Ron Washington on Bunting Critics: "They can take the analytics on that and shove it up their [bleep][bleep]"

Ron Washington fanned the flames of baseball’s tiresome and continual battle between the analytics brigade and old-school baseball truthers with an utterly fantastic rant. The target? You guessed it: bunting, or specifically criticisms that Washington bunts too often.

During Rangers camp in Surprise, Ariz., the topic of the team’s situational hitting came up and it turned into a lengthy, profanity-sprinkled tirade by Washington defending the strategy. Here’s a taste of it from the Star-Telegraph’s Gil Lebreton:

"“I think if they try to do that, they’re going to be telling me how to [bleep] manage,” Washington said. “That’s the way I answer that [bleep] question. They can take the analytics on that and shove it up their [bleep][bleep].” Washington has heard all the moans and complaints about his bunting. “Mike Scioscia dropped 56 sacrifice bunts on his club, the most in the league, and he’s a genius,” Washington continued. “But Ron Washington dropped 53 and he’s bunting too miuch? You can take that analytics and shove it. “I do it when I feel it’s necessary, not when the analytics feel it’s necessary, not when you guys feel it’s necessary, and not when somebody else feels it’s necessary. It’s when Ron Washington feels it’s necessary. Bottom line.”"

There is so much goodness in these quotes it’s a shame the rant wasn’t recorded. We’ve got swear words. We’ve got the decidedly old-school term “shove it” coming up frequently. To top it off, Washington refers to himself in the third person and finishes the rant as if he’s Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope Washington maintains a sense of humor. The world needs to see Prince Fielder dropping down sac bunts on the reg.