Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington revealed on Monday that he had undergone quadruple bypass heart surgery earlier this summer.
Washington has been away from the Angels since June 20 due to an undisclosed medical issue, and bench coach Ray Montgomery stepped in to serve as the team’s interim manager for the rest of the season. Washington first started experiencing shortness of breath and fatigue near the end of the Angels’ four-game series against the New York Yankees in June. He was cleared to fly back to Southern California with the team, but further tests revealed a blockage in his valves that needed surgery.
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Washington, who is the oldest manager in Major League Baseball at 73, said the incident “saved my life.” He’s since quit smoking and improved his eating habits, though he admitted the immediate aftermath of his procedure was quite shocking.
“Actually I thought I was dead [right after the surgery] because I was laying someplace where they had put me for a few days [to recover], and I said I didn’t make it,” he said, via The Associated Press. “So I started pulling stuff off, and the guy saw me doing it, and he came running in and he grabbed my hand. He said, ‘What’s going on?’ I said, ‘Am I dead?’ He said, ‘No, you’re here.’ Really.”
Washington visited the Angels on Monday ahead of their matchup with the Texas Rangers in Arlington for the first time since his operation two months ago. He’s been recovering at his New Orleans home ever since.
The plan, so long as he’s healthy, is for Washington to resume his managerial duties next season. He said he is expected to be fully cleared by his doctors in December, and that he was already feeling much better.
“[Doctors] told me by the time I reach eight weeks I could start doing some light work, but my light work was to come up to Texas and be with the team,” he said, via The Associated Press. “I feel great, I really do … I didn’t come here to work, I came here to be around my guys and have fun with them.”
Washington is in his second season with the Angels, and currently holds a 124-168 record with the franchise. They went 63-99 last season and missed the playoffs in his first campaign back as a manager in the majors. He spent eight seasons leading the Rangers from 2007-2014, and is both that franchise’s winningest manager and responsible for a pair of World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.
The Angels entered Monday’s contest in Texas with a 61-69 record, which has them in fourth in the AL West standings. They are 8.5 games back of the final wild-card spot in the American League, so it would take a significant run and quite a bit of help for the team to make the playoffs — something they haven’t done since 2014.
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