Washington's Formula for Success Has Rangers on Top

Whether he is jumping up and down at a good play, waving a runner home from his perch in the dugout or high-fiving everyone in sight, Ron Washington is the most animated manager in the major leagues.

The Texas Rangers skipper, however, claims there is a reason behind his emotional displays.

It's a game, Washington told reporters Monday before the Rangers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Five of the Fall Classic. This is my second time at the World Series. I understand what's expected.

But I think in order to get the best out of yourself you have to be relaxed, and more than that, you have to trust what you feel you bring to the table.

If my players saw me acting uptight, that would be a reason for them to be uptight. I don't get uptight, so they've got no reason to be uptight.

While most managers sit stone-faced in the dugout, Washington's disposition has become an amusing sideshow during the World Series. And it must be effective, as the Rangers are in the championship for the second straight year.

Nolan Ryan, principal owner and president of the Rangers, said Washington is merely being himself.

When people look at Ron Washington's exuberance in the dugout, they know it's who he is, said the Hall of Fame pitcher. It's true, it's pure. It's not a show.

He gets so wrapped up into the game and is so in tune to what's happening that that's just him and his personality reacting to the situation.

And the joy that those things bring to him shows. It's been brought to the forefront with the postseason, but that's who Ron is on a day-to-day basis.

Washington was third-base coach for 10 years with Oakland and Ryan suggested the manager, although he is now in the dugout, relives those days when he would wave a runner in.

Washington said he just wants his players to play their hardest every night.

We understand if we go out there on the ball field and things don't go our way, all I want to do is walk off the field knowing I got beat, I didn't give it to them, he said.

And if I got beat, I can live to fight the next day. That's the attitude I have, and that's the attitude my players have.

The Rangers finished last in the A.L. West when Washington took over in 2007 but by his fourth year on the job the once-downtrodden franchise was playing in the World Series.

Washington demands that his players follow his lead.

I come from a very aggressive background, and I'm going to be aggressive, he said. And that aggressiveness got us where we are. We went from the bottom to the top on the style of baseball that I've learned to play since I've been in the game.

I don't call it unorthodox, I just call it taking it to you. I just call it playing baseball. That's what I do.