As Rob Thomson makes Canadian baseball history, his roots are firmly in his home country

Rob Thomson will become the first Canadian to manage a major-league game in his home country when the Phillies play in Toronto on Tuesday night.In the spring of 1982, Dennis Schooley drove 90 miles to Sarnia, Ontario, for the sole purpose of scouting Mike Gardiner, a touted right-handed pitcher whom he hoped to recruit to his semi-pro summer league team in nearby Stratford.

Thomson, 58, has rarely been the star of the show. He had a brief playing career in the minor leagues with the Detroit Tigers, worked behind the scenes as an instructor before joining the Yankees’ coaching staff in 2008, and was Joe Girardi’s right-hand man for many of the last 14 years. Then came June 3, when the Phillies fired Girardi and made Thomson the first Canadian manager in the majors since George Gibson with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934.

Consider this: Thomson was playing for Schooley’s Stratford Hillers in the summer of 1983 when he found out that his junior college in Port Huron, Mich., was dropping its baseball program. He played for St. Clair County Community College in 1982-83 and planned to go back the following season.In need of somewhere to play, Thomson spoke with Hillers teammates Dennis Coplen and Bill Yelton, two Americans who came to Canada in the summer between seasons at the University of Kansas.

On the recruiting mission to Sarnia, Schooley saw Thomson “throwing bullets to second.” In addition to the arm strength, Schooley observed a doubles hitter and a “take-charge guy” behind the plate.Phillies must find a current and future starting pitcher at the trade deadline | David MurphyThomson batted .352 with 15 home runs and 74 RBIs in 95 games over four summers with the Hillers, according to records kept by the Intercounty Baseball League, which he equates to double-A competition.

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