Ron Washington is one of a kind.
That even extends to recent discussion of retirement by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim manager.
“It’s simple, I’m going to leave the game of baseball when Ron Washington is ready,” Washington told the Boston Globe. “Think I’m going to let some 20- or 19- or 22-year-old run me out of the game of baseball? What I do, I’ll adjust. I’m not going to change who I am. When I feel like I can’t do that, then I’ll go home.”
You’ve gotta love Wash. He’s a true baseball lifer.
Washington became an MLB coach in 1996 with the Oakland Athletics as their first-base coach. He was there through the Moneyball era.
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Washington became the Texas Rangers’ manager in 2007 and led them to two appearances in the World Series.
He went back to Oakland, then became the Braves’ third-base coach. He earned a World Series ring in 2021.
Washington became the Angels’ manager last season.
“I still have my passion because there’s so much youth in the game today and they need guys like me,” Washington said. “We are a dying breed. I’m not talking about the managing part of it. I’m talking about trying to get them to understand how the game is played, how you come out here every day and give your best, how you become a great teammate.”
Washington lamented what has been lost in recent years of baseball.
“All of that stuff is part of baseball, but the glamour stuff has taken over,” Washington said. “Back in the day, if you hit a home run and you do what these kids do today, you’d get one in the neck. And everybody in baseball knows it was going to happen.”
Washington turned 73 years old in April.
The Angels haven’t made the playoffs in a decade, and they’re on the outside looking in as things stand this season.
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