LOS ANGELES — Just as the heat of the Division Series was about to cool off, Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson was fined $5,000 by Major League Baseball and was scheduled to be in the next game for his “unfounded” comments about Los Angeles Dodgers stars — and, to slow things down, asked for lenient headbutting.
The blowout came after a devastating 4-3 loss in Game 2, when the Phillies were empty-handed and trailing 2-0 in the series. Unable to bear the shock, Thomson was ready in an email to MLB: he was violent and the Dodgers used “wound ploys” to “capture the soul of a hero’s hit.” season.
“Their pitches don’t match reality,” he wrote, calling Betts and Freddie Freeman’s performances “a constructed phenomenon.”
MLB wasn’t spared. The reason given: “Disorderly conduct and going under cover of darkness.” Thomson was fined $5,000 and will sit in the stands for Game 3 in Los Angeles.
If Thomson thought that would quell the storm, Betts proved otherwise. On his Twitter — now X — he posted a selfie with the wonderful caption:
“Unbased? You’re just living your life. Swing better next time… or use a dictionary!”
The little “internet war” went viral, becoming a meme, with a storm of comments from Phillies and Dodgers fans alike. Many called him “the hottest troll of the postseason.”
Game 2 was supposed to be the “opening shot” of a fascinating seven-game series: Blake Snell held the team to a scoreless inning; the Dodgers responded with threes from Betts and Freeman; and the Phillies then hit a home run from Bryce Harper in the ninth, only to be finished by Roki Sasaki. The city cried out: “end of era.”
General manager Dave Dombrowski issued a brief statement: “We’ve always supported Rob Thomson.” But inside sources revealed there was a closed-door meeting between the team on the flight to the West Coast — where strategy and egos were “checked.”
To the press, Thomson simply responded: “I’ll take the consequences” and “let’s see how strong we come back.”
Betts quickly became a media hero: the dunk would be remembered long beyond the ballpark, demonstrating that Dodgers beat opponents not just with pens and balls, but also with brains and uncompromising discipline.
Meanwhile, Thomson—who had once been a wingman for the passionate team and led the Phillies to a Series—now had to watch the entire drama unfold from afar. In the Dodgers press room, by contrast, manager Dave Roberts simply smiled:
“We’ve been here before… and we know how to survive in this place.”
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