Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski turned 70 this year. Despite his age, he’s still determined to bring another championship to the city of Philadelphia.
“If I didn’t have the same excitement and passion for it, I can’t imagine doing it,” Dombrowski told USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale. “I don’t know how you could do the job properly. To me, it’s just as exciting as ever. You’re in a pennant race and on the edge of your seat every single day.”
Dombrowski’s contract with the Phillies runs through the 2027 season. The club is on track for its fifth consecutive postseason appearance. Nightengale believes that Philadelphia will extend their lead baseball ops executive, regardless of how they fare this postseason.
“There may be a day where John (Middleton) might not like me. But this will be my last full-time job. I love it here. I want to just keep going.”
Dave Dombrowski has quite the resume for any baseball executive. In 40 years as a lead baseball executive, he’s taken four separate MLB franchises (Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies) to the World Series in the last 30 years.
Dave Dombrowski’s Phillies Tenure
Dave Dombrowski has spent the last six years have been with the Phillies. After sitting out the 2020 season, John Middleton hired the experienced executive to try to push them over the hump.
Philadelphia got to the World Series in Dombrowski’s second year running the organization. They’ve spent plenty of financial and prospect capital chasing the franchise’s first title since 2008.
Despite the strong teams the Phillies have built, they’ve fallen short in the postseason. Their last three Octobers were cut short by a lower-seeded team. Their last postseason series win was the 2023 NLDS, with a satisfying takedown of a 101-win Atlanta Braves team.
Even with those disappointing exits, Dombrowski is still committed to building a winner.
“You don’t find a better owner, a more supportive owner than John Middleton,” said Dombrowski. And the city of Philadelphia, they’re so supportive of our team. We’ve been in playoffs four straight years, and hopefully this year is five, but it’s different when you win the whole thing.”
The Phillies look to be in position to compete what looks like a tough National League field. Among teams in the field include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, and the Braves.
Phillies Frustrations Mirroring Dave Dombrowski’s Tenure in Detroit
The frustrations with failing to finish the job hark back to Dombrowski’s days running the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers in the early 2010s were one of the biggest powerhouses in the American League.
The team featured future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Miguel Cabrera in their primes, but they only had two AL pennants in seven years to show for it.
“That’s one of the things I really kick myself is that we never won the world championship in Detroit,” said Dombrowski. “We had so many good teams. We were in the World Series a couple of times. We won the division a bunch of times. But we just never won the whole thing.”
Dombrowski’s teams couldn’t quite make it across the finish line, despite then-owner Mike Ilitch being a willing spender. The most haunting memory may be David Ortiz’s game-tying grand slam in Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS.
The Phillies’ equivalent to that moment came at the hands of Alek Thomas. Thomas, a career .230 hitter who’s been DFA’d by two teams this season, hit a game-tying blast in Game 4 of the 2023 NLCS. Much like the Boston Red Sox 10 years before, the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied back and won the series.
Dombrowski was let go by the Tigers in August 2015, the first of nine straight seasons when the Tigers failed to qualify for the postseason. Ilitch passed away in February 2017.
Phillies PBO Dave Dombrowski Gets Honest About Baseball Future