Major League Baseball

Washington: WS loss won't hurt Rangers

Published Nov. 18, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Like most Texas Rangers fans, manager Ron Washington has asked himself ''What if?'' since coming so close to winning the World Series.

But Washington says playing in the World Series two years in a row can never become a negative. He says the bad ending won't send the Rangers spiraling down.

Washington was at Rangers Ballpark on Friday, three weeks after the Game 7 loss in St. Louis. Texas was twice within one strike of clinching the title in Game 6 before losing.

The clubhouse speech Washington made before Game 7 was secretly recorded and released on a website. The six-minute profanity-filled recording included the manager encouraging and laughing with his players.

Washington says people got a chance to see behind closed doors. He says the speech was all positive.