ARLINGTON — Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy dipped into the interview room at Globe Life Field Monday afternoon to greet another baseball lifer.
Bochy shared a few words and an embrace with Los Angeles Angeles manager Ron Washington who, after a health scare, reunited with his team and made his first public comments on the matter before Monday’s game between the Rangers and Angels.
“I like Wash a lot,” Bochy said. “As I told him, it’s good to see him in a uniform.”
Washington, 73, does not intend to stow his away yet. The former Rangers manager said Monday that he wants to continue on as Angels manager “without a doubt” despite quadruple bypass surgery sidelined him earlier this summer. Washington took a leave of absence on June 20 and interim manager Ray Montgomery has run the team since.
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“I miss baseball,” Washington said. “This is my life. If [Angels general manager] Perry [Minasian] will have me back I’ll certainly come back and finish what we started.”
Washington, who checked into the hospital June 23 and didn’t exit until July 7, is eight weeks removed from surgery and has been cleared for “light work.” He expects to be 100% back to health by December and has made several changes to better his health. Washington said that his eating habits have improved, he sleeps better, he feels “stress free” and no longer smokes.
“People have been after me for years about that,” Washington said of his smoking habits. “It took a bypass for me to stop smoking.”
Washington managed the Rangers for eight years and led the club to its first two World Series trips. He resigned after the 2014 season as the team’s winningest manager with a 664–611 all-time record. The Angels hired him prior to last season.
“It’s my passion,” Washington said. “As I told Perry when he hired me, I want to do this until we get this right. I’m going to finish what we started and I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
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