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Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> first baseman Bryce Harper<\/a> will miss “Topper.”<\/p>\n The Phillies fired<\/a> manager Rob Thomson<\/a> on Tuesday. Harper said that he learned of the news alongside media members. He expressed his respect for “Topper,” who coached him for eight seasons in Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I talked to Topper this morning, just told him I appreciate him,” Harper said (h\/t Jason Dumas of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia). “Obviously, he wasn’t supposed to be around that long. Everybody knows that he kinda took the job and was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to do this for a long time.’ Then we started winning. Obviously, he’s done great things for us. We all had a lot of fun in here, a lot of great memories. Talked to him this morning, told him I appreciated him, and if he ever needed anything, just to reach out.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Thomson, who had been with the organization since 2018, assumed managerial duties during the 2022 season after the Phillies fired Joe Girardi. The team promoted him to full-time manager after going 65-46 in 111 regular-season games and leading the Phillies to the World Series. Philadelphia lost the Fall Classic to the Houston Astros<\/a> in six games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nBryce Harper speaks on Rob Thomson firing<\/h2>\n
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