Before sitting down to write about Ron Washington and the large void his exit creates in the Atlanta Braves organization, I put The Meters’ 1974 album “Rejuvenation” on my turntable and turned up the volume. Because “Wash” is a New Orleans native who loves that city’s music and food, and he’s a beloved and revered figure in his profession like The Meters are in theirs. Like “Rejuvenation,” Ron Washington is a stone-cold classic.
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However, at 71, rejuvenation itself is not something he requires. Not one bit. So if anyone says his being hired Wednesday to manage the Los Angeles Angels will rejuvenate Wash, tell them they don’t know the man.
In seven seasons as the Braves’ infield guru and third-base coach, Washington went about his job with more energy than some players five decades younger. Not that they didn’t go hard; it’s just that Washington goes harder. He’s impossibly tireless, a septuagenarian fungo-hitting, cigarette-smoking, charismatic, side-splittingly funny, baseball-loving machine. A baseball man to his core.
“He’s amazing,” said Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who believes the Angels “got a lot better” Wednesday with the hiring of Washington by Angels GM Perry Minasian, a former Anthopoulos assistant in Atlanta who was quite familiar with Washington’s work.
“I’m going to look back on this in my career, that I’m honored I got a chance to work with him,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s everything you could want. He deserves the opportunity. He’s excited. Obviously, I’m excited for him. It’s a huge loss for us. And I emphasize that in caps, bold, italicized, all of it. A huge, huge void.
“I had six years with him, and I can’t imagine I’ll be around another guy like that in my entire career.”
Washington is credited — including by some players themselves — for turning decent Braves infielders into very good ones, and very good defenders into Gold Glove winners. Just as he’d done before with the Texas Rangers, whom he guided to two World Series as manager, and the Oakland Athletics, with whom he burnished his reputation as an infield guru.
On behalf of Braves Country, THANK YOU Wash!
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 8, 2023
Good luck to the person who’s either promoted from within the organization or hired from outside it to replace Washington.
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“We’re not going to be able to replace Wash, there’s no doubt about that,” Anthopoulos said. “I don’t think anybody can. I said this in another interview. (Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster) Joe Davis said it best when he talked about how people said, ‘Oh, you’re replacing Vin Scully.’ No, he followed (Scully). And I think someone just is going to follow (Washington).”
Anthopoulos made those comments during a previously scheduled interview session Wednesday at the general managers’ meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., where the first questions were about the Washington hiring announced only minutes earlier. Anthopoulos had found out a little earlier in the day and briefly discussed the situation with Braves manager Brian Snitker.
“I talked to Snit,” Anthopoulos said. “Obviously, we’re (still) wrapping our head around all that. We have time, though. It’s definitely not something we had on our radar, to do staffing. But we’ll take our time with it.”
When another reporter came over a few minutes later to ask Anthopoulos the same questions about Washington, the Braves GM didn’t mind repeating himself. Not when it came to lauding the man who’s 25 years older than the Braves executive.
He was asked what will make the new Angels manager a good fit in an organization that’s had more than its share of issues. After his resignation as Rangers manager in September 2014, Washington admitted to having an extramarital affair and battling a cocaine addiction. By all accounts, Washington has worked hard to restore his reputation in the nine years since.
Now, he’s returning to the managerial chair at 71.
“Presence, intellect, respect, work ethic, integrity,” Anthopoulos said. “Off-the-charts ability to lead. I mean, that guy walks in a room, it’s over. It’s just, he’s got it. He’s special. I’ve been in baseball since 2000. I’ve never been around someone like this before. And I think anyone that’s worked with him or had played on teams with him will tell you the same thing.”
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There’s a possibility, Anthopoulos acknowledged, that the Braves could lose another coach or two. He wouldn’t discuss specific names, but Braves bench coach Walt Weiss and outfielder instructor Eric Young Sr. are reportedly candidates for other major-league managerial openings, and Washington could ask Young to join his Angels staff. The Braves customarily permit teams to talk to any of their coaches or other personnel who are under contract if there’s an opportunity for career advancement elsewhere.
“Look, I think all those guys can manage,” Anthopoulos said of his Braves coaches. “Obviously, Walt already has (with the Colorado Rockies), and I think all of our staff — I mean, I think we have a really strong staff. A big part of our success is the (coaches) that we have.”
None would be any harder to replace than Washington, who exuded so much energy that players would shake their heads in amazement, watching him on his knees in 95-degree July heat and humidity, hitting short hops to infielders, part of the patented one-on-one pregame drills he did every day. He did it with each of his infielders and occasionally some outfielders who stopped by to get some of what Washington was cooking, some of his knowledge and tips and, oh yes, his profane ribbing, which was as relentless as the torrent of balls coming off his fungo bat.
When Atlanta’s entire infield was selected to the NL All-Star team this year, second baseman Ozzie Albies said Washington told them, “It’s probably the most emotional day of his career because all of his infielders are going to the All-Star Game.”
No Braves player was closer to the coach than Albies. Their relationship features some father-son and some older brother-younger brother dynamics to it, the playful teasing between them never letting up before and even during games. Infielder Vaughn Grissom, 22, also developed a close relationship with the man five decades his senior when Washington had Grissom travel to New Orleans last winter for a series of weeklong one-on-one crash courses in how to be a major-league shortstop.
When Grissom was asked at the beginning of 2023 spring training which infielders he could learn from watching, he said: “You can take something away from everyone. But I have a mechanic already (Washington), so I just listen to him. It’s not one thing with him; it’s like a whole mindset change.”
Asked if he could believe Washington was 70, Grissom laughed and said: “I cannot. He takes, like, 1,000 swings a day. I don’t know if anyone knows — that’s a lot of swings. So he’s doing his thing, and he keeps it coming.”
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Nine months later, Washington is 71 and still doing his thing, only now he’s going to be doing it at the helm with the Angels.
“He’s someone that players will go through a wall for, will love playing for,” Anthopoulos said. “I can guarantee you, as word is spreading today, Angels players are incredibly excited and Braves players are incredibly sad.”
(Photo: Adam Hagy / Getty Images)
