Ronald Washington (born April 29, 1952) is an American professionalbaseballmanager,coach, and formerinfielder. Since November 2023, Washington has been the manager of theLos Angeles Angels ofMajor League Baseball (MLB).

Ron Washington
Washington coaching the Oakland Athletics in 2015
Los Angeles Angels – No. 37
Infielder /Manager /Coach
Born: (1952-04-29)April 29, 1952 (age 73) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 10, 1977, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
July 7, 1989, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics
Batting average	.261
Home runs	20
Runs batted in	146
Managerial record	739–729
Winning %	.503
Stats atBaseball Reference
Managerial record at Baseball Reference
Teams
As player Los Angeles Dodgers (1977) Minnesota Twins (1981–1986) Baltimore Orioles (1987) Cleveland Indians (1988) Houston Astros (1989) As manager Texas Rangers (2007–2014) Los Angeles Angels (2024–present) As coach Oakland Athletics (1996–2006,2015–2016) Atlanta Braves (2017–2023)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2021)

Washington played for theLos Angeles Dodgers,Minnesota Twins,Baltimore Orioles,Cleveland Indians andHouston Astros in a career that began in 1977 and ended in 1989. He was primarily amiddle infielder, but throughout his career, Washington also appeared atfirst base,center field andleft field. In his 10 seasons as a player, Washington had abatting average of .261 with 20 careerhome runs, 146runs batted in, and 28stolen bases.

After his playing career ended, Washington coached in theNew York Mets andOakland Athletics organizations. He served as manager of theTexas Rangers from 2007 to 2014, leading the team to theWorld Series in2010 and2011. He coached for the Oakland Athletics in 2015 and served as the third base coach of theAtlanta Braves from 2016 to 2023. Washington won a World Series ring with the Braves in 2021.

Washington was signed by the Kansas City Royals on July 17, 1970. He spent the next ten seasons in the minor leagues with three different organizations (Royals, Mets, and Dodgers). He also played various seasons in theMexican Pacific League during the winters throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He earned a briefSeptember callup with theLos Angeles Dodgers in 1977 hitting .368 (7 for 19). He would not return to the major league level until 1981 with theMinnesota Twins, where he would remain until 1986. He then played one season each for theBaltimore Orioles,Cleveland Indians, andHouston Astros before retiring from Triple-A Oklahoma City in 1990. He was a middle infielder for most of his career.^{[citation needed]}

On May 28, 1988, while playing for the Indians, Washington broke upMilwaukee Brewers pitcherOdell Jones'no-hit bid after8+1⁄3 innings with a pinch-hit single.^[1]

Washington is one of only three MLB players, along withU L Washington (no relation) andFrank White, who were products of theRoyals Academy.^[2]

Following his retirement as a player, Washington worked in theNew York Mets organization for five years. After being hired as theOakland Athletics first base coach in 1996 under his former Astros managerArt Howe, Washington then served as infield and third base coach for the A's between 1997 and 2006. As infield coach Washington has been credited for developing much of the A's young infield talent in the last decade, including six-time Gold GloverEric Chavez, and formerMVP and A's shortstopMiguel Tejada. In 2004, Chavez expressed his appreciation by giving Washington one of his Gold Glove trophies, signed "Wash, not without you." However, the trophy was lost duringHurricane Katrina in August 2005.^[3]

Washington is portrayed in the bookMoneyball that relates how the A's competed having a small budget. Washington is shown in a positive light for the way he trainedScott Hatteberg to field first base for the first time in his career despite initial skepticism, but also as too old-fashioned and traditional in his lack of acceptance ofgeneral managerBilly Beane'ssabermetric strategies. His character in thefilm adaptation of the book was played by actorBrent Jennings.

