By Will Martin
Symbolically an end to the first half of the year and baseball season on June 30th at the Ballpark in Arlington. The Texas Rangers were about to have Yu Darvish take to the mound with the hope of getting his first win since May 16th. Outdueling Reds ace Mat Latos in a 3-2 victory Darvish got his victory in the rubber game of the series with the Cincinnati Reds. 45 minutes before the first pitch manager Ron Washington was gracious enough to ‘Hang with Mr. Will’ and the Blitz Nation. Here is how it went down.
Being gracious with his time, now in his seventh year, Ron Washington! Ron, before we talk about the here and the now; yesterday was a birthday (June 29th) for Harmon Killebrew. Long time fixture with the Minnesota Twins. I know you spent some time in Minnesota as a player. What memories do you have of Harmon growing up?
Gentleman…a class act, a pro. Always was willing to lend a helping hand to anyone that was in need. Always had time to have a conversation. A total gentleman.
I know that in the last 10 or 11 games the Rangers have come onto the field donning the blue uniforms (and winning 9 of 11). Whose idea was that, you or the players?
No, it was the players. They are the ones who decide what uniform they will wear on that given day. It started when we came out of our little slide wearing the blue and they decided to stay with it.
Yu Darvish your starter today. Any issue of something to tweak in his game or is it merely a matter of manufacturing runs from where you sit?
It was just an issue of him making adjustments (and I’m more than certain he will). You know, he went through that little tailspin of not getting a win but pitching well during a time when we weren’t scoring runs but you know, in the game of baseball, whatever minimal amount of runs you get you want to get your pitchers to try and make that stand up.
Final question for Ron Washington and we do thank him for his time. This is technically the halfway point of the year and the baseball season are you happy with where your teams in spite of all the injuries that you have been fighting?
No doubt about it. It just shows our resiliency and our commitment to each other and how we weather storms. Throughout the season there’s ups and downs. The teams that can handle the ups and downs are the teams that are there at the end. I certainly hope that we can continue to move forward and that our kids continue to get better and continue to contribute. We’ll see what happens at the end.
Best of luck with the rubber game today. Ron Washington, thank you for your time.
Well thank you for yours.
