You’re a two-time World Series champion, an American League MVP, an eight-time All-Star, a six-time Silver Slugger award winner, a member of the 30-30 club, part of three All-MLB first teams and these aren’t even half of your accolades.
You’re smack dab in the middle of your prime and still one of the most dangerous hitters In Major League Baseball today with a batting average of .303, 15 bro bombs, 62 RBI and 65 runs scored for the World Series favorites. You’re also known for being clutch.
Sunday August 25, 2024; Mookie Betts #50 of the Dodgers during the game. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the final score of 3-1 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Kevin Reece for MLBbro.com)
It’s the tenth inning, you’re up 3-2 with a runner on base. You’re standing on the on-deck circle when something happens. They don’t pitch to the person in front of you; they walk him intentionally… to get to you.
Sure, that person is Shohei Ohtani, but something isn’t adding up. When it comes to the LA Dodgers lineup. You pick your poison.
The “Respect” Won’t Be Tolerated from Betts
That feeling you just felt is a little something called disrespect. That had to be the feeling MLBbro Mookie Betts felt on Tuesday night, when Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington decided to walk Shohei Ohtani to try his luck at getting Betts out instead.
“You’re picking your poison when you deal with the first three hitters (Ohtani, Betts, Freeman). I wasn’t going to let Ohtani swing there, and I have all the respect in the world for Mookie Betts.” Washington said via Bally Sports West.
We get that it’s Sho… but walking anybody to get to #MLBbro Mookie Betts just doesn’t sit right with me 🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/8IW6Bbx9yi
As Rapper Jadakiss would say that sounds good… but it’s not enough. The Angels would pay for this showing of “respect”. On the first pitch Mookie would hit a 3-run homer to blow the game wide open for the Dodgers.
Be Careful What You Wish For
“Yeah, that doesn’t happen often so I kind of black out.” Mookie would say about the strategy of fellow MLBbro Washington. “They walked Sho to get to me, and I was just like alright I mean, if that’s what you want.”
"You know, they walked Sho to get to me, and I was just like, alright." Mookie Betts with @kirsten_watson on his 3-run homer in the 10th. pic.twitter.com/7FbEB94h5W
In fairness I understand the strategy of walking Shohei Ohtani (who’s having a monster season on pace to become the first member of the 50/50 club). Here’s the thing. I understand it, if it’s to anybody EXCEPT Mookie Betts.
“I was hoping Contreras could make a pitch, get a ground ball, and get us a double play and keep the game at (2). First pitch, he left in the middle of the plate and up, and Mookie didn’t miss it. That’s what he gets paid for” Washington would say about the homerun.
Indeed, this is a scenario where MLBbro Mookie Betts gets paid to show up in. Unfortunately for the Angels, it was their turn to pay the tab.
Jo Adell was a first round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in 2017 and made his big league debut in 2020. Since that time the team has had three different managers but this year he has emerged as the everyday right fielder under skipper Ron Washington. Going into the season the Angels were expected to be a bit more aggressive and Adell has been a big part of that. “We’re pushing the issue this year. I’ve worked on getting that jump and not every time have I been safe but I’m trying to get the extra base when I can,” he said about being third on the team in stolen bases.
“The numbers have been good for me, making sure that I’m in every pitch and making good decisions at the plate, it’s exciting” he added. Adell was leading the team with 15 home runs and was second on the team with 43 RBI at the All Star Break.
Adell is from Louisville, Kentucky and is still a big part of the culture in his hometown. “Giving back to the community and being with kids has been a big part of what I focus on in my foundation. We’re always looking to do different projects and help out” he spoke of the Jo Adell Foundation. A couple of the activities that his foundation has taken part in has been providing turkey dinners for those in need during Thanksgiving and hosting a baseball camp at his former high school.
So many Major Leaguers excelled in multiple sports in high school and Adell was no exception. When asked if there was pressure to play basketball he chuckled and said “A little bit. The bigger part was the football. My dad played professionally a little bit and that was on my back as well,” Adell mentioned. “I fell in love with the game really early, I always loved playing and was excited during baseball season so it stuck” he said of his choice to make baseball his career path.
