2005, excluding the strike-shortened ‘94 season. The Braves won only one World Series in that run.

What happened those other 13 years?

Bad managing? Or maybe other forces were at play.

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Hollywood can be a tricky place, and sometimes feuds will erupt out of nowhere. Politics can also come into play, but there are always two sides of looking at any decision. Still, Hornswoggle hasnâ€t forgotten how he believes Peter Dinklage took a lot of roles away from fellow little people.

Hornswoggle has seen controversy before, and heâ€s certainly fearless about this subject. “F*ck Peter Dinklage. Man, like, I donâ€t know, maybe I shouldnâ€t speak on it, but I donâ€t care,†Hornswoggle said on the Ariel Helwani Show after the host brought up his beef with the Game of Thrones star.

When asked if he has buried the hatched with Peter Dinklage, Honswoggle replied, “No! Because he hasnâ€t responded back.â€

This all stems from the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs movie, which Peter Dinklage was highly vocal about. Hornswoggle remembered how this beef started, as he recounted to Ariel Helwani.

“Hereâ€s the thing, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney was putting it out. Peter Dinklage was on a podcast and said, ‘what Iâ€ve been fighting for my community to get these other roles,†this that and the other thing. So Disney cancels it, and then Disney casts it as normal-sized actors, and not dwarfs. What are we doing?â€

“Now, I stand up for my community. My issue is when you did Elf, that check cashed just fine. Youâ€ve done a lot of roles where it was made for a little person. Sure, have you done roles that werenâ€t? Yes, and Iâ€m very proud of you for doing those roles.â€

Hornswoggle then broke it down that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs could have given seven amazing roles to actors in the little person community. He didnâ€t want those parts, but others would have thrived at the chance to audition for that Disney film. Those seven roles would have also come with casting extras, stunt doubles, and understudies.

Now, Hornswoggle states that thanks to Peter Dinklageâ€s stance on the matter, Disney went another direction to take those roles away. Swoggle also questioned why Dinklage is a representative voice for his community in the first place.

When Ariel Helwani asked Hornswoggle if he believes Peter Dinklage has the political pull to make Disney change their decision about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he responded, “Yes.â€

We will have to see if Peter Dinlage ever responds to Hornswoggle about this. After all, Swoggle said that heâ€s still upset about the situation because heâ€s been ghosted so far.

What’s your take on this matter? Does Hornswoggle have a legit gripe about things? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.

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Bryce James, son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, made an exhibition start ahead of his freshman college season with Arizona in Friday night’s Red-Blue Showcase.

James started alongside Koa Peat, Motiejus Krivas, Anthony Dell’Orso and Jaden Bradley for Team Blue.

Dwayne Aristode, Ivan Kharchenkov, Brayden Burries, Evan Nelson and Tobe Awaka led the lineup for Team Red, which ultimately claimed a 45-44 victory over Team Blue.

James finished the exhibition game with three points on 1-for-3 shooting from the field, making one of two three-point attempts and taking no shots from the foul line.

He added one assist, one block and one steal while committing no turnovers in 18 minutes on the court.

Arizona meanwhile worked to get fans excited for the 2025-26 season with a star-studded showcase featuring former Arizona star and NFL legend Rob Gronkowski.

NBA icon and former Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal was also in attendance at the exhibition game:

Arizona men’s basketball will have two more exhibition games against Saint Mary’s and Embry-Riddle before opening the regular season against reigning national champion Florida on Nov. 3. The game will take place as part of the 2025 Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas.

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England’s players have been urged “to be smart and not get caught doing stupid things” on the Ashes tour by managing director Rob Key.

Trips to Australia are notoriously hostile for visiting England teams, often accompanied by intense scrutiny.

In 2017-18, England’s Jonny Bairstow was accused of “headbutting” Australia batter Cameron Bancroft in a bar in Perth, the same venue where Ben Duckett, then of the England Lions, poured a drink over James Anderson.

Four years earlier, England were ridiculed in the Australian media for an 82-page document that detailed their dietary requirements.

Former England batter Key, who was part of the Ashes tour in 2002-03, said: “They’ve got to be smart, right? I hope they’re all listening to this, players, because it saves me sending a WhatsApp or an email and telling them ‘you’ve got to be smart’ – because when they get there, they’re not going to be anonymous.”

Speaking on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast, Key added: “I remember in 2002 Nasser Hussain doing the first press conference saying ‘we’ve got to catch all our catches, we can’t afford to be having to make 15, 20 opportunities an innings’, which is absolutely right.

