Phillip Wellman
| Phillip Wellman | |
|---|---|
 Wellman managing the San Antonio Missions in 2016 | |
| Outfielder / Coach / Manager | |
| Born: December 5, 1961 Marlin, Texas, U.S. | |
Bats: Switch Throws: Right | |
| MiLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .250 |
| Home runs | 36 |
| Runs batted in | 161 |
| Coaching win–loss record | 862–939 |
| Winning % | .479 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
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 Greensboro Grasshoppers, High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates 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
[edit]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.[2] 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.[3] He joined the Springfield Cardinals of the Texas League, Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
In 2026, Wellman was named bench coach for the Greensboro Grasshoppers the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Umpire altercation and tirade
[edit]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[7] 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. This incident occurred one day before Lou Piniella's infamous meltdown against the Atlanta Braves.[7] Wellman was given a three-game suspension effective June 4, 2007.[8][9] 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.[10]
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.[11]
Personal life
[edit]Wellman is married to Montee,[12] with whom he has a daughter, Britnee, and son, Brett.[6][13]
Brett attended Auburn University at Montgomery and played in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system from 2014 to 2016, then later coached for the Chattanooga Lookouts, and a youth baseball team in Dallas. After the 2020 Minor League Baseball season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brett managed the Amarillo Sod Squad, a Texas Collegiate League team that used the home ballpark of the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the team Phillip had managed the previous season.[14]
Managerial records
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Greensboro Native, Blake Butler, Returns Home to Lead the Greensboro Grasshoppers with a Mix of Familiar and Fresh Faces". MiLB.com. February 3, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ↑ "Wellman named M-Braves manager". MILB.com. October 17, 2006. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Williams, Doug (June 1, 2012). "Five years later, Wellman's tirade endures". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ↑ Crizer, Zach (4 August 2012). "The Fake Grenade Toss Heard 'Round The World". Stry.us. Archived from the original on 17 November 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- 1 2 Castrovince, Anthony (June 1, 2021). "Remembering the greatest tirade of all time". MLB.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- 1 2 "Major league Braves suspend Wellman three games". ESPN.com. 4 June 2007.
- ↑ "Braves suspend minor-league manager". Savannah Morning News. June 5, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ↑ Czerwinski, Kevin T. (June 4, 2007). "Wellman, Braves, league ready to move on". MILB.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "17 years ago today... | By Sports Knightly BaseballFacebook" – via www.facebook.com.
- ↑ "Missions' Wellman: Fans don't come to see me". San Antonio Express-News. July 8, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ↑ Avallone, Michael (January 8, 2018). "Wellman's life comes full circle in San Antonio". MILB.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ↑ Woo, Katie (July 20, 2020). "Wellman following in father's footsteps". MILB.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ↑ "2014 Texas League". Baseball-Reference.com.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Atlanta Braves Press Release on MLB.com: Braves suspend Mississippi manager Phillip Wellman
