Signed originally by Kansas City, the New Orleans native debuted with the Dodgers in 1977 for ten games. Washington resurfaced with the Twins in 1981 and stayed there for six seasons. He played for the Orioles and Indians before arriving in Houston during the 1989 season for his final seven games in the bigs where he went 1-for-7.

For his ten seasons in the majors, he hit .261 with 20 homers and 28 steals. Washington stayed in baseball as a coach and was named the manager of the Texas Rangers in 2007. He currently still holds that position.