Ron Washington's Pre-Game 7 Speech Hits the Public

Before Game 7, Ron Washington said that he didn't need to give his team a fiery speech in the clubhouse to get them ready to play.

He might not have needed to give one, but he certainly gave one anyway. An audio recording of Washington's words to the team before they faced off against the Cardinals found its way to JoeSportsFan.com and it is a doozy. Washington's words sound like they might have been scripted by Quentin Tarantino, so it is probably best to use earphones if you're going to listen to it within earshot of children or anywhere near your office.

The language is a bit objectionable and Cardinals fans might find some of the chatter about Chris Carpenter to be a bit harsh, but a listen to the tape reveals much of what makes Washington so successful as a manager.

The Rangers were coming off one of the more devastating losses in the history of the game and it was the kind of loss that would leave a lot of teams feeling mighty tight around the collar as they prepared to play a do or die Game 7. The amount of laughter in the room is a pretty clear sign that the Rangers weren't too tight to go out and win what is, in the end, "nothing but a MF game."

It didn't work out for them, obviously, but, to steal one of Washington's more family friendly phrases, that's the way baseball go. All the speeches in the world don't help when you get outplayed on the field, but you can't blame the guy for doing whatever he could to make sure his team was in the frame of mind he wanted when they hit the diamond.

The Rangers are going to investigate who leaked the video. JoeSportsFan.com says only that it was a member of the clubhouse staff and, enjoyable as the glimpse behind the curtain may be, it is wrong to take something meant for private ears and make it public. Even with the language running bluer than a Redd Foxx routine, though, it doesn't make Washington or the Rangers look bad.

It makes them look a pretty human group of guys using laughter to get past a rough moment.

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UPDATE: The Texas Rangers have determined that one of their employees made the audio recording, according to The Associated Press

The team said the employee did not for the recording to be made public. Jon Daniels, Rangers general manager, said it was apparently shared with someone close to the employee and that "ufortunately, it doesn't take too much to go from point A to point B."

The Rangers said they handled the matter internally and would not specify what disciplinary measures they took.

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