Things have gotten a little rough in Philadelphia for the Phillies. After winning the National League East each of the past two seasons, the team is off to a 10-19 start in 2026 and are already 11 games behind the Atlanta Braves in their division.
The Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday despite his 355-270 record with the team, including three straight 90-plus-win seasons. In his place will be Don Mattingly, who almost retired from baseball after last season. Of course, his son, Preston Mattingly, being the Phillies’ general manager, may have swayed his decision.
Philadelphia sports fans are not happy with the Phillies
He now takes over a team that has been so bad that on Wednesday night, fans booed players like Kyle Schwarber, Bryson Stott, Trea Turner, Jesus Luzardo, and a few others during the Flyers’ 1-0 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series.
Early in the third period, with the game still scoreless, the crowd loudly jeered at the Phillies players and their families, seated in a suite at Xfinity Mobile Arena, when they appeared on the jumbotron.
Ironically, it was the Flyers that weren’t supposed to be very good this year, let alone make the playoffs, not the Phillies. Now they are in the second round of the NHL playoffs after Wednesday night’s win.
On the plus side for the Phillies, they won their first game 7-0 with Don Mattingly as the team’s manager. They are also now a half-game ahead of the cellar-dwelling New York Mets, who are also facing some serious negativity from their fans as well.