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On Wednesday's game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics in the NBA, Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thompson was the ceremonial bell ringer at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. However, Thompson took a swing at the bell two times and missed it the first time, leaving fans in splits.
Fans found his swing towards the bell hilarious and took to social media with amusing reactions.
"Swing and a miss," one fan said.
Few fans compared him to Philadelphia Phillies reliever Craig Kimbrel's pitching:
"Is he gonna put in kimbrel again."
Here are a few other reactions:
Likening to much of the fan reactions, the Philadelphia 76ers did end up losing the game 107-117 against the Celtics and dropping to 8-3, placing them second in the stacked Eastern Conference.
They next play the Atlanta Hawks on the road in a group game of the ongoing NBA In-Season Tournament.
Rob Thompson's playing and coaching career
The former catcher played his entire career with the Detroit Tigers from 1985 to 1988. Thomson spent one year as manager of the Class A Oneonta Yankees after his playing career, then several more years in various front office jobs for the New York Yankees, including as Major League Field Coordinator.
Thompson got into the coaching gig with the Yankees, serving as the bench coach in 2008, third base coach from 2009 to 2014, and bench coach again from 2015 to 2017. Prior to the 2018 season, the Philadelphia Phillies hired him for the same position. In 2022, he was named interim manager following the firing of Joe Girardi.
Thomson was hired as a full-time manager on October 10, 2022, after leading the Phillies to their first playoff series victory since 2010. That year, he led the Phillies to their first National League championship since 2009.
Thompson was part of the Phillies that won the World Series in 2009 and due to his strong coaching career, he was inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
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