Tyler and Phil Nevin are both living a dream: One as an Orioles rookie, the other as the Angels’ interim manager
The phone call was much like the one Tyler Nevin gave his father last year, when the Orioles infielder made his major league debut. But the roles were reversed, with Phil Nevin dialing Tyler to tell him the long-awaited — if unexpected — news.
Stuck in a 12-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Angels fired manager Joe Maddon on Tuesday. That prompted the elevation of Phil, the team’s third base coach, to become the interim manager for the remainder of the season.
It’s a long way from Phil’s managerial debut, when he returned to the game two seasons after the longtime infielder ended his playing career to lead the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball League. He’s worked his way through the minors, just as he did as a player, and now Phil is back in the majors — as a manager.
“He’s worked really hard for this,” Tyler, 25, said Thursday. “Played a long time, and it’s frankly why he’s still in the game. He wants it. He wants the shot to manage a team. He wants to win a World Series, and this is the first step to doing that, so really proud of him.”
Phil, 51, wasn’t handed an opportunity to coach in the majors as some former professionals are. He concluded his 12-year career with one All-Star selection and appearances for seven teams, began coaching in independent ball and soon found his way to the Detroit Tigers’ organization, managing the Double-A Erie SeaWolves and Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens.
Even in Toledo, Phil made sure to fit in his family. Tyler recalled the red-eyed flights from Toledo to California on off days, spending as much time traveling as he did with his wife and children.
“He spent a lot of time away from home,” Tyler said. “He made every effort he could to back as much as he could, but we know how important it was to him. He never missed a second when he was home.”
Phil’s break came when the San Francisco Giants hired him as their third-base coach for the 2017 season, and then he joined the New York Yankees the following year. This offseason, Phil returned to the Angels, where he played 75 games in 1998. On Tuesday, he became the first Orange County native to manage the team.
“Joe [Maddon] was great and told me to just take this and run with it and be the person I am, which I plan to do,” Phil told reporters after taking over the team. “There’s ups and downs compounded with how the last 12 days have gone. ... But this is about that group in that room.”
All that movement has kept Phil from seeing Tyler play in the major leagues yet, so they spend time on the phone discussing the holes in Tyler’s swing or what certain pitchers do to give him trouble. But now Phil will see his son play in the majors when the Angels visit Baltimore in July — and Phil will have a dugout seat to see his son.
“Now it’s like, ‘Welp, I guess he’s going to use that against me,’” Tyler said. “It’s funny, having those conversations and now he’s going to pick the pitchers that face me.”
During that series, Phil will hope to get Tyler out. That’s the role he finds himself in as the manager of an opposing club.
But for father and son, each are living out their dream — one as a new manager, and the other as a rookie ballplayer.
