After a long career as a player and coach, Ron Washington can finally add World Series Champion to his resume as the Braves closed out the World Series with a 7-0 win over the Houston Astros in Game 6.
It was a highly emotional night for a man whose career in professional baseball spans over 50 years. Washington made his MLB debut back with the Dodgers in 1977 until 1989 where he decided to retire, going straight into coaching where he's been ever since. Washington currently serves as the Braves' third-base coach. He spoke to WSB after the game about what it took for his players to pull out the victory against the Astros.
“This game is all about love. This game is all about commitment. This game is all about attitude and when we finally took the lead, the attitude, the commitment and the effort for it came into play,” Washington told WSB Atlanta’s Zach Klein.
This wasn’t Washington’s first shot at a World Series ring. As manager of the Texas Rangers, he managed to lead his team to the fall classic twice in 2010 and '11. The latter appearance ended when the St. Louis Cardinals made a major comeback to take Game 6 and 7.
Washington’s career as a major league coach stems back to 1996 when he joined the Oakland A’s as their first-base coach before leaving to become the manager for the Texas Rangers. The A’s do have an opening for the manager position and the 69-year-old coach has been linked to the job. Freddie Freeman even advocated for Washington to get another managerial shot in Oakland.
“I would tell them he deserves it," Freeman told reporters prior to Game 3 of the World Series. "That man, I don’t want him to leave, but he deserves every opportunity."
Outside of his work as a base coach and manger, Washington has also been a relatively esteemed infield coach. His infield decision making in Game 6 was key to the Braves victory pulling a number of impressive plays all night.
At 69, Washington’s shot at managing another club may be murky, but with the success of 77-year-old Tony La Russa managing the Chicago White Sox, it would be worth a shot to see if Washington still has what it takes to lead an MLB club.
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