Texas Rangers: Leaders of the pack

by Gordon Jackson

The first-place Texas Rangers (that’s right) are red hot. Manager Ron Washington could be the one holding the match.

As of May 19, the team’s 23-14 record is the second best 37-game start in franchise history. Their 7-game winning streak includes a 6-0 sweep in their last homestand and a 3-game sweep of the once-mighty Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the four-time American League Western Division champions. They’ve built a 4½ game lead over the Angels (Editor's note: the Rangers have lost their last two games, but they still hold a three-game lead over the Angels).

The Rangers have compiled a long list of even more milestones and accomplishments not seen in several years. Rangers fans have marveled over how the team has learned to manufacture runs and consistently win close games. The team’s rise to the top have at least temporarily made Dallas sports fans forget about the Mavericks early playoff demise and speculations about how the Dallas Cowboys will perform in their new stadium.

There’s enough credit to go around about the team’s success thus far: the much improved pitching, the always abundant hitting, sharp and error-free defense and good decisions by the front office. A thick spread can and should be laid on how Washington is managing the team in his third season, as assessed by some of his players.

“Wash is a great manager. We needed that from day one,” said Rangers first baseman Chris Davis. “He’s done a good job of keeping us together and making sure we keep our heads up, keep going out and putting our best foot forward.”

“He’s a respectful guy, he keeps everybody loose,” said outfielder Andruw Jones. “That’s part of what makes managers good managers.”

It’s an ever going sports debate about just how much difference a manager or coach makes with his team. Some feel they don’t necessarily help a team win any games but could cause the team to lose some. Just how much impact Washington has made with the Rangers draws widely varied opinions.

Yet, at times, one of the keys to good management is a decision to try not to do too much. That’s what Washington is doing, second baseman Ian Kinsler said.

“Ron doesn’t do much, he just lets us play the game,” Kinsler said, but added: “He keeps us in the right frame of mind. He’s a positive influence on everyone. He comes into the ball park with the same attitude everyday.”

“That’s what a manager is supposed to do,” Jones said. “He keeps us pushing to just go out there and play. There’s only so much he can do.”

Washington appears to be pushing all the right buttons as of now, executing a vision shared by him, general manager Jon Daniels and team president Nolan Ryan.

“I think we’re playing the Texas Rangers way of playing baseball,” Washington said Sunday after the Rangers’ 3-0 win over the Angels. “We’re becoming the kind of team that will go out there and play the game of baseball according to the way it’s presented to us.” Quoting infielder Michael Young, he added: “We want to be the type of team that can do whatever the game asks us to do.”

It was uncertain if the team could get to that point in time, for Washington’s sake, following two losing seasons, mostly due to erratic pitching and several injuries to key players. With the front office deciding to build the franchise through younger players, as opposed to maintaining veteran free agents, the team could have waited another year to produce winning baseball, with demands on Washington to win now, making him the odd man out.

“He took some heat a little bit last year; it really wasn’t his fault,” Davis said. “We had some key injuries at a time when we really needed some wins. He really wasn’t in a position to have a lot of players to choose from.”

But Daniels gave Washington a vote of confidence last month, stating publicly that his job is not in danger. Soon after that, the team’s starting pitching began to perform in outstanding manner, along with other facets of the game.

“The difference in the Texas Rangers this year, than in the past, is that type of stuff [poor pitching] would influence the outcome of the game,” Washington said. “It doesn’t this year because our pitchers are able to get back up there and pick it up.”

While Ryan, a Hall of Fame pitcher, the only one in baseball history to pitch seven no-hitters, has been credited to helping the pitching staff set higher performance goals and developing tougher attitudes, Washington has been the one helping them executing those standards.

“Nolan’s put the emphasis on guys being in shape and being bulldogs out there, everybody is feeding on that,” said Jennings. “Ron and (Pitching Coach) Mike [Maddux] are letting that play out; letting the guys go deep and letting them stay in the game and getting out of jams.”

“Sometimes when you’re not at your best, you got to see how you can fight,” Washington said about his pitchers. “Sometimes, the fight is better than the results.”

“He’s trusting the guys in the bullpen, the guys on his bench,” Kinsler said.

“Right now, we’re playing really well and he’s doing everything he can to help us win games.”

Relief pitcher Jason Jennings commended Washington on the way he’s handling the pitching rotation.

“Guys are going deeper into the game. That’s keeping the bullpen fresh when it comes to July and August,” Jennings said. “We know the starters aren’t going to go eight innings every game, so we got to be ready when it’s our time.”

About the entire team, Davis said: “We’re going to use every guy on our lineup to get a win. Wash knows that, he knows the game really well.”

Washington has to be pleased that his team has reached the playing level he envisioned when he took over before the 2007 season. “I think we’re there already,” he said.

But he’s not necessarily letting it show and probably won’t until September, when he hopes the team continues to play at the current level.

“All I want them to do is to take it one day at a time and just continue to play good baseball,” he said. “Don’t go out with any preconceived ideas, just go out there and stay prepared and do what they ask.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”