Braves minor-league manager Wellman called up

Video of manager Phillip Wellman’s eruption/meltdown during a 2007 Class AA Mississippi game made him famous via countless airings on ESPN, YouTube, and newscasts on virtually every local TV station in America.

It says something about Wellman’s otherwise solid reputation in the Braves organization that he kept his job after that incident.

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WDEF-TV

In this image made from television, Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman argues with the home plate umpire during the a game against the Chattanooga Lookouts.

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Not only that, some 14 months later he’s in uniform with the major-league Braves, set to spend the remainder of the season in what amounts to the coaching version of a September call-up.

“I’m looking forward to these next two weeks,” said Wellman, 45, a former minor-league player who never experienced the major leagues in any capacity before Tuesday. “It’s a good way to end the season.”

The Braves bring up two coaches or instructors from the minor-league system in September as a reward for job performance. Wellman’s Mississippi team captured the Southern League championship with a 3-2 series win against Carolina.

Not bad for a team that lost 15 of its first 17 games this season.

“It was an unbelievable experience,” Wellman said of the team’s turnaround, including a 43-26 record and second-half division championship, after a 30-40 finish in the first half.

“Toward the end it was beautiful to watch. We weren’t the best team, but the guys played the game as a team, with heart. We had some true professionals.”

As the affable Wellman talked about the Mississippi season, Martin Prado walked past. “I want my ring,” Prado said to Wellman, and kept walking.

“I knew I was going to get that from a lot of guys here,” said Wellman, who named seven Braves players who spent some time at Mississippi this season.

One by one, Braves who have played for Wellman strolled past. Each one, without exception, had a friendly exchange with him, some acting if he were a brother they hadn’t seen in months.

Ten minutes of talking with Wellman in this environment, with guys he has managed or coached, makes it apparent how much players respect him and enjoy being around him.

Even some Braves who never played for him act as if they have known him for years, when their only exposure to Wellman was probably a few hours at spring training.

Braves rookie pitcher Jair Jurrjens, who never played for him, stopped briefly in a hallway as Wellman spoke to two reporters. Jurrjens smiled and mimicked the now-famous grenade-tossing motion that Wellman used when he threw a rosin bag during his bizarre, animated argument with the umpire in 2007.

“Thanks for bringing that up,” Wellman said, smiling at Jurrjens.