Rangers' Ron Washington Tested Positive For Cocaine, Players Rally Around Him

Ron Washington has had an honest week. A day after addressing his team and holding a press conference to acknowledge his use of cocaine in 2009, he has admitted that he used other substances back when he was a player.

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- A day after apologizing for using cocaine last season, Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said that he used amphetamines and marijuana during his playing career.

Ron Washington was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals in 1970 and made his final Major League appearance in 1989. His professional playing career spanned two decades, and not only two decades - perhaps the two decades during which drug use among baseball players ran most rampant. It is not a surprise, then, that Washington partook, nor does his admission necessarily cast him in a worse light than anybody else who played during the era. In the end, the fact that Washington smoked weed a few times in the minors and used greenies in the bigs doesn't really mean anything at all, as that was just part of the culture.

The timing here, though, is what's most interesting, and one imagines that Washington feels like the more he comes clean about, the more willing people will be to take him at his word about the cocaine story. Depending on how this plays out, we'll see if honesty really is the best policy, but right now, I'm thinking the odds favor Ron.

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington has admitted to using cocaine after reports surfaced that he had failed a drug test. Now, the guys counting on Washington are rallying around their coach to support him.

“I’ve got his back,‘’ Young told the group, according to sources. "Anybody who doesn’t feel that way isn’t a Texas Ranger.’’

“I was an addict,‘’ said [Josh] Hamilton, who had a relapse involving alcohol use 15 months ago. "All I cared about was getting more and using more drugs. I didn’t care who I hurt.

“He made a mistake one time. Our stories are nothing alike. He came forward. He took it like a man. I think Wash handled it well. It’s a privilege to be a spokesman for him. I feel nothing less about Wash. He’s learned from this.’’

Ron Washington issued a statement today after the news broke that he tested positive for cocaine last year:

Here’s the biggest question: how and why did this happen?

That’s a question I have had to face in numerous sessions with counselors. I’ve learned a lot about myself personally, and I recognize that this episode was an attempt to dodge personal anxieties and personal issues I needed to confront.

That was the wrong way to do it. It was self-serving, and believe me, not worth it. I know you will ask, and so here’s the answer: this was the one and only time I used this drug.

I made a huge mistake, and it almost caused me to lose everything I have worked for all of my life.

Washington said as soon he heard he would be drug tested, he notified the league and Rangers ownership about his drug use. Washington offered his resignation, but Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan decided to keep him as manager of the Rangers.

Washington also entered MLB's drug treatment program last year:

However, they also directed me to immediately begin MLB’s drug treatment program, which is a thorough and exhaustive process, and it includes the administration of drug tests at least three times a week.

I am proud to report to you that I have completed that program.