Rob Thomson

Thomson was born in Sarnia, Canada.[1] He represented Canada in baseball, which was a demonstration sport, in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. For one year, he played baseball for St. Clair County Community College.

Thomson was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 32nd round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft from the University of Kansas. He played catcher and third base in the Tigers' minor league system until 1988, reaching as high as Class A.[1] In 661 at bats he hit .225/.312/.304 with seven home runs and three steals.[1] He played 136 games at catcher, 55 games at third base, and pitched in one game.[1]

Thomson then became a minor league coach for the team. In 1990, Thomson joined the New York Yankees organization as a third base coach for the team's Class-A affiliate in Fort Lauderdale. He moved into the front office in 1998 as a Field Coordinator, and became Director of Player Development in 2000. Prior to the 2003 season, he was named Vice President of Minor League Development, and he was named to the Major League coaching staff in November of the same year.

On September 27, 2006, Thomson took over as first base coach of the Yankees in place of Tony Peña, who had learned before the game that his father had died. He filled in at the position for four games, and Peña returned in time for the season finale on October 1.

Prior to the 2008 season, incoming manager Joe Girardi named Thomson his bench coach.

On April 4, 2008, Girardi fell ill with a respiratory infection and designated Thomson to manage that night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays.[2][3] It was Thomson's first major league game as a manager, and he became the first Canadian to manage a Major League game since George Gibson for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934; the Yankees lost 13–4.[4][2] Thomson also managed the April 5 game due to Girardi's illness.[5] He served as the team's third base coach for six seasons, and was a member of the coaching staff for the Yankees' 2009 World Series championship. Prior to the 2015 season, he was named bench coach.

Thomson was hired as the 2018 bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was announced as being the team's bench coach for 2019 as well.[6]