The Oakland Athletics need a drastic change and they need it now. At 14-28, the A's are the worst team in the MLB and they also lead the league with 44 errors. They've rekindled an old flame to help improve their ailing defense.
Ron Washington will rejoin the Athletics' coaching staff after nine years, according to The Associated Press. The former manager of the Texas Rangers served as Oakland's infield and third base coach from 1997-2006 until he left to take the promotion within the division. However, he resigned as manager of the Rangers last September due to personal issues.
Washington, 63, accumulated a 664-611 record with Texas during his eight-year tenure. He led the Rangers to their first World Series appearance in franchise history in 2010, but the club fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. Texas returned to the World Series the following season and failed to win again - this time losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
The Rangers also notched two AL West division titles and had five consecutive winning seasons under Washington, which is still the longest streak in franchise history.
A's general manager Billy Beane goes way back with Washington because the two were together when Beane was instituting the famed "moneyball" concept in Oakland in the early 2000s. The 2002 season was what really put the team on the map considering the A's lost their top players in Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen to free agency before the year started. With about a $40 million payroll, the Athletics won the AL West division with a 103-59 record and set an incredible MLB milestone after winning 20 games in a row between August and September.
"Moneyball" then became a movie in 2011, which starred Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Washington's character in the film was played by Brent Jennings, who is famously remembered for the scene when he and Beane go to Scott Hatteberg's house to present him with a contract to play for the team.
Fast-forward the clip below to 1:30 to see Washington's character say his well-known line in the film, "It's incredibly hard."
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report Oakland's interest in bringing back Washington as a special instructor.
Washington will join the team immediately and have his hands full with the league's worst defense.
