So this the way baseball go?
Ron Washington, coaching against the Rangers?
Since quitting abruptly last Sept. 5 amidst marital infidelity problems, the winningest manager in franchise history has spent this year as an assistant for the University of New Orleans. As the Oakland A’s fall deeper into the AL West cellar, however, they apparently are considering reaching out to Washington for help.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the A’s will hire Washington as a special instructor to their infield. Oakland leads all of baseball with 43 errors, spiked by 15 from shortstop Marcus Semien.
Washington, of course, played 10 years as an infielder and then served as the A's infield and third-base coach for 13 years before Jon Daniels hired him to Arlington in ’07. He is credited with helping transform infielders Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez into Gold Glove winners in Oakland and helping mentor Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre into elite defenders in Texas.
If the A’s hire the 63-year-old Washington, it isn’t clear whether he will make trips to Globe Life Park with Oakland June 23-25 and Sept. 11-13.
Washington’s time in Texas was a mixed bag: Highlighted by a franchise-record 664 wins, consecutive trips to the World Series and a 2nd-place finish in Manager of the Year voting in 2010, but also littered with admitted cocaine use during the 2009 season and last year’s surprising decision to leave the club because of more off-the-field problems.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