On November 6, 2006, the Texas Rangers announced that Washington had accepted their offer to manage the team^[4] replacingBuck Showalter, who was fired a month earlier. Washington beat out four other candidates for the job: Rangers bench coachDon Wakamatsu, then New York Mets third base coachManny Acta,Nippon Ham Fighters managerTrey Hillman^[5] and former Rangers catcherJohn Russell.^[6]

At the beginning of the 2007 season, it was rumored that there was a rift between Washington and Rangers starMark Teixeira. Asked about it, Washington responded that he wanted Teixeira and other players to take more pitches, especially when facing middle relievers.^[7]

Teixeira was traded to theAtlanta Braves in July 2007 and had been rumored to have been on the trading block before reports of tensions with Washington, as his agent,Scott Boras, had refused to negotiate a contract extension beyond the 2008 season. Reports also suggested tensions between Washington and catcherGerald Laird. Questioned about the rumors, Washington conceded that the pressure he put on Laird was "a lot to put on a young kid ... (But) that's what we've got. He's got to grow up fast."^[7]

On March 17, 2010,Jon Heyman ofSports Illustrated reported that Washington tested positive forcocaine during the 2009 season and has acknowledged using cocaine.^[8]

In 2010, Washington became the second manager of the Rangers franchise (afterJohnny Oates) to take his team to the postseason. On October 12, 2010, Washington became the first manager in franchise history to win a playoff series, with a 3–2 victory in theALDS over theTampa Bay Rays. On October 22, 2010, Washington's Rangers defeated the New York Yankees in theALCS in six games, to advance to their firstWorld Series in franchise history, before losing to theSan Francisco Giants in five games. He also became the third African American to manage a team into a World Series, joiningCito Gaston, who managed theToronto Blue Jays to the World Championship in the1992 and1993 World Series, andDusty Baker, who managed the Giants in the2002 World Series.

Referring to Washington, second basemanIan Kinsler said: "I just love the way he never holds his emotion back, especially when he's managing. He hangs on every pitch, and it's great to know that your manager is in every single pitch and cares that much."^[9] In 2009 his salary was about $750,000.^[10] On November 4, 2010, Washington agreed to a two-year contract extension.

On October 15, 2011, Washington managed the Rangers to their second World Series in as many years, when the Rangers defeated theDetroit Tigers in theALCS. The Rangers eventually lost to theSt. Louis Cardinals in 7 games, after twice being one strike away from the title in game 6. On January 30, 2012, Washington agreed to another two-year contract extension. That year, he led the Rangers to a five-game lead in the race for the AL West title over theOakland Athletics on September 24, but lost seven of the last nine games and the team was relegated to the inauguralAL Wild Card Game, which they lost 5–1 to theBaltimore Orioles.

On September 2, 2012, Washington earned his 507th win as a manager of the Texas Rangers, passingJohnny Oates for the second-most wins by a Rangers manager. On August 4, 2013, Washington passedBobby Valentine for the most wins as a Rangers manager, at 582.

Following the conclusion of the 2014 season, Washington traveled to Japan to manage a team of MLB All-Stars playing against All-Stars ofNippon Professional Baseball in the2014 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series.^[11]

On September 5, 2014, Washington announced his resignation as manager of the Rangers, citing personal reasons.^[12] On September 11, 2014, it was announced by several media outlets that Ron Washington's resignation may be related to allegations of sexual assault against a reporter.^[13] On September 18, 2014, Washington announced that he had been having an extramarital affair, and that he had resigned to reconcile with his family.^[12] Washington's managerial record with the Rangers was 664–611 (.521), including four consecutive 90-win seasons (2010–13), and two pennants. However, his 2014 squad was only 53–87 (.379).

Washington was hired as an infield coach by theOakland Athletics on May 21, 2015.^[14] He became the A's third base coach on August 24, 2015.^[15]

In October 2016, Washington was a finalist for theAtlanta Braves managerial vacancy. The Braves opted to promote interim managerBrian Snitker instead, and then announced the hiring of Washington as their new third base coach, replacingBo Porter.^[16] Washington won his first World Series championship on November 2, 2021, as third-base coach for the Atlanta Braves.^[17] Washington remained the Braves' third-base coach through the 2023 season.^[18]

After November 8, 2023, theLos Angeles Angels hired Washington as their manager.^[19][20]

As of May 2, 2025

• Friend, Ron (October 3, 2010)."How Ron Washington faced his demons".ESPN.
• Schultz, Jeff (February 26, 2017)."Braves' Ron Washington making most of chance after life nearly derailed".myAJC.

• Career statistics fromMLB, orESPN, orBaseball Reference, orFangraphs, orBaseball Reference (Minors), orRetrosheet
• Ron Washington managerial career statistics atBaseball-Reference.com
• Ron Washington at theSABR Baseball Biography Project
• Ron Washington at Baseball Almanac