Beloved Former Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington Ready To 'Run The West Down'
Former Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington put on his Los Angeles Angels jersey and faced the media for the first time on Wednesday since he was named the team’s new skipper.
As one might expect, Washington wasn’t at a loss for words and he proceeded to put the rest of the American League West on notice.
“Our whole focus will be to run the West down,” Washington said. “You can take that to the bank and deposit it.”
Washington knows the AL West well. He guided the Texas Rangers for nearly eight seasons during their first two World Series runs, and many of those divisional wins came at the Angels’ expense.
Washington beat out, among others, the manager he replaced in Texas, Buck Showalter, who openly campaigned for the Angels’ job. Another former Rangers player, Benji Gil, was also under consideration.
Before taking the Angels job, Washington was the third-base coach in Atlanta under manager Brian Snitker. He finally claimed his World Series ring in 2021 and he’s been largely credited with the defensive improvement of the team’s infielders, including Ozzie Albies.
Washington replaced Showalter when he took over the Rangers in 2007 in what was his first managerial job.
By 2010, the Rangers were not only back to winning the American League West, but they made their first trip to the World Series, and in 2011 the Rangers returned. The Rangers lost that latter Fall Classic appearance in a heartbreaking seven-game series to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Rangers reached the postseason one more time, in 2012, losing in the Wild Card game. In 2013, the Rangers won 91 games but failed to make the playoffs.
Washington resigned from the job on Sept. 5, 2014.
Washington finished as the winningest manager in Rangers history, going 664–611.
The journeyman infielder played 12 Major League seasons and was even a non-roster invitee to Rangers spring training in 1990.
Once he was done playing, he carved out coaching roles with the New York Mets and the Athletics, the latter of which came in the ‘Moneyball’ era (an actor playing Wash had a small part in the movie adaptation of the book). He was largely credited with developing Oakland infielders Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada.
