Ron Washington has had an interesting career. He and I (Evander) are less than a year apart. There are few African American managers in the history of Major League Baseball, and their successes, for a variety of factors, are spotty. Washington, a journeyman infielder during his major-league-playing days, which began with a cup of coffee with the National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977, has worked his way up the coaching ladder to the pinnacle. It has not been easy. Washington has admitted to using cocaine: not a complete shock for a baseball (or any) member of his generation. He publicly feuded with Mark Teixeira before trading Teixeira to the Atlanta Braves. (Of course, MT ultimately landed with the Yankees.) Last season, Washington and his Rangers got to the World Series only to be outplayed by the San Francisco Giants. Now, the 2011 Rangers have taken an important one-to-nothing lead over Justin Verlander, the aspirin-tablet-throwing best pitcher in baseball, and the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. Things for Mr. Washington promise to be quite (here comes that word again) interesting.