'Everyone loves and respects him': Current and former Atlanta Braves reflect on Ron Washington's impact
All-Stars raved about his preparation and his work ethic, even if they wouldn't repeat his words
You need only to know that Shohei Ohtani’s Angels are currently under .500 to be reminded, yet again, that even the greatest of All-Stars are often irreflective of their team’s overall fortunes. But eight All-Stars? That’s got to be the result of organizational excellence or the cause of it — or both.
Assuming enough Mariners dispersed during the break, there were more Atlanta Braves in Seattle this past week than any other team. The team’s eight All-Stars were the most in MLB, the most in franchise history, the most for any team since the 2012 Texas Rangers (who also sent a sizable contingent this season).
More than halfway through the 2023 season, the whole of the Braves is at least as great as the sum of all that individual success. Atlanta opens the second half with baseball’s best record (60-29), the biggest divisional lead (8.5 games in the NL East) and an all-but-guaranteed spot in a sixth straight October, with playoff odds at 100%, according to Fangraphs. Credit goes to the front office for building a sustainable juggernaut, manager Brian Snitker for overseeing the latest Atlanta dynasty and, of course, the players — from Ronald Acuña Jr.’s unprecedented power-speed pace to a pitcher who lost Rookie of the Year to his teammate last season and now leads baseball in strikeouts.
But credit also goes to a 71-year-old third-base coach and the patron saint of pregame fielding practice: Ron Washington.
Included in the six position players the Braves sent to Seattle was their entire infield. And beyond that, the National League team in Seattle was studded with high-profile Washington disciples from across the league. Freddie Freeman spent more than a decade with the Braves before an emotional free agency landed him in Los Angeles. Dansby Swanson was the starting shortstop for six years before Atlanta let him walk and he signed with the Chicago Cubs. Both were in the All-Star game this year with their new teams (Freeman attended, Swanson was on the injured list), but their formative years were spent in Atlanta.
That’s where, during the Braves’ recent run of NL East dominance, Wash’s guidance has become renowned — for both its profoundness and its profanity.
“Some you can't really say,” Freeman said of the pearls of wisdom his former coach dispenses, most often during infield drills.
Ever media-savvy, Freeman side-stepped the perils of repeating anything Washington has told him over the years by pivoting to praising the example he sets with his actions. Baseball is all about routine, and Washington embodies that — with the fielding drills that he famously runs infielders through before every game as the most visible manifestation.
“If the 68-year-old man is outworking the 24-year-old player, we're in trouble,” Freeman said. “I think that he just sets an example for everybody: If this is what you want to do to succeed, this is how we're going to do it. He knows what he's doing. He knows what he's talking about. Everyone loves and respects him. But I can't really give advice because there's usually an F-word every other word.”
Such was the concern of Matt Olson, who has replaced Freeman at first base at Truist Park the past two seasons.
“I don’t know if you can say it,” he hedged. Yahoo Sports assured him that Austin Riley, the Braves’ third baseman, had displayed no such hesitation about repeating Washington’s signature, shall we say, style of speaking.
“What’d he say?” Olson asked. Told he’d have to answer without knowing that, he acquiesced.
“I think my favorite Wash-ism is, ‘If you're worried about what you did yesterday, you haven't done s*** today,’” he said.
For the record, Riley relayed that same sentiment as, “If you’re talking about yesterday, you haven’t done crap today.”
Washington balances that tough-love approach with a focus on ensuring that his players understand “you gotta have your mental preparation first, before your physical preparation,” as second baseman Ozzie Albies said. “So he always talks about your mindset needs to be there before your physical. So to me, Wash is everything to our whole team — not just the infielders that he works with but anybody.”
“Wash is just such a good person to have around,” Olson said.
That’s true even if you’re not on his team, and the respect Washington garners around baseball extends well beyond Atlanta. Nick Castellanos, now an outfielder with the Phillies, has never played for the Braves. He did, however, spend the first part of his career with the Detroit Tigers, whose spring training facility was relatively close to where the Braves used to train in Orlando, Florida.
Castellanos relishes the time that Washington told him he was proud of him and how he had grown as a player. And he still remembers some advice Wash once gave him.
“In spring training in 2019, when we were playing [the Braves], he said, ‘hey, as soon as you're dressed, get out on the baseball field. There's no reason to hang out in the clubhouse,’” Castellanos said. “And I mean, if you look at him, you know, he's always the first guy there, and he's got his fungo and his drills and stuff ready. I think he's a model of consistency. His words always match his actions.”
His words just sometimes have a little extra … emphasis.
