If you somehow came into the possession of "Weird Science"-like software that could create the prototypical baseball manager, the great machine would undoubtedly spit out Ron Washington.
Washington is gruff, wise, mustachioed and not one to suffer fools gladly. So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Washington seems less than thrilled that Russell Wilson is at Texas Rangers camp.
This isn't the fault of the Seattle Seahawks quarterback, of course. The Rangers obtained Wilson's rights from the Colorado Rockies solely for the PR pop that would come with having a Super Bowl quarterback in the building.
Washington surely gets that. But that doesn't mean he's interested in giving Wilson anything close to an authentic spring training experience.
"The guy's a Super Bowl champ," Washington told a group of reporters Thursday. "You think they want him to come down here and get hurt?"
Washington wouldn't even entertain the possibility that Wilson sees live pitching.
"The guy ain't seen a pitch, he ain't seen nothing," he said. "I'm not running him up there. It ain't going to happen."
In the above video, you'll see Washington labor his way through a question-and-answer session about Wilson. Hang in there, Ron. A return to baseball's great routine is near.
The latest edition of the "Around The League Podcast" discusses the top 101 free agents and forecasts the offseasons of the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.
