Ron Washington is at the center of Black baseball

Posted on by Andscape

Six degrees of Ron Washington


Downward arrow

New Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington’s six decades in professional baseball as a player, coach and manager have yielded a true statistical and roster readout of Black players that borders on the fantastical. And with longtime manager Dusty Baker now retired, Washington is at the center of the Black baseball version of ” six degrees of separation.”

“I think when you look back at people like Ron Washington, who knew how hard they had to fight just to get the opportunity that they were given, it’s almost like when they look at other people, they want them to have that same fight,” Angels first base coach Bo Porter said.

With the help of the Society for American Baseball Research and Baseball-Reference.com’s Oracle of Baseball tool, Andscape has crafted a map that illustrates one path to connecting Washington to every Black All-Star. All vines of connection link through Black MLB players who played with or were coached by Washington.

Washington is directly connected to 11% of all Black MLB players since 1947 (140 of 1,301). His direct connections include 69 Black teammates who played in at least one MLB game and 71 Black players he has coached and/or managed.

­­Two of Washington’s direct connections are African American pitchers who won 20 games in a season at least once, earning them the distinction “Black Ace.” Five others have Hall of Fame plaques in Cooperstown, New York. And 34, including those Black Aces and Hall of Famers, earned at least one All-Star Game nod in their careers.

­Andscape has assembled a visual representation of Washington’s baseball network at every stage of his career, drawing the degrees of connection between Washington and every Black Hall of Famer, Black Ace and Black All-Star.

Playing
with legends


Washington was never a star. He wasn’t even drafted into pro ball. Instead he got his start in 1971 at the Kansas City Royals Academy, an instructional system where Washington said he learned the fundamentals of the pro game during old-school chalkboard sessions.

“[Washington] played the game seriously, man, he played the game at 100%,” 1989 World Series MVP Dave Stewart said. “He didn’t cheat himself, not one day, when he took that baseball field.”

After a year at the academy, Washington spent much of the 1970s in the minors save for one 10-game stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977. He played all or part of 10 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros in the ‘80s before hanging up his playing jersey in 1990.

Through 12 Black teammates, first-, second-, third- and fourth-degree connections can be drawn from Washington to 21 Black Hall of Famers who made their MLB debuts before 1985.

Minnesota Twins, 1984-86

Kirby Puckett


“This is my first single room! Ain’t nobody coming in my room.”

Ron Washington, on learning he would room with a rookie on road trips

Washington can be linked to 14 of 15 Black Aces through eight former teammates in three connections or fewer.

Washington played 10 games with the 1977 Los Angeles Dodgers, who also featured Black Ace Al Downing. Downing was on the 1970 Oakland Athletics pitching staff with Jim “Mudcat” Grant, who coined the term Black Aces in a book about them. And Grant was on the 1960 Cleveland Guardians pitching staff with Don Newcombe, the first Black pitcher to ever win 20 games.

­­Albuquerque Dukes (AAA), 1977

Dave Stewart


“Dave Stewart never smiled when he was out there competing, but when he competed against me, he smiled.”

Ron Washington, on the mutual respect between him and Stewart

connection point

Stewart posted four consecutive 20-game seasons from 1987 to 1990. Since then, three Black pitchers have joined him in the 20-win club.



Coaching
Superstars


When his playing career ended after the 1990 season, Washington immediately jumped into coaching with the New York Mets organization. He worked his way through the ranks in the minors until 1996, when then-Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane hired him as an assistant. Washington worked for the next 10 seasons on Beane’s famed “Moneyball” staffs that prized veterans near the end of their careers and journeymen who could be coached, which is where Washington thrived.

“I love Washington, and I could be around Wash every day of my life,” David Justice, a two-time World Series champion and three-time All-Star, said of his old A’s third base coach. “I would have ran through walls for Wash if he was our manager. He’s fair. He’s honest. But his knowledge of the game is on another level.”

Washington worked directly with 39 Black MLB players from 1990 to 2006. During his first 10-year stint with the A’s, he coached three Black Hall of Famers and is a second-degree connection to 10 Hall of Famers who suited up at least one season in the 1990s.

