‘I’ve still got it.’ Uniforms may have changed over the years, but Wash hasn’t.
A league championship series is back in Arlington for the first time since the Texas Rangers hosted the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series in 2011.
The Rangers prevailed in six games, and their fans know the rest.
Nine years later the league has changed, the teams have changed and the ballpark has changed. But there is one thing that has remained the same — Ron Washington will be in one of the dugouts.
The former Rangers manager, who guided them to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, is the Atlanta Braves’ third base coach and infield instructor. He will be visible throughout the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, which opened Monday night with the Braves playing the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field.
Washington hasn’t changed, despite advancing in years. The Braves don’t let him throw batting practice anymore, though they know he would in a heartbeat.
Otherwise, he’s the first one on the field, running infielders through drills and working his Fungo until they’ve had enough. He works just as hard as any player, if not harder, and his unwavering love for the game gives the Braves a boost time and time again.
At 67, and with one year left on his contract, he doesn’t plan on slowing down.
“I’ve still got it,” Washington said. “I told them, ‘I ain’t walking away until I’m ready to walk away.’ Unless you tell me to walk away. You tell me you don’t want me around no more, I’ll go about my business. But you don’t have to worry about me walking away on my own, that’s for sure. I’ve got too much desire and love for the game to walk away.”
The Braves have given no indication that they don’t want him to stick around. Manager Brian Snitker said Washington has one of the most important in-game jobs as the third-base coach.
Snitker said Washington is boring, in a way, because he never varies from his routine. Infielders know Washington will be on the field waiting for them to show up for work, and they all show up.
Just as former Oakland A’s Gold Glove winners Eric Chavez, Mark Ellis and Marcus Semien did, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman gives Washington ample credit for transforming him into a premium defensive player.
“I have gold on my glove, and that’s because of Ron Washington,” said Freeman, a candidate to be the NL MVP. “We do his drills every single day. He’s just a fiery presence. He makes each and every person better.”
The Braves, like pretty much every other team, have taken a deeper dive into analytics. Washington was famous for saying he relied on his gut when it came to in-game decisions, so there would seem to be a conflict.
Instead, he’s adapted. He still wishes hitters would focus more on doing what the game asks each hitter to do and less on slugging, but he gets it. He also understands that no matter where infielders are after a shift, they still have to catch the ball and make the right play.
“It’s every day. It’s amazing,” Snitker said. “That guy never shuts it off. Those guys are on a great routine. He’s out there ready for them every day. They have a really good time with him.”
That has never changed. When Washington was the Rangers manager, players saw how much fun he had and how hard he worked.
He would throw the first round of batting practice and be dripping with sweat when he was finished. In spring training, he would work early with infielders, from the big-league players to the minor leaguers.
Six years later, as he creeps toward 70, the engine is still revving and the marbles are still there.
“I haven’t lost them yet,” Washington said. “I still can teach, I still love it, so what the hell?”
Said Freeman: “He’d be the first one to tell you that no 67-year-old can do what he does. He has so much fun and joy for this game, and it wears off on us. He makes you so much better, and you want to get better because he’s out there working harder than you.
“Ron, we love him here. He’s absolutely fantastic, and he’s made so many of us better.”
