Atlanta Braves third base coach Ron Washington has spent nearly 40 years in professional baseball as a player and coach. And there are few personalities within baseball circles that are more respected and liked than Washington.
He showed everyone why ahead of the MLB All-Star Game this week.
In case you haven’t followed, the Braves and Mets are in a heated race for the NL East title. The Mets once led the Braves by 10.5 games only to see Atlanta cut it down to 2.5 games at the break. Some coaches would keep that in mind when it comes to All-Star Game duties and avoid giving a rival any tools to improve. But that’s not how Ron Washington operates. He was in Los Angeles to do a job, and that job included helping Mets star Pete Alonso.
Beauty of the #AllStarGame… when the opposing team infielders coach gives you private lessons… pic.twitter.com/qWtR6YbybO
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) July 19, 2022
ESPN’s Marly Rivera shared pregame video that showed Washington coaching Alonso through picks at first base. It didn’t matter that Alonso plays for the Mets. On this day, Alonso was his player, and he saw an opportunity to help the Mets first baseman better himself defensively. Great on Alonso too for the willingness to learn from another team’s coach.
This cool moment didn’t end up on the broadcast, but MLB fans appreciated it on Twitter.