Manny Acta Fired

[Travis40]

Manny Acta has been fired as manager of the Washington Nationals, he told ESPNdeportes.com's Enrique Rojas on Sunday.
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The Nationals were blanked by the Houston Astros on Sunday 5-0 to go into the All-Star break with the worst record in the league at 26-61.
"I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I'm sorry that things didn't work out as expected. It's normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well," Acta said.
Although not confirmed, Jim Riggleman is the leading candidate to take over as manager for the remainder of the season.
In three seasons at the Washington helm, Acta posted a 158-252 record. His best season came in his first when the Nats finished 73-89, but they slid to 59-102 last year. Washington was on pace to win only 48 games this season.
Before getting the Nationals job, Acta was the third base coach for the New York Mets.<!-- end story body -->

I got this from ESPN's site.

[SPTO]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

I'm sure Ewing will be dancing in the streets when he hears this

Frankly, i'm surprised it took them this long to can this guy. The Nats need a guy who's been around but not super old school like Frank Robinson was.

[Lintyfresh85]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

Tears of joy from me.

All I need now is for Eric Wedge to go next... and I'll be a happy camper.

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

What the freak took so long???????

The team is on pace to lose 115 games. I mean, when you come into the year expected to be the worst in the majors, & you underachieve??!?!?? The guy was not just a failure, but a tool as well. Why did they keep him past May?

[Ewing]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

I'm sure Ewing will be dancing in the streets when he hears this

Frankly, i'm surprised it took them this long to can this guy. The Nats need a guy who's been around but not super old school like Frank Robinson was.

Let's be logical for a minute. It's not his fault the team's minor league system was gutted in the last few years in Montreal or that Jim Bowden was a complete idiot.

All that said, I personally really like the guy, but I'm okay with the change as long as it leads to a decent hire in the offseason. I'm not a fan of Riggleman and I don't want the guy as a permanent manager.

[tyler289]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

Finally!!

The only problem is the team is apparently naming Riggleman the manager. They need a NEW voice in the locker room to kick em in the butt. Hopefully this leads to more moves.


Manny Acta would be a GREAT minor league manager. His "well, we played hard, and are improving" deal after every loss would be great for the minors, as well as his demeanor.

[N51_rob]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

I'm an O's fan but living in the area I follow the Nats. While it may have been time for a change. Acta isn't to blame here. Baseballs return to DC has been a failure to this point. You look at the team on the field, the minor leagues and the empty stadium. $300+ to sit behind home plate to watch that team? It's a joke. Especially when the same seats at Camden Yards are $80. Nats Park is nice but they were suppose to turn the surrounding area into like a waterfront place with trendy business and bars to attract fans that hasn't happened yet if ever.

I think that firing Acta at this point is just a move to go after a bigger name in the off-season, but the team stinks. No established ace,(Lannan by default I guess.) Adam Dunn either hits a homerun or looks silly chasing a curve in the dirt.

I'm not even mentioning the fact that Ewing is right about Jim Bowden being a terrible, terrible GM, that right there should've bought Acta another season, but if his message has gone stale then you really can't argue the change.

[Ewing]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

I'm an O's fan but living in the area I follow the Nats. While it may have been time for a change. Acta isn't to blame here. Baseballs return to DC has been a failure to this point. You look at the team on the field, the minor leagues and the empty stadium. $300+ to sit behind home plate to watch that team? It's a joke. Especially when the same seats at Camden Yards are $80. Nats Park is nice but they were suppose to turn the surrounding area into like a waterfront place with trendy business and bars to attract fans that hasn't happened yet if ever.

You have some nerve. Just because I can have a conversation without raising my voice with everyone else (all twelve of us) in the ballpark, doesn't make the stadium empty.

[tyler289]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

I'm an O's fan but living in the area I follow the Nats. While it may have been time for a change. Acta isn't to blame here. Baseballs return to DC has been a failure to this point. You look at the team on the field, the minor leagues and the empty stadium. $300+ to sit behind home plate to watch that team? It's a joke. Especially when the same seats at Camden Yards are $80. Nats Park is nice but they were suppose to turn the surrounding area into like a waterfront place with trendy business and bars to attract fans that hasn't happened yet if ever.

Is it the Nationals fault that the economy went into the crapper and businesses aren't exactly gung-ho about building new chains right now?

If anything, the Nats are trying really hard to make it fun, despite the economy. The put the "Bullpen" outside, and some parts of the area ARE developing.

What did you expect, 20 new restaurants in one year?
It took YEARS for Gallery Place to become the nice area that it is today. It used to be a crappy area with an arena there. Now it's hopping with restaurants and hotels. I expect Half Street to be the same, once the economy picks up.

[Ewing]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

http://firejimbowden.blogspot.com/2009/07/who-fired-manny-who-hires-his.html

Really good article on the firing, Manny Acta and the current state of affairs.

