Ron Washington became a fan favorite with the Atlanta Braves during his tenure as the 3B coach, and many fans and players, while sad to see him go, were excited that Washington was getting another chance to manage when he was hired by the Los Angeles Angels.
Unfortunately, last night, the 72-year-old manager made one of the dumbest play calls in baseball, and when it went horribly wrong, he blamed his player for not executing.
How Ron Washington made a huge mistake calling for a squeeze play
The Angels have been struggling. Through 43 games, they have the worst record in the AL West and the fourth-worst record in all of baseball. They've already lost Mike Trout to a knee injury and are doing whatever they can to keep 26 men on the roster, going with players who thought their playing careers were over.
Of course, Ron Washington isn't to fault with the poor roster construction. However, losing has clearly made him desperate to get anything going, as he decided to call for a squeeze play with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Angels had gone down 5-0 early before coming back and tying it in the fifth inning. The Cardinals had regained control of the lead in the seventh, and the score stood at 8-7 when former Brave Luis Guillorme came to the plate.
With the squeeze on, Guillorme tried all he could to get the bunt down, but JoJo Romero's pitch was well outside and the infielder whiffed on the bunt. Zach Neto, who was on 3B, was already breaking toward home and was tagged out easily.
The squeeze play didn't work out for the #Angels with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth and Luis Guillorme then struck out to end the inning. Down 7-6. pic.twitter.com/YlJwdBiq5F
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 15, 2024
Guillorme then struck out, ending the threat without the Angels getting at least the tying run in. Already, things were looking incredibly embarrassing for the Halos.
Ron Washington goes on an embarrassing rant in his postgame interview
But that wasn't even the worst of it. After the game, Washington blamed Guillorme for not getting the bunt down. He said he had called for the bunt to try and avoid the double play, and that the pitcher had been in the strike zone all night.
The last statement was not true. As Sam Blum of The Athletic pointed out, Romero had walked the previous two hitters and had gone to full counts to each of the four batters that inning.
Wash stated that it wasn't anything wrong he did, even though he admitted to calling the idiotic play.
Wash gives us his final thoughts after tonights game 🔊@Angels l #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/prVZjyl4TX
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) May 15, 2024
Guillorme, for his part, did take responsibility for the botched play, but he shouldn't have had to. Washington has made a career out of being beloved by players, but blaming your player for an embarrassing decision you made is not going to win over players, especially on a team free falling.