Los Angeles Angels Manager Ron Washington Still Has Love for A's Fans

Angels manager Ron Washington on A's fans "they were real fans"

Los Angeles Angels new manager Ron Washington served as a coach on the Oakland A's from 1996-2006 and helped Eric Chavez earn six straight Gold Gloves at third base from 2001-06. He left to go manage the Texas Rangers following the '06 campaign and brought the Texas Rangers to the World Series in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011, ultimately losing to the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.

Washington returned to the A's as a coach in 2015, and began work on Marcus Semien's defense. Semien had been acquired in the Jeff Samardzija trade with the Chicago White Sox the previous off-season and had plenty of potential in his bat, but his glove left him as one of the worst defenders in baseball when he first came up. 

The turnaround wasn't immediate, but Semien's defense improved dramatically in 2018 as he earned 11 Defensive Runs Saved, and followed that up with another seven the following season. He was the fifth-best defensive shortstop in baseball in those two seasons. While Washington had left for Atlanta by that time, he laid the groundwork for Semien defensively. 

With Washington returning to the manager's seat in 2024, the folks over at Foul Territory had him on to talk a little baseball. With his extensive history with the A's franchise, of course relocation came up. 

"The 10,000 or 11,000 that showed up every night, they were some awesome fans. They were awesome."

After talking with former Minnesota Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski about the Moneyball team, the backstop also had some kind words for A's fans.

"You were talking about your fans out in Oakland. I've always said, as much [crap] as the Oakland fans gave me over my career, there was no better place to go--even if they had 20,000 fans--that place was as intimidating as it got. 

Washington agreed with him. "They were real fans, man. They were real fans. I will never forget the years that I spent there. That's where my first opportunity was given to me to become a big league coach, was in Oakland."

Washington also said that he thinks that while Oakland should have a team, he also smirked when he said that they only have 10,000 dedicated fans. Then he went on to say that Oakland is a very poor city and that not many people can afford a ticket come to a ballgame, so it wasn't all love from the new Angels manager.  

If you'd like to watch Foul Territory's talk with Ron Washington, it begins at around the 45 minute mark, with his thoughts on the A's situation coming around 65 minutes in.