I'll Always Remember UL Washington For His Toothpick

UL Washington, who played the bulk of his 11-year big league career with the Kansas City Royals, passed away yesterday of cancer. He was 70.

A native of Oklahoma, Washington took an unusual path to the big leagues via the Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy. The team established the academy to recruit the best high school and college athletes regardless of whether or not they played baseball. When he made his big-league debut late in the 1977 season, Washington was one of three members of the Royals Academy to make the major leagues along with his double play partner Frank White and current Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington (no relation).

After shuttling back and forth between second base and shortstop in 1978 and 1979, Washington became the Royals' everyday shortstop in 1980 after Freddie Patek departed via free agency to the California Angels. That season the Royals earned their first AL pennant falling short in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Washington went 6 for 22 during the 1980 World Series for a respectable .273 batting average knocking in 2 runs. 

His best overall season came in 1982 when he hit .286 with 10 HR, 60 RBI along with 23 stolen bases. The following year, Washington stole a career high 40 bases. However, by 1984, Washington was losing playing time to Onix Concepcion. Washington was not part of the 1985 World Series champion Royals having spent that year as a utility player for the Montreal Expos. His last two seasons in MLB were with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 907 career games, Washington collected 703 hits for a lifetime batting average of .251 with 27 HR, 255 RBI and 132 stolen bases. 

In 1989 and 1990, Washington would play in the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball League. During this same period, Washington also managed in the Pirates organization He would then spend the next quarter century working as hitting/infield instructor for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox at the minor league level. During his decade plus long association with the Red Sox, Washington most notably helped a young Mookie Betts while he was toiling with their Single-A affiliate in Greenville, South Carolina in 2013. Five years later, Betts would earn the AL MVP and a World Series ring. 

However, for all of his accomplishments, Washington is best remembered for playing with a toothpick in his mouth. While Washington preferred to be remembered for his playing, a toothpick does kind of make one stand out from the crowd. There are far worse things for which one can be remembered. R.I.P.