U. L. Washington (October 27, 1953 – March 3, 2024) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1977 to 1987 for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. Washington played mostly as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

during his career, and was well known for having a toothpick in the corner of his mouth while on the field and at the plate.

Early life

Washington was born in Stringtown, Oklahoma, as one of 11 children born to Ora Lee and George Washington Jr. The ''U'' and ''L'' are Washington's legal given name and were not initials of other names. Washington attended Stringtown High School, graduating in 1971. He attended the nearby

Murray State College Murray State College is a public community college in southcentral Oklahoma with the main campus located in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. It is named in honor of former Oklahoma Governor William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray. Murray State College also mai ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Murray State Aggies for one year.

Playing career

Kansas City Royals

After one year at Murray State, Washington was admitted into the Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy after his older brother, James, convinced Lou Gorman, the Royals'

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, to give U. L. a tryout. Washington is one of only three MLB players, along with

Ron Washington Ronald Washington (born April 29, 1952) is an American professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager, Coach (baseball), coach, and former infielder. Since November 2023, Washington has been the manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Major Leagu ...

(no relation) and Frank White, to have been products of the Royals Academy. Washington played for the Royals from 1977 through 1984. His best offensive season was 1982, when he batted .286 with 10 home runs and 60 RBIs – all career highs. Washington was on first base and scored on

George Brett George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, designated hitter, and first baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hit ( ...

's "pine tar" home run in 1983. In his eight seasons with the Royals, Washington hit .254 with 26 home runs and 228 RBIs. He was in four postseason series with the Royals — the 1980 ALCS,

1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Amer ...

, 1981 ALDS, and 1984 ALCS — batting 12-for-43 (.279) overall.

Montreal Expos

In January 1985, the Royals traded Washington to the

for Mike Kinnunen and minor leaguer Ken Baker. He played in 68 games for the Expos as a

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player or utility man is a player who has the ability to play more than one position in the field and is primarily used as a substitute. The term super utility player may be used to refer to a player who can play all or mos ...

, batting .249 with one home run and 17 RBIs. In November 1985, he became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Pittsburgh Pirates

Washington signed with the

in April 1986. During his two seasons with the Pirates, he appeared in a total of 82 games, batting .207 with no home runs and ten RBIs, again in a utility infielder role. He was released by the Pirates in October 1987. "I won't go back to the minors, but I haven't said I've officially retired. If someone called and said they wanted me to play in the majors I'd go. I spent nine straight years in the majors, so going back to the minors was the toughest thing for me the past two years. At my age it got to where every time out, I was fighting pain off here or there anyway. I really admire the guys who play until they're 40," Washington said early in the 1988 season.

Senior League

Washington played for the Orlando Juice of the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

in 1989.

Post-playing career

In 1989, the

hired Washington as the manager of the Welland Pirates in the

New York-Penn League New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. Washington also coached and managed in the minor league organizations of the Royals (1991–98),

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

(1999),

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

(2001–02), and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(2003–14). Working for the Greenville Drive in 2013, Washington worked with

Mookie Betts Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder, shortstop, and second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox. ...

, helping him change his swing to become more of a

power hitter Power hitter is a term used in baseball for a skilled player that has a higher than average ability in terms of his Batting (baseball), batting, featuring a combination of dexterity and personal strength that likely leads to a high number of hom ...

. In 1992, while coaching the Memphis Chicks, Washington appeared in one game as a shortstop, going hitless in two at bats.

Personal life

Washington and his wife, Sandra, had two children. Washington died of cancer in

Atoka, Oklahoma Atoka is a city in and the county seat of Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,195 as of the 2020 Census, a 2.4% increase over the 3,107 reported at the 2010 census, which was itself an increase of 4.0 percent from th ...

, on March 3, 2024, at the age of 70.

References

External links

U. L. Washington baseball cards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, U. L. 1953 births 2024 deaths African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball managers African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Baseball coaches from Oklahoma Baseball players from Oklahoma Hawaii Islanders players Jacksonville Suns players Kansas City Royals players Kingsport Royals players Major League Baseball shortstops Memphis Chicks players Minor league baseball managers Murray State College alumni Junior college baseball players in the United States Montreal Expos players Omaha Royals players Orlando Juice players People from Atoka County, Oklahoma Pittsburgh Pirates players San Bernardino Pride players San Jose Bees players Tiburones de La Guaira players Vancouver Canadians players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma