[討論] Washington has much to be thankful for
Washington has much to be thankful for
ARLINGTON -- Ron Washington and his wife Gerry will be serving turkey and the
traditional stuffed peppers for Thanksgiving at their home in New Orleans
this year. But the gumbo will have to wait.
"We just don't have time to do it up right," Washington said. "We'll get to
the gumbo this weekend. We'll all get plenty to eat this weekend, it just
won't be right away."
Blame it on the World Series. The Rangers are off to a late start this winter
on everything -- and that includes preparing Thanksgiving dinner.
Washington was in Arlington earlier this week working with general manager
Jon Daniels on trying to find a hitting coach to replace Clint Hurdle. They
decided on Thad Bosley, making the announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
Washington was going to drive to New Orleans immediately after but waited
until Wednesday morning, leaving at 3 a.m. and arriving just before noon.
That's not nearly enough time to get ready for the traditional Thanksgiving
dinner at the Washington home in New Orleans. Again, blame it on the World
Series and the Rangers' season not coming to an end until the first week of
November. Usually the Rangers are done by the beginning of October.
"I'll take it every time," Washington said. "But if we hadn't lost Clint and
not had to search for a hitting coach, I could have been getting things more
prepared."
Still, Thanksgiving is not about food as much as spending time with family
and giving thanks for all blessings. The Washington house will be full of
family -- and the Rangers manager knows he has much to be thankful for after,
perhaps, the most momentous season in his 40-year baseball career.
"It was one heckuva of year," Washington said. "I have a ton of things to be
thankful for: family, friends, wife, my team, my organization. I would
definitely have to thank them all for all the love and support they showed
me. To be able to do something in life that you love, and to have so many
great people behind you, is something I will always be thankful for."
Momentous season? Perhaps. Washington has a different term for 2010. He calls
it a "very rewarding" season after everything that happened.
"It was very rewarding in many ways," Washington said. "It was real rewarding
for the way the team came together. It was very rewarding for the way the
players showed what they are made of. It was very rewarding for the way the
coaches kept them prepared -- and very rewarding for all the things the
organization did.
"It was very rewarding for all the things I was able to overcome because of
all the support and help from people who love me. As a result, I was able to
stay strong and get through it all."
He has been through tumultuous seasons before. Washington lost his house and
most of his family possessions when Hurricane Katrina roared through southern
Louisiana in August of '05.
But the storm Washington found himself in back in Spring Training was not
from Mother Nature. It was his own creation. Washington had tested positive
for cocaine the previous summer and the news broke. Washington had to
apologize to his team and explain publically what happened. His future as
manager of the Rangers seemed in doubt.
No more. His organization supported him, his players rallied around him and
the Rangers ended up winning their first division title in 11 years. They
also defeated the Rays and Yankees in the first two rounds of the playoffs to
advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
"When I look back and see what we did, we accomplished so much as a team and
an organization," Washington said. "I'm very proud of what we accomplished
and proud of everybody who was involved in this."
The only disappointments were not winning the World Series and not winning
Manager of the Year.
"I understand with the World Series you might only get one opportunity -- and
you want to win it once you get there," Washington said. "But I think with
everything we accomplished as an organization, I think that opportunity will
re-present itself again and again.
"As far as Manager of the Year, that's an individual award. Don't get me
wrong, I would love to be Manager of the Year. But that can only come if your
players perform, your coaches perform and your organization performs. That's
the only way I can get that award.
"They certainly performed, but so did Ron Gardenhire and the Twins. I think I
accomplished a lot as the leader of the Texas Rangers. But as far as awards,
I don't get excited about that and I don't get down about that."
Washington has other things to think about ... like finishing his house. Five
years after Katrina pummeled New Orleans and caused massive flooding,
Washington is still trying to put his home back together at the corner of
Perth and Dorchester on the east side of the city. The floods that devastated
the city left Washington's home sitting in seven feet of water. Vandals and
looters did the rest.
But Washington and his wife never thought of leaving New Orleans. It has been
his home all his life -- and through steely pride and determination, he is
close to rebuilding his home in the Kenilworth Estates neighborhood that is
thriving again.
"I just need to complete one bedroom and one living room," Washington said.
"Once I do that, I can put some furniture in there. I also need to do some
landscaping. I used to have grass out there. But once it [was] soaked in
water, it became weeds. If you keep it cut short, it looks all right. But I'm
going to pull all of that up and plant me some grass."
He might even find some time for a vacation.
"I need to take my wife on a little vacation," Washington said. "She could
use one. Maybe we'll go up to New York for a long weekend. Maybe we'll go up
there on a Thursday and get out of there on a Sunday. She likes New York. I
don't really care for something like a cruise. That's out."
Plus, a cruise usually lasts a week or more. A vacation to Washington is
nothing more than a long weekend.
"I don't think I've ever been on a vacation for a whole week," Washington
said. "New York would be good, but I don't think I could take it for a whole
week."
For a long-time baseball man, vacation usually means three days off at the
All-Star break. Washington won't get that next year. He will be the American
League manager for the '11 game in Phoenix as a reward for leading the
Rangers into the World Series.
It was truly a remarkable year for the Rangers manager. So what if there is
no gumbo on the table on Thursday. There is still much to be thankful for.
新聞來源:MLB官網
http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101124&content_id=
16210568&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex
心得:Wash總教練滿謙虛的~~果然是帶心的好教練~~另由於內文過長就不逐句翻譯了，
有興趣深入了解的板友可以看看~~
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2010 Texas Rangers Postseason Franchise Roster
(SP)Cliff Lee (C)Benjie Molina (1B)Mitch Moreland (2B)Ian Kinsler
(SS)Elvis Andrus (3B)Michael Young (LF)David Murphy (CF)Josh Hamilton
(RF)Nelson Cruz (DH)Vladimir Guerrero (SP)C.J. Wilson (SP)Colby Lewis
(CL)Neftali Feliz (RP)Darren O'Day (RP)Darren Oliver (SP)Derek Holland
(RP)Alexi Ogando (RP)Michael Kirkman (C)Matt Treanor (OF)Julio Borbon
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