Washington said his coaching career was most influenced by veteran superstars like Frank Thomas, Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines in Oakland. “Those guys was the greatest,” Washington told Andscape. “They were guys at the end of their careers that people didn’t think had anything left. And Billy Beane always went and got them.”

Oakland A’s, 1998

Rickey Henderson


“’You don’t talk about Rickey like that.’”

Ron Washington, relaying how Henderson responded to a challenge from Kenny Lofton

Over his 25-year career, Henderson shared a roster with these five Hall of Famers (plus Eddie Murray). That’s 40% of all Black Hall of Famers who debuted in the 1990s.

connection point

Washington is a second-degree connection to five more Hall of Famers who played in the 1990s.



Breaking
Through


Washington managed a major league club for the first time in 2007. It took him four seasons to take a middling club to back-to-back AL pennants in 2010 and 2011. Three years after that, Washington faced a personal crisis that led to his departure from Texas, but not from baseball. He went back to coaching third base and drilling defense in Oakland for a season before taking the same job with the Atlanta Braves in 2016. The Angels made him a manager again in November 2023.

“I think the toughest part about the game is that you have to show success before you keep getting a job consistently. And also, if you are Black manager, to be honest, you don’t get those opportunities often,” said Kenny Lofton, a six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner. “I just said, ‘bout time’ [when the Angels hired Washington].”

Washington managed or coached 31 Black players and eight Black All-Stars from 2007 to 2023. He links to 67% of all Black All-Stars who debuted after 2000 (39 of 58) in three degrees of connection or fewer.

Marlon Byrd and Milton Bradley, who played for Washington’s Texas Rangers, and Marcus Semien, who worked with Washington in Oakland, all became first-time All-Stars after improving with Washington’s help.

Texas Rangers, 2007

Kenny Lofton


Kenny Lofton was one of three Black players on Washington’s first Rangers roster. Of course, with many days and hours spent in dugouts, clubhouses and infields over the course of a season, you’re going to get a funny story or nine. Lofton absolutely delights in retelling his favorite.

“I was stealing second. It was blatant that I was safe. They call me out and Wash went out to dispute the call,” Lofton started, barely able to keep from laughing. “And he pulled a hamstring. And he had to go back. He couldn’t even come back down to second base. He had to turn back around and go back to the dugout. Bro. We had the biggest laugh ever. He couldn’t even get across the line.”

Atlanta Braves, 2017

Matt Kemp


“All Matt wants you to do is look him in the eye and tell him what you’ve got to tell him.”

Ron Washington, on advocating for Kemp in the Braves organization

connection point

For the 2024 season, the Angels will have two Black base coaches: Eric Young Sr., a former Braves assistant and 1996 All-Star, and Bo Porter, the former Astros manager. Add hitting coach Johnny Washington and Washington automatically has the blackest coaching staff in the league.



There have been 238 Black All-Stars in MLB history, and Washington is four degrees of connection or fewer away from them all.

Andscape captured Washington’s reaction to seeing his network diagrammed for the first time.


Explore Washington’s links to Black All-Stars, Aces and Hall of Famers by tapping on a touchscreen device or hovering the cursor over individual dots.

Methodology

This network was built using research compiled by SABR board of directors president Mark Armour, who provided Andscape with a comprehensive list of African American players who debuted in the MLB between 1947 and 2016. Andscape completed that work for the remaining seasons and researched Washington’s full playing and coaching history.

That list of Black MLB players was narrowed to include only All-Stars. Then Andscape used Baseball-Reference.com’s Oracle of Baseball tool to connect Washington to every Black MLB All-Star through a lineage of Black MLB players.

Related Video

Ron Washington discusses his six decades in the game

Watch now

Credits

Produced by ESPN Creative Studio: Heather Donahue, Alecia Hamm, Luke Knox, Jason Potterton, Adam Schaub and Beth Stojkov.

Written by Clinton Yates. Edited by Erik Horne. Video direction by Cornell Jones. Project production by Ashley Melfi.

Development by Bryant Smith. Video production by Loyd Visuals. Photography from AP Photo, Getty Images and Imagn.

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