A day off for Phillies manager Don Mattingly allows Dusty and John Wathan to join a select club

When Wathan headed out to home plate to exchange lineup cards before the first pitch, he and his father, John, joined a select group of fathers and sons who have both managed in the majors.

“It’s a pretty neat thing,” Wathan said in his typically understated manner before the game. “I mean, obviously not what I expected to be doing here. ... But it’s about the players.”

That's something he learned while growing up watching his dad win a World Series ring during a decade-long career catching for the Kansas City Royals. John Wathan went into coaching after retiring after the 1985 season, posting a 326-320 record while managing the Royals and the California (now Anaheim) Angels between 1987 and 1992.

Dusty's baseball journey has been decidedly lower-profile. He played over 900 games in the minors — as a catcher, naturally — and made a handful of appearances in the majors for Kansas City late in the 2002 season. He retired in 2007 and immediately went into coaching, managing at every level of Philadelphia's farm system before joining the Phillies as a third base coach in late 2017.

All things being equal, Wathan was just fine at third base, only shifting to the dugout when the Phillies fired Rob Thomson and Mattingly asked Wathan to join him on the bench.

“I tell everybody (coaching third) is the closest thing to playing when you’re done playing,” he said. “So I think it’s a lot of fun out there. You can impact the game in the middle of the game as opposed to strategically before the game.”

Don't get Wathan wrong. He enjoys his new role. It also gets him out of going out and occasionally warming up the pitchers, a side gig that he joked he's moving on from because at 52 his eyes aren't as great as they used to be and he's “starting to get a little scared out there.”

Wathan misses being at third, but added he's “in a good spot” as he tries to help Mattingly navigate the Phillies out of an early season malaise that cost the popular Thomson his job.

Philadelphia has responded to the change. The Phillies entered Saturday 13-4 since Mattingly took over following a thrilling 11-9 10-inning comeback win on Friday night.

Though Philadelphia is surging, Mattingly knew he couldn't afford to miss his son receiving a PhD in engineering. Mattingly's baseball schedule meant he missed Taylor's undergraduate and postgraduate ceremonies. The one scheduled for Saturday would be Mattingly's last shot, so he approached Wathan with the idea of filling in a week or so ago.

Wathan — the winningest manager in the history of Philadelphia’s Double-A affiliate in Reading, Pennsylvania — shrugged and said sure. His preparation when he arrived at the ballpark wasn't much different than any other day, and he made a point to redirect the conversation toward the players whenever possible.

Still, it's not every day you join the likes of Bob and Aaron Boone, Buddy and David Bell, and Felipe Alou and Luis Rojas as fathers and sons who have managed in the majors.

The Wathans talked about it a few days ago and texted about it, but nobody flew in for the occasion. It was just another day at work. Besides, Mattingly will be back on Sunday.

Asked if his mind ever drifts to thinking about what it would be like to be a full-time manager in the majors, Wathan shrugs. He went through the interview process for a couple of job openings. It didn't work out.

“I don’t think you can worry about that stuff,” he said. “Stuff happens for a reason, and you’re in the right place at the right time.”

The right place for Wathan on Saturday was in the manager's seat. The right place on Sunday will be back in his usual spot at Mattingly's side. Regardless of where he sits, the goal is the same.

“It's not about me at all,” he said. “We're just trying to get wins. We're just trying to stack wins.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb