Ron Washington's Third Act (A's 3rd Base Coach)

They say there are no second acts, but Ron Washington was just granted his third yesterday. The Oakland A's, tired of Mike Gallego's poor decision making as their third base coach, fired him and promoted Ron Washington.

For Washington, it's a bit of a homecoming, as it was there, working for Billy Beane and (predominantly) Art Howe, where Washington became one of the most respected base-running and infield coaches in baseball, famously working with Scott Hatteberg at 1b and turning the raw but athletic Miguel Tejada into the plus-defensive, MVP caliber shortstop he became. However, Washington never fully bought into or meshed with the A's new statistical approaches. So, when the A's fired Art Howe, they never seriously considered Washington for the manager position, and instead hired Ken Macha.

Washington's turn did come though in 2006, when he was hired by Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers to be their manager. Admiring Washington's strategical and coaching expertise, as well as his clear ability to inspire players, the Rangers believed he could help them win their first world championship. And while the first two seasons were losing ones, he led the team to an 87-win season the next year and brought them to the World Series next two years, where they lost both times. But while those successes and his strong rapport with his players earned him accolades, his questionable in-game moves, line-up choices, and pitching decisions--like woefully having Darvish pitch through inflammation--kept him from fully receiving the administration's confidence, despite their generous willingness to let him work through his cocaine lapse. So, when, after a terrible start in 2014, he resigned without protest, few were surprised.

For many at 63, leaving such a momentous position could only be topped retirement, but not for Wash. With the energy of a man half his age, and his still incisive knowledge of infield defense, he became the A's infield coach, successfully working with such major projects as the raw Marcus Semien at Ss and the usual 3b Brett Lawrie at 2b. So, when the A's needed to replace Gallego, Washington, with his great respect in the organization, keen insights on base-running and base-running chances, and great rapport with base-runners made him an obvious choice.

And it's probably his last position before retirement, considering his middling managerial estimation by the industry. However, it's a position of great importance in an organization he loves, and an organization that galvanized his coaching career. So, while most of us don't get second acts, it's nice to see one of the true nice guys in MLB get a third one.

Let's see. Another post from l.desperate_for_acceptance on a topic that he is the only known expert on, waiting for the slightest notion of validation from anyone on the boards. If the replies aren't praise for his wisdom, he attacks the person who replied claiming they aren't intelligent enough to understand him or his posts.

Let's watch how THIS thread plays out for l.predictable

Let's see. Another post from l.desperate_for_acceptance on a topic that he is the only known expert on, waiting for the slightest notion of validation from anyone on the boards. If the replies aren't praise for his wisdom, he attacks the person who replied claiming they aren't intelligent enough to understand him or his posts.

Let's watch how THIS thread plays out for l.predictable

Oh my, another troll post from my stalker Robert-I'm-hopelessly-obssesed-with-L.Strether-LaTorre. The poor boy is so fragile himself, he can't imagine someone might just write about baseball...because they like to write about baseball. Considering the poor writing and argument skills he's shown, i'm not surprised...

So, comment on Ron Washington, the thread topic, or move on, Little Robert. You've trolled enough today.


P.s. If people actually write about Washington, and don't troll like you, this thread will be fine.

I thought it was a bit odd to fire a 3rd base coach this late in the season but Washington is a proven commodity and well respected among the A's and baseball. Good luck to him the rest of the way and into next season if he hangs around.

I don't even remember him getting fired from the Rangers.

Strether, in the good ole boy network of MLB (and the NFL) there is almost ALWAYS a second, third and fourth chance for white coaches and managers. I am not sure the same can be said for the minority coaches.

Understandable you did not remember him getting fired from Rangers for 2 reasons.

First being he was not fired. He resigned. The team tried to talk him out of resigning.
He resigned due to what was initially explained as personal reasons and the rumor mill went in to high gear. Most common theories being Daniels was meddling in what he felt was his decisions or Him refusing to play the young players Daniels wanted played. 2 sides of the same coin possibly. When it was clear the rumors would only keep growing until the truth was out Wash admitted he had an affair and his marriage was at risk. He quit to focus on repairing that.

2nd reason the team was in decline and the record injuries had made a shambles of the season and the team was otherwise not newsworthy. Other than what new player had gone down there was no reason for anyone outside of Texas to keep up with anything happening here. Only a late season surge after the bench coach took over kept them from losing 100 games.

If I owned the Mariners, I'd be trying to get him as their new manager. I'm assuming, of course, that they are planning to let the incompetent McLendon go