Angels' Ron Washington: 'I've Never Been a Failure in My Damn Life' amid 28-42 Record

The Los Angeles Angels are one of the American League's worst teams, but manager Ron Washington is determined to turn things around.

"I ain't no damn failure," Washington told Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "I've never been a failure in my damn life. I might be failing, but I ain't no failure. There's a difference.

"I'm going to do what it takes to not fail. I'm not going to let it just keep happening to me and say I'm a failure. [Expletive] that. I'm going to do what I have to do to come out of it. Sometimes you can snap out of it, and sometimes it can take a minute."

The Angels are 28-42 heading into Sunday's game against the San Francisco Giants. Washington took the Angels job in November knowing it was going to be a long process returning the franchise to contention, but he said the 10-year gap between managerial jobs was too much for him to pass on the rebuild.

"People kept saying how bad the Angels are, and why would you want to go there?" Washington said. "Come on, it's a big-league job. There are only 30 of these [expletives]. I waited 10 damn years to get back.

"I told everyone, I wasn't going there because of what they've done in the past. I'm going there to create what they're going to do in the future. I'm telling you, I'm going to turn this [expletive] around. I wouldn't have taken this job if I didn't believe I could make a difference."

The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014, which coincidentally was Washington's last year as manager of the Texas Rangers. Over the subsequent decade, Angels management bungled having two generational superstars in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the same team, surrounding them with bust prospects and disappointing free-agent signings.

Ohtani left for a megadeal with the crosstown Dodgers during the offseason, and Trout has only appeared in 29 games this season due to injury. That's left Washington on an island dealing with a largely underwhelming roster, which currently has the third-worst record in the American League.

It's clearly going to be a long road for Washington in turning things around, but the 72-year-old appears to have all the energy and determination in the world.