Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington said Monday he is recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery. It’s the first time he has publicly addressed the health issues that have sidelined him since late June.
He made the announcement while visiting the Angels for the first time since the operation eight weeks ago in California, calling it a day he had been looking forward to while recovering at his home in New Orleans. He is not returning to manage this season, but hopes to have that opportunity next year. He said he should be fully recovered by December.
“(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,” said Washington, the oldest manager in the majors at 73. “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 last managed a game on June 19 against the Yankees. The following day, the Angels said he was out indefinitely because of health issues after experiencing shortness of breath and appearing fatigued toward the end of that four-game series in New York.
After being cleared by Yankees doctors to fly home with his team, even though they initially wanted to keep him in New York, Washington underwent a series of tests in California. He said an angiogram there showed blockage in his valves that couldn’t be fixed by stents.
“This happened fast,” said Washington, who was hospitalized on June 23, had surgery on June 30 and was discharged on July 7.
The Angels, without elaborating then, announced on June 27 that he was on medical leave for the rest of the season.
“What happened to me saved my life,” said Washington, who added that he has quit smoking, changed his eating habits and is sleeping better. At one point, he raised the Angels hoodie he was wearing to reveal the scars from the surgery.
Washington wasn’t so sure he had made it in the immediate aftermath of the procedure, when isolated and connected to medical monitors.
“Actually I thought I was dead because I was laying someplace where they had put me for a few days, and I said I didn’t make it,” he said. “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.”
The well-liked Washington spoke before the opener of a three-game series in Texas. He plans to continue on to Houston with the Angels before skipping the final stop of the road trip in Kansas City, then hopes to be with the team the rest of the season after they return home.
“It’s awesome,” outfielder Jo Adell said. “He looks like himself. I’m just really glad to see him out here, and I know everybody here is pretty excited. He’s bouncing back and making it a point to get back here with us. I think it’s big for everybody. I think it speaks to who he is.”
Washington is the Rangers’ winningest manager with a 664-611 record from 2007-14. He led them to their first two World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.
After initially returning to the A’s organization for two seasons, Washington was on the Atlanta Braves’ staff from 2017-23 and part of their 2021 World Series championship.
With a young roster after Shohei Ohtani’s departure in free agency and with three-time American League MVP Mike Trout limited to 29 games because of injuries, the Angels went 63-99 last year to set a franchise record for losses in Washington’s first season as their manager. They were 36-38 before Washington left the dugout this year, and went into Monday night’s game 25-31 with Ray Montgomery filling in for him.
“His face lit up,” Montgomery said Monday. “It was good just to have him around. I know being in the clubhouse and being back around the team — it was good for him. I think the nature of how it happened and everything happened so quickly, guys didn’t get a chance to really see him off.”
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who led Texas to its first World Series title two years ago, is the next oldest manager in the majors. The four-time World Series champion, who turned 70 in April, came into the interview room and went onto the podium to give Washington a hug.
“Yeah, it was good to see him, wasn’t it?,” Bochy said. “I like Wash a lot. As I told him, it is good to him in a uniform. It seems like he’s doing well.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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