PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dusty Wathan arrived at PNC Park on Saturday thinking about how to help the Philadelphia Phillies get back to .500 for the first time in over a month and not much else, not even the exclusive club he joined simply by showing up for work.
The longtime Phillies coach filled in as manager for the middle game of Philadelphia's weekend visit to Pittsburgh while Don Mattingly attended his son Trevor's graduation from Purdue University.
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
Philadelphia Phillies bench coach Dusty Wathan, who is filling in for interim manager Don Mattingly, talks with reporters in the dugout before a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed the leader of Hamas’ military wing who was one of the last surviving architects of the attacks that triggered the war in late 2023, the Israeli military said Saturday. Hamas confirmed the death.
Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed on Friday, Israel’s army said, describing him as one of the senior Hamas military commanders who directed the planning and execution of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw more than 250 taken hostage.
A Hamas spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, confirmed the killing on social media.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, and the top diplomat overseeing it says it has stalled because of the deadlock over disarming Hamas. Both sides have traded accusations of violations. Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire with more than 850 people killed in the Palestinian territory since the ceasefire went into effect in October, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. The ministry overall says Israel’s retaliatory strikes in the war have devastated the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 72,700 people.
Israel said that al-Haddad had assumed the role of Hamas commander after his predecessor, Mohammed Sinwar, was killed. The army said that al-Haddad had surrounded himself with Israeli hostages during the war as a shield against an attack.
Al-Haddad’s family confirmed his death in Friday's strike to The Associated Press. Six other people, including his wife and daughter, were also killed. His two sons were killed earlier in the war.
His body was wrapped in Hamas and Palestinian flags as it was carried by mourners at Saturday's funeral in Gaza City.
Al-Haddad joined Hamas when it was established in the 1980s, and was a member of the Qassam Brigades' Majd section tasked to go after collaborators with Israel. He was also a member of Hamas’ Military Council, the highest group of commanders that played a key role in the attacks that sparked the war.
Israel's army chief of staff called his killing a significant operation, and said that Israel would continue pursuing its enemies to hold them accountable.
Violence flared Saturday in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops shot and killed a 34-year-old Palestinian in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Health ministry.
Hassan Fayyad was fatally shot in a thigh, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. Israel's military said that troops first fired warning shots at a person trying to infiltrate the camp and shot him when he didn't comply. They provided him with medical treatment as he was transferred to a hospital, it said.
Israeli troops on Thursday shot and killed a 15-year-old boy in Eastern Lubban town in Nablus, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israel's military said that it identified three people hurling rocks toward Israeli vehicles and “endangering lives,” and troops fired at them, killing one.
On Friday, settlers set fire to a mosque and vehicles in the village of Jibiya, northwest of Ramallah, Palestinian religious authorities said. Security camera footage showed people pouring flammable material on the mosque and at least two vehicles, said Sabir Shalash, the head of Jibiya’s municipal council. Spray-painted Hebrew slogans were found on the mosque’s walls, he said.
The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs described the attack as “a cowardly terrorist act” and criticized the international community’s inaction over mounting Jewish settler attacks against Muslim and Christian sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military and police said that they were deployed to the area and didn't locate any suspects, but were investigating. The army said that it “strongly condemns” attacks on religious institutions.
Samy Magdy reported from Cairo.
Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Palestinians attend the funeral of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, and his daughter and wife in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. They were killed in an Israeli strike Friday evening. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians place their hands on the body of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas' Qassam Brigades, draped in a Hamas flag during his funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians carry the bodies of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas' Qassam Brigades, center, along with those of his daughter, right, and wife, who were killed in an Israeli strike, during their funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians mourn over the body of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas' Qassam Brigades, during his funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians place their hands on the body of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas' Qassam Brigades, draped in a Hamas flag during his funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians search inside a burning vehicle following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians gather around a vehicle struck by an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in Israeli airstrikes Friday targeting Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, during a funeral outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians pray over the body of a person killed in Israeli airstrikes Friday targeting Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, during a funeral outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in Israeli airstrikes Friday targeting Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, during a funeral outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
