Rangers Hire Ron Washington to Replace Showalter

On Monday, the Texas Rangers introduced Ron Washington as their new manager in hopes that he could right the ship Buck Showalter had been sailing in the wrong direction.  Mr. Washington became the 1st black manager in the history of the club.  He has spent the last 11 years as infield and 3rd base coach of the Oakland A's.

I'll be the first to admit that Ron Washington was not who I had pegged for the Rangers dugout.  I was rooting for the Rangers to hire Trey Hillman, who grew up in Arlington, has worked for the Rangers, and led the Nippon Ham Fighters to a win in the Japanese World Series last month.  But the Rangers new manager brings a proven record of coaching success and a superior knowledge of the game.

This is the beauty of a fair and open process, and why it is important for black managers and black coaches to have the opportunity to interview for jobs.  The sports experts and prognosticators didn't give Washington much of a chance at the Rangers gig.  But give Ron Washington credit, he went into the interview (do coaches take their resumes to an interview?) and blew Rangers owner Tom Hicks and general manger Jon Daniels away with his baseball I.Q. and infectious personality. 

But there are many cases where a Ron Washington may not have even had that opportunity. The National Football League instituted a rule that requires any team with a coaching vacancy to interview a "minority" candidate, but the policy hasn't been well received.  The climate of this country is anti-anything that looks like affirmative action.  Americans would much rather preserve an employers right to discriminate.  Ron Washington represents an example of what can happen if African-Americans have an opportunity to interview; whether it be at IBM, Sprint, Ford, or the Chicago Bears. 

I'm looking forward to the Ron Washington era in Arlington.  Washington was extremely popular with players in Oakland, and it was thought that he would fill their managerial vacancy.  Oh well, their loss could be our gain and I hope Mr. Washington proves that I cast my lot with the wrong guy.