36 years later, former minor league teammates Rob Thomson and Torey Lovullo compete for the NL pennant

As Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo watched the Phillies celebrate in the clubhouse after beating the Braves to advance to the National League Championship Series, he thought back to 1987. So did Phillies manager Rob Thomson. Back then, Lovullo was a 21-year-old third baseman, and Thomson was a 23-year-old catcher, both playing for the single-A Lakeland Tigers.

Thirty-six years later, they’d face off in playoffs for the first time, in the NLCS. It felt like a full-circle moment. Thomson, 60, had always admired Lovullo, 58, for his desire to learn, despite his natural talent. He was an infielder with good hands and a strong and accurate arm who could hit, but he still asked a lot of questions.

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Lovullo appreciated Thomson’s willingness to answer them. His memories of Thomson as a player and as a manager are virtually the same: a baseball man who was in the middle of every card game, every conversation, to make sure he was available to anyone who needed help. It stayed that way for those 36 years.

In 2011, Lovullo got his first big league coaching job as first-base coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. He was in charge of baserunning and outfield work. Thomson was the Yankees’ third-base coach at the time.

Lovullo, who played in 17 games with the Phillies in his last season in 1999, didn’t have much outfield experience. He played three games in the outfield in his eight-year big league career. So in spring training of 2011, he decided to be proactive. The Blue Jays were going to Boston early that season, so he asked Thomson what advice he’d give his outfielders ahead of playing in Fenway Park.

“He had a list of four or five things that he just shared with me instantly,” Lovullo said. “He was open with it. Normally, as a coach, you keep information to yourself, but he really helped me.

“He told me there’s very little foul territory down the left-field line, that he played the left fielder in left-center field. That a ball down the left-field line is probably going to go off the wall. It was extremely helpful.”

A few weeks later, the Blue Jays headed to Boston, and Lovullo positioned his outfielders exactly the way Thomson had advised him.

“He was coaching another major league coach [with the Yankees], and he was still open with his dialogue and comfortable with that with me, because he knew it would help me out,” Lovullo said. “And I never forgot it. I just think that’s who he is at his core. He wants to make the people around him better.”

They would check in on each other from time to time. Thomson is good friends with Brian Butterfield, whom he overlapped with in the Yankees organization. Butterfield worked with Lovullo in Toronto and with the Red Sox. Sometimes, when the Yankees were playing the Blue Jays or the Red Sox, they visited with Thomson behind home plate before games.

“Just to catch up,” Thomson said. “I got to know him better that way, when we were both in the big leagues. He’s a really good baseball man. He’s really good with players. He has a good relationship with them, and they trust him. I have a lot of respect for Torey.”

The feeling goes both ways. In 2023, they are at the helm of two clubs that play a fearless brand of baseball. Both of their teams have exceeded expectations. They’re aggressive, they’re energetic, and, above all, resilient.

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It’s a fitting place to be, 36 years later.

“As I was watching them clinch, I thought, ‘Wow,’” Lovullo said. “Our former manager in Lakeland, John Wockenfuss, would probably be pretty proud of us right now.”