Ron Washington joined the Braves in 2017, signing on as third base coach after a long, winding path through the league and across the game. He brought his morning routine with him.
This is how that looked in spring training. His infielders had to be on the diamond each day at 7:30 a.m. Which meant that, starting around 7 a.m., their coach could enjoy a cup of coffee in the dugout in peace. This was about as strong a guarantee as Washington could get: At that hour? No one would bother the veteran coach. Sure, every organization had a few guys who liked to get to the clubhouse early, and he’d welcome any company to join him for a cup. But there was no one who would ask him for anything. He wouldn’t be approached by a player who wanted to run his famous infield drills or have a serious discussion about something or, hell, get ready on the field at all. No one did any of that before 7:30 a.m.
Except for Austin Riley.