Adell is a player who truly is a student of the game and has learned from multiple players over the years. “Once I got into my first couple of days of pro ball Kyle Lewis was someone I looked up to”. “He was somebody on the mentality side that really helped me” Adell praised the 2020 American League Rookie of the Year. “Torii Hunter has been huge in developing that game plan and mindset of where I need to be” he added. “This entire coaching staff has been a big part of my growth and where I’m at in my game so far” he concluded.
The Los Angeles Angels and Ron Washington, if given the time, could be a match made in heaven. The Angels are considered one of the worst franchises in baseball with the light at the end of the tunnel being a possible oncoming train with superstar Shohei Ohtani in Dodger blue and Mike Trout out with injury. To add insult to injury…
The team has not had a winning season since 2015.
The nearest threat to first place in their division was in the pandemic season back in 2020. Even then, they were ten games behind.
In 2024, they hired Ron Washington as their third manager in three years.
The Angels will not get a baseball savant better than Washington to make the transition overhaul in the next couple of seasons. Ron Washington may be the only person in baseball qualified for such an undertaking.
A winning percentage of .520 over 1,275 games coming into this season.
Four straight 90-plus winning seasons.
Consecutive American League pennants in 2010 and 2011.
Ron Washington Is The Winningest Manager In Texas Rangers History
The narrative where Ron Washington can be undermined as a manager is the style of communication between eras. Washington is old school, direct and very blunt. The modern players in all sports have increasingly bristled at that type of communication. He’s also a font of knowledge who has worked as a bench coach, most recently with the Atlanta Braves’ World Series team, and is renowned for his defensive tutelage of infielders.
Possible Culture Clash With 72-Year-Old Manager?
The first chapter of this potential conflict played out earlier this week on Tuesday night when the Angels lost 7-6 to the St. Louis Cardinals. In the postgame press conference, our MLBbro OG did not pull punches over suggestions (or excuses) about Luis Guillorme’s failed squeeze bunt attempt that ended a potential game-winning scoring chance in the 8th inning.
A lot of fuss being made about the Ron Washington squeeze bunt drama, but regardless whether he was wrong for his postgame comments…
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) May 15, 2024
“Lefty on lefty, and with a sinkerballer on a left-hander, I didn’t want him to hit into a double play,” Washington explained after he was asked why he called for the squeeze. “He can handle the bat. He didn’t do the job. It wasn’t anything I did wrong. He didn’t do the job.”
When a reporter asked about JoJo Romero’s control difficulties…
“Wild? He was throwing it in the strike zone,” Washington said. “Why are you making excuses? He was throwing the ball in the strike zone. [Guillorme] did not get the bunt down. Period.”
Guillorme for the record stated that he had to do a better job of getting the bat on the ball in that type of situation in the future.
Are the Angels bad in reputation and perception? Yes. But this is not an Oakland A’s team who lost 112 games last year and may repeat the feat this season. This is not a Chicago White Sox team who can’t (or won’t) compete financially with the sudden boom of free agent contracts. The other Los Angeles team has resources and assets to move to build around a star in Mike Trout.
Ron Washington Hired To Change Losing Culture
Ron Washington was hired to bring championship habits to a team by developing discipline by way of routine and a focus on the little things required to win as opposed to cliches spoken behind a microphone. He also has first base coach Bo Porter at his disposal. Porter set the foundation of the Astros’ 2017 World Championship and the current core players they have today, enduring losing seasons as Astros manager before the team’s prospects such as Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa blossomed.
The organization chose him to oversee a rebuild and then ushered him out for A.J. Hinch, before he was able to finish the job. So we do know Porter is also equipped to re-establish a culture.
To the ones that thought Washington was wrong for calling out his player… tough! He’s bringing a championship mentality from the Atlanta Braves.
“We need some dogs here,” Washington says. “This isn’t a country club. In Atlanta, those guys battled. They were hungry. They were coming to beat your ass. And if they lost, they were mad. You knew they were coming in hungrier. It only took a day – not four or five days – for those guys to reset and dedicate themselves to kicking your ass.”
It didn’t take long to find out Ron Washington was serious. The question is… are the Los Angeles Angels and their fanbase serious, too?
Nick Hamilton caught up to LA Angels outfielder Jo Adell ‘Live at the Ballpark’ in the midst of a 6-5 start that has them tied for first with the Texas Rangers atop the American League West.
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