The School of Wash: How Angels manager Ron Washington teaches the game he loves

TEMPE, Ariz. — Baseball is a sport with a million personalities. It’s a game full of introverts, extroverts and everything in between, with the person on the top step of each dugout tasked with managing all those personalities.

And running around the backfields of the Angels’ spring training complex with a fungo is a man who might have the most personality in the big leagues. At 71 years old, Ron Washington is MLB’s oldest manager — but don’t tell him that. His players can’t tell, either.

“He’s going out there every day at 6 a.m., making sure he's the first one out there,” Angels shortstop Zach Neto said. “And you’re trying to beat him. It's always a challenge. But it shows just how important this is to him. It makes us want to get better.”

Washington — who spent eight seasons at the helm of the Rangers, including back-to-back trips to the World Series in 2010 and 2011 — is finally managing again this season after 10 years of third-base coaching in Oakland and Atlanta. Not only is the Angels manager one of the game’s best personalities, but he might also be one of baseball’s best teachers. And while he’s not a coach anymore, don’t expect the lessons to stop.

“I’ve won everywhere I’ve been, my man,” Washington told Yahoo Sports. “I know how to prepare. I know how to motivate.”

Welcome to The School of Wash.

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‘They first had someone that really believed in them, right?’

Washington, who is known around the game as an infield coaching wizard, has had several star pupils over the years. He has coached the likes of Eric Chavez, Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus, Michael Young, Freddie Freeman, Marcus Semien, Matt Olson and Austin Riley. After two decades of coaching, Washington’s impact can be seen across the big leagues.

Another one of his disciples is Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, whose relationship with Washington started in 2016, during Swanson’s rookie season with the Braves. They say all great teachers believe in their students before those students even believe in themselves, and Washington is no different.

“Whether it's somebody in business, somebody in baseball, basketball, you name it, [if] they are successful at what they do, they first had someone that really believed in them, right?” Swanson told Yahoo Sports. “And that's how Wash is. He instills this true belief — not, like, a false confidence — a true belief in his players and is able to draw that out of everyone.

“And I think that's what makes him such a good motivator. And he loves the game of baseball, too. So when you put the two together, he inspires you because he believes that.”

Swanson has one of the most impressive baseball résumés you’ll find. The 30-year-old is a former No. 1 pick, two-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove Award winner and World Series champion. Yet even he acknowledges that there were times when he needed some help along the way.

On one of his early days in Atlanta, Swanson was going through his methodical pregame routine with Washington, but unlike most days for Swanson, things weren’t going his way.

“I wasn’t catching 'em like I wanted,” he said.

Washington knew it, too, but he wasn’t about to let his young shortstop get down on himself.

“I went up to him and said, ‘That wasn’t really a good day,’” Swanson said. “And he said, ‘Stop right there. That was a great day. I'd rather you come out and work and figure out that you didn't have it than you not working, and then you never would have known.’

“His belief and work ethic qualities are his separating factors. He's all about work, and he’ll tell you that, too.”

‘Nothing they go through they won't be there for’

Being hands-on has also helped Washington build relationships with his players over the years. His routines are known to be tedious and meticulous, but they’ve helped him turn below-average defenders, like Semien was early in his career, into Gold Glove winners, which Semien became in 2021. Even when players are no longer with Washington, his routines often go with them to their new teams.

“I’ll be honest with you, you know, Wash was kind of one of those guys that would get his bag of balls and his fungo, and I wouldn't see him again until the end of the day,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told Yahoo Sports this spring when asked what camp is like without Washington.

For both Snitker in Atlanta and Bob Melvin in Oakland, having someone with Washington’s ability to teach on the field, connect with players off it and get the best out of everyone was a priority. Now the Angels are hoping all of that carries over to Washington's first managerial job since 2014, and he has attempted to put together a staff in Anaheim that is a reflection of him.

“I look at [my coaches] as experts,” he said. “When it's something that I need to be involved in, I'll be involved in it. When it's something that my coaches need to take care of, I'm gonna kick back and watch them take care of [it].

“I want my players to feel that [the coaches] know what they’re talking about. I want my players to feel that they love them, and nothing they go through they won't be there for. … That's the way I run things, you know, but I will be involved in everything.”

‘They can speak in front of the Mike Trouts’

Managing is much more than penciling names into a lineup card; to teach players, you first have to be able to reach them. Washington has built his name on the ability to connect with players, but in this gig with the Angels, it’s also important to him that his players are able to communicate with one another.

This spring, Washington has had young players, including Neto, catcher Logan O’Hoppe and first baseman Nolan Schanuel, leading meetings in front of their veteran teammates. He’s hoping the responsibility creates an environment in which players respect one another.

“I want them to feel grown-up,” Washington said. “I want them to feel like they can stand in front of their teammates and their peers [and] say whatever they have to say. … They can speak in front of the Mike Trouts. They can speak in front of the Anthony Rendons. They can speak. And then those guys will hear them and understand where they’re coming from.”

That message has been received by the young players in the clubhouse, where Washington’s boisterous personality has resonated, making it easier to follow his lead.

“When he gets going, man, ain't nobody stopping him,” Neto said with a smile. “But it's true, man. He communicates with you. He wants to make sure we're staying on top of each other. Holding each other accountable. Making sure that there's nothing that we're holding inside and making sure that we let it out.”

Baseball has changed a lot in the 10 years since Washington was last at the helm — and players have changed, too. But if there’s one thing that works to Washington’s benefit heading into this season, it’s that he never left the game. As the sport has evolved, he has had a front-row seat — and he continued learning as he was teaching.

“One thing I have learned since I've been out of the manager seat is patience,” he said. “Because these kids are younger, and you certainly got to educate them a lot more. But as far as the game of baseball goes, there's nothing different about the game. … It's been the same. You see the ball. Hit the ball. Run. Field. Throw.

“That hasn't changed.”