[tyler289]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

http://firejimbowden.blogspot.com/20...hires-his.html

Really good article on the firing, Manny Acta and the current state of affairs.

It's certainly true that Bowden deserves a lot of the blame for poor roster management. Especially last year. But this year?

Top to bottom, this team is more talented than last year. By far. Yet we are much worse. Dunn + Willingham + healthy Nick + better Zimmerman = solid lineup. Problem is nobody can drive in any runs. Pitching-wise, the bullpen blows, but the starters - all Bowden draftees or trade acquisitions - have been decent since they gut god-awful Cabrera. The biggest issue, in my eyes, is that the pitching has never synced with the hitting, and Manny hasn't adjusted his lineup when opposing teams adjust to his (remember early on when our offense was top-3 in the NL?).

Like I said in my previous post, great minor league manager, maybe a good major league one in the future, but his time here was up.

[N51_rob]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

Is it the Nationals fault that the economy went into the crapper and businesses aren't exactly gung-ho about building new chains right now?

If anything, the Nats are trying really hard to make it fun, despite the economy. The put the "Bullpen" outside, and some parts of the area ARE developing.

What did you expect, 20 new restaurants in one year?
It took YEARS for Gallery Place to become the nice area that it is today. It used to be a crappy area with an arena there. Now it's hopping with restaurants and hotels. I expect Half Street to be the same, once the economy picks up.

No, I don't expect 20 in one year. I understand the impact of the economy. That is why I said to this point baseball in DC has been a failure. Problem is that even if they get Half street going, what is going to draw people to the actual park? I've been an O's fan as long as I can remember. People are not going to pay to watch bad baseball. (Unless the yanks or sox are visiting.) Hell the O's have a promotion just about everyday at the yard and are still doing terrible attendance numbers. I was at Adam Jones Bobble head day first 25,000 fans got one, I got 5 and they were still giving them out into the 6th inning as people filed in final Attendance numbers were 31,000.

I want the Nats to do well. I consider this area a great sports area. I can go watch the a team from every major sport all within a 40 mile radius. AL/NL baseball, NFC/AFC football, NHL, NBA, ACC Football/Basketball, MLS (minor sport I know). I just know that this far the Nats are struggling to bring to the area all they said they could.

[Coug00]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

http://firejimbowden.blogspot.com/20...hires-his.html

Really good article on the firing, Manny Acta and the current state of affairs.

2nd to last in K/9
Last in BB/9
Last in Fielding

That's not a good recipe for success and its hard to see where that is Acta's fault. No one could succeed there.

[pfunk880]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

I'm an O's fan but living in the area I follow the Nats. While it may have been time for a change. Acta isn't to blame here. Baseballs return to DC has been a failure to this point. You look at the team on the field, the minor leagues and the empty stadium. $300+ to sit behind home plate to watch that team? It's a joke. Especially when the same seats at Camden Yards are $80. Nats Park is nice but they were suppose to turn the surrounding area into like a waterfront place with trendy business and bars to attract fans that hasn't happened yet if ever.

I think that firing Acta at this point is just a move to go after a bigger name in the off-season, but the team stinks. No established ace,(Lannan by default I guess.) Adam Dunn either hits a homerun or looks silly chasing a curve in the dirt.

I'm not even mentioning the fact that Ewing is right about Jim Bowden being a terrible, terrible GM, that right there should've bought Acta another season, but if his message has gone stale then you really can't argue the change.

I'd agree with pretty much all of those pointse, aside from the oversimplification of Adam Dunn.

[wwharton]

Re: Manny Acta Fired

Is it the Nationals fault that the economy went into the crapper and businesses aren't exactly gung-ho about building new chains right now?

If anything, the Nats are trying really hard to make it fun, despite the economy. The put the "Bullpen" outside, and some parts of the area ARE developing.

What did you expect, 20 new restaurants in one year?
It took YEARS for Gallery Place to become the nice area that it is today. It used to be a crappy area with an arena there. Now it's hopping with restaurants and hotels. I expect Half Street to be the same, once the economy picks up.

I personally wouldn't expect to have to pay $300 for a ticket ANYWHERE in a park with nothing going on around it and barely anything going on IN it by the home team. If we're going to point at the economy then lets also point out this blatant act of ignoring it. This is essentially a new team in a new city (still) that sucks. It's not the Redskins and certainly not the Yankees (and DC is not NY).

The truth is Acta didn't have a chance, just like all of the managers before him. It's kind of irrelevant whether or not he was the right man for the job when the team got up to speed... though I agree he wasn't so no big deal. I'm also an O's fan that would like to see the Nats do well, and would also like an excuse to want to check out Nats games. Outside of the ticket prices, I don't think there's much that can be done different but there's no denying that it's been a failure to this point.