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Phillip Wellman

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Phillip Wellman
Wellman managing the San Antonio Missions in 2016
Outfielder / Coach / Manager
Born: (1961-12-05) December 5, 1961 (age 62)
Marlin, Texas
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
MiLB statistics
Batting average.250
Home runs36
Runs batted in161
Coaching win–loss record862–939
Winning %.479
Teams
As player

As manager

Phillip Lane Wellman (born December 5, 1961, in Marlin, Texas), is an American professional baseball coach and manager. He is the current bench coach for the Arizona Complex League Padres, Rookie-level affiliate of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball.[1] Wellman entered minor league baseball as a player in 1984 and began coaching in 1988. Wellman attended Sam Houston State University and Southwestern University.

Managerial career

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Wellman began his coaching career with the 1988 Pulaski Braves. He was a coach in the Atlanta Braves system from 1988 to 1991, including 1990 with the Burlington Braves and 1991 with the Durham Bulls.

Wellman managed outside of the Braves organization from 1992 to 2003, with the exception of 2000, when he was a coach for the minor league Louisville RiverBats. He returned to the Braves as the hitting coach for the Greenville Braves in 2004-2005, and the Mississippi Braves in 2006. Wellman was the skipper of Mississippi from 2007 to 2010.

After the Mississippi Braves finished the 2010 season with a 63–74 record, Wellman's contract was not renewed.[2] He joined the Springfield Cardinals of the Texas League, Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, as hitting coach, and served three years (2011–2013) in that post before his appointment as manager of the Travelers, who also play in the Texas League.[3] He left the Travelers at the end of the season and worked for a trucking company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Wellman returned to minor league baseball in 2016 as manager of the San Antonio Missions.[4] As of the end of the 2019 season, Wellman is still with the Padres organization, managing the Amarillo Sod Poodles.

Umpire altercation and tirade

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On June 1, 2007, Wellman gained international attention when he went on a tirade against the umpires during a game against the Chattanooga Lookouts at AT&T Field. He protested the umpire's decision to throw his pitcher out of the game for using a foreign substance[5] by covering home plate with dirt, then tracing in the dirt a new, significantly larger home plate. He then went on to uproot bases and throw them, crawl in a prone position across the infield like a soldier, and pretend to bite and hurl the rosin bag at an umpire as if it were a hand grenade. He concluded his tirade by pretending to eject the umpires themselves with a fist-pump and then blowing a farewell kiss to the crowd while taking a bow. The episode was broadcast on sports shows across the United States and gained him widespread fame on the Internet.[5] Wellman was given a three-game suspension effective June 4, 2007. The Braves reappointed Wellman manager of the Mississippi Braves on December 7, 2007.

In March 2009, ESPN showed the top-10 meltdowns in sports history and judged Wellman's to be #1. Upon showing the clip, Hannah Storm said, "and there he goes, never to be seen from again." Co-anchor Josh Elliott added, "end of his career." However, this was incorrect. He was still the manager; and on September 13, 2008, he led the Mississippi Braves to the Southern League championship beating the Carolina Mudcats 3-2 in the 10th inning of the decisive Game 5. He was also brought up to the major league Atlanta Braves team for a couple of weeks in September 2008, a tradition for top minor-league managers in the Braves organization.[6]

On May 26, 2016, in a game against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, he was ejected after protesting a runner being called out. Before being ejected, he stood in what appeared to be a military parade rest position, then threw the rosin bag as a grenade. Upon being ejected by the umpire, he first kicked the second base, then pulled the base from the ground and walked away with it. He then tossed the base in front of the San Antonio Missions dugout before walking off the field.[7]

Managerial records

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Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs
1992 GCL Orioles Gulf Coast League 29-29 9th Baltimore Orioles
1993 Lethbridge Mounties Pioneer League 29-44 7th Co-op
1994 Lethbridge Mounties Pioneer League 29-43 7th Co-op
1995 River City Rumblers Appalachian League 22-45 10th Co-op
1996 Winston-Salem Warthogs Carolina League 74-65 3rd Cincinnati Reds
1997 Burlington (IA) Bees Midwest League 72-68 3rd Cincinnati Reds Lost in 1st round
1998 Burlington (IA) Bees Midwest League 63-77 13th Cincinnati Reds
1999 Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League 78-62 2nd Cincinnati Reds Lost in 1st round
2001 Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League 72-67 5th Cincinnati Reds Lost in 1st round
2002 Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League 60-80 9th Cincinnati Reds
2003 Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League 66-74 8th Cincinnati Reds
2007 Mississippi Braves Southern League 67-72 6th Atlanta Braves Lost in 1st round
2008 Mississippi Braves Southern League 73-66 3rd Atlanta Braves League Champs
2009 Mississippi Braves Southern League 65-73 5th Atlanta Braves
2010 Mississippi Braves Southern League 63-74 8th Atlanta Braves
2014 Arkansas Travelers Texas League 75-65 3rd/1st[8] LA Angels Lost in 1st round
2016 San Antonio Missions Texas League 58-62 8th San Diego Padres
2017 San Antonio Missions Texas League 78-62 1st San Diego Padres Lost in 1st round
2018 San Antonio Missions Texas League 71-67 3rd San Diego Padres Lost League Finals
2019 Amarillo Sod Poodles Texas League 72-66 1st San Diego Padres League Champs
2021 San Antonio Missions Double-A Central 57–63 8th San Diego Padres
2022 San Antonio Missions Texas League 68-68 5th San Diego Padres Lost in 1st round
2023 El Paso Chihuahuas Pacific Coast League 62-88 9th San Diego Padres

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Former Padres reliever Craig Stammen takes on new role in player development". 30 January 2024.
  2. ^ O'Brien, David (8 November 2010). "Schuerholz's son is new rookie-ball manager". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  3. ^ Crizer, Zach (4 August 2012). "The Fake Grenade Toss Heard 'Round The World". Stry.us.
  4. ^ Castrovince, Anthony (June 1, 2017). "Castro: 10 years after tirade, skipper still at it". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Major league Braves suspend Wellman three games". ESPN.com. 4 June 2007.
  6. ^ O'Brien, David (28 March 2009). "Yanks here; Braves CF race update". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  7. ^ "17 years ago today... | By Sports Knightly BaseballFacebook" – via www.facebook.com.
  8. ^ "2014 Texas League". Baseball-Reference.com.
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