Manny Acta

Template:Infobox MLB retired Manuel Elias Acta (born January 11, 1969 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is the current manager of the Washington Nationals in Major League Baseball. In the Dominican Winter League, he managed the Tigres del Licey from 2002–2004, including leading them to victory at the 2003 Caribbean Series. Acta managed the Dominican Republic team at the World Baseball Classic.

Baseball career

Minor Leagues

Acta was signed into the Houston Astros at age 17 as a middle infielder. He was sent into Double-A as a backup infielder and a third baseman at age 20. Acta played baseball professionally for six seasons, all in the Houston Astros system, but he never reached the major leagues as a player. The Astros organization would eventually send him to scouting school in Florida to utilize his analytical skills rather than his athletic talent.

In 1991, Acta became a player-coach at the A level, and soon after that he quit his playing career and focused solely on coaching. He became the manager of an A-level team in 1993, and he managed in the minors through 2000. He led the Kissimmee Cobras to a Florida State League championship in 1999.

Major leagues

Acta was hired as the third base coach for the Montreal Expos under Frank Robinson in 2002, and held that position through 2005. After failed interviews for managerial positions with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, Acta was hired as the third base coach for the New York Mets under Willie Randolph.

Washington Nationals Manager

After holding this position for two years, Acta was hired on November 14, 2006 as the manager of the Washington Nationals – the former Expos who had relocated after the 2004 season – who had given Acta his first major league job. Acta received the job for his youth (he is the youngest active manager) and enthusiasm, as well as knowing a few of the Nationals players from his third base coaching job with the Expos. In his first season with the Nationals, Acta has done a credible job managing the team that was projected to be one of the worst teams in major league baseball. He is one of the few managers who is aware of and employs sabermetric ideas and concepts, similar to those used by A's GM Billy Beane and Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. Beset by many injuries, Acta has kept up a positive influence on his young Nationals team. The team management has committed to more payroll in 2008 as the Nationals enter Nationals Park and with Acta at the managerial helm the team should show steady improvement. In his first year with the Nationals he earned votes for NL Manager of the Year, coming in sixth in that contest .

The fatal plane crash on October 11, 2006, that killed New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his pilot crashed into Acta's apartment building in New York while he was still coaching for the Mets. Acta wasn't there at the time because he had gone to Shea Stadium to prepare for that night's Game 1 of the NLCS between his Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals. The game would end up being rained out.

Managerial record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
Dominican Republic	2006	7	5	2	.714	4th	-	-	-	-
WAS	2007	162	73	89	.451	4th in NL East	-	-	-	-
WAS	2008	161	59	102	.366	5th in NL East	-	-	-	-	MLB Total		323	132	191	.409		-	-	-	-
Int. Total		7	5	2	.714		-	-	-	-
Total		169	78	91	.462		-	-	-	-

See also

• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2007
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2008

References

• Manny Acta profile provided by mwlguide.com
• Column by Tim Brown provided by Yahoo! Sports

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