“The next day at practice, the West Australian newspaper had pictures of John Crawley dropping a catch.”

This Ashes series is one of the most eagerly anticipated for years, coming 18 months after England and Australia drew a memorable series 2-2 in the UK.

England’s bid to win the Ashes for the first time since 2015, and triumph in Australia for the first time in 14 years, begins on 21 November.

England named their Ashes squad last week, with Will Jacks’ inclusion as the second spinner the only surprise.

On Tuesday, England named a Lions squad that will shadow the senior group in Australia. Rehan Ahmed, Jordan Cox and Sonny Baker have all been included.

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Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka rattled off his team’s offseason accomplishments Thursday at a Lakers media availability.

He mentioned the Lakers signing center Deandre Ayton, bringing aboard wings Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart and, of course, inking Luka DonÄić to a three-year, $165 million max extension. Pelinka also noted four-time NBA champion and four-time league MVP LeBron James picking up his $52.6 million player option.

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But then, in that same opening statement, Pelinka subtly dropped some news:

“And in addition to that, too, recently extending JJ’s [Redick] contract just to make it clear that he’s the basketball leader, in terms of our coaching and on-court performance.”

The Lakers hired Redick last year, signing him to a four-year deal at the time despite his lack of NBA coaching experience and limited coaching experience overall.

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Now they’ve extended the 41-year-old player-turned-coach ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Redick led the Lakers to a 50-32 record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference last season before Los Angeles bowed out to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.

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“Rob and I, we have a lot of the same philosophies on life, and one of the words we always talk about is ‘gratitude,'” Redick said Thursday, when asked about receiving the extension.

“And so I think it starts with just a high level of gratitude to the Lakers, to [Lakers majority owner] Mark [Walter], Jeanie [Buss] and Rob for having that confidence in me. It’s not lost on me, the sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension. I recognize how fortunate I am to be with an organization that supports me that way.”

The Lakers are showing a lot of confidence in second-year head coach JJ Redick. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

(MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Pelinka was asked why he extended Redick now, after just the first year of Redick’s four-year contract.

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“Confidence and belief,” Pelinka said.

“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us to continue to define the culture of Lakers excellence, and we just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”

Redick had the luxury of a full offseason this time around. Last year, he got the Lakers head-coaching job in late June. Pivoting from a media career in which he served as an ESPN analyst and notably co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast with James, Redick had to quickly stitch together a coaching staff and gear up for an 82-game season that he last experienced in 2020-21 as a reserve guard first for the New Orleans Pelicans and then for the Dallas Mavericks.

After that six-month sprint — which included the Lakers trading for DonÄić and then Redick having to figure out how to maximize the talents of ball-dominant superstars in DonÄić and James, plus where burgeoning guard Austin Reaves fit into the equation — Redick finally had a chance to come up for air.

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“I thought about a lot of things,” Redick explained. “You certainly reflect on the previous season, both successes and failures, and you do a lot of self-assessment, and that was really where I spent a lot of the first probably four to six weeks.

“But I would say the two words that pop into my mind are philosophy and methodology: the philosophy of how we want to play, the methodology as a coach of how I want to teach that. And so that’s where I spent a lot of time this summer.”

Redick explained Thursday that, in May, a few weeks after his Lakers lost to the Timberwolves in five games, he met up with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.

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Redick said he knows McVay through former Rams and Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. Redick tried to meet up with McVay before last season, but he couldn’t find the time in the chaos of his massive career, and life, transition.

This offseason, Redick had the time.

“I got about three hours along with Sean, and we were picking each other’s brains,” Redick said. “It was very helpful. One of the takeaways from that was ‘utility plays.'”

Redick brought up the anecdote when he was asked about his progression in piecing together the best offense for DonÄić, James and Reaves.

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“That’s something that is a football term,” Redick said of the “utility plays” McVay spoke of, “and I think every basketball team has those utility plays, and so the utility plays are plays where all three of those guys feel involved in some capacity, and they’re sharing the court together.”

In addition to spending some time with seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady this summer, and asking him about how Bill Belichick coached the dynastic New England Patriots, Redick said he met with a lot of NBA coaches earlier this month when he was in Chicago.

“So, again, it’s really just about continued growth for myself, for my staff, and I feel like we all are in a good place to serve this basketball team and our players,” Redick said.

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