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April 11, 2005

Prospectus Q&A

Manny Acta

by Carlos J. Lugo

Manny Acta didn't have a recognizable name, even to the most hard-core baseball fans. Acta was the third base and infield coach for the nomadic Montreal Expos for the last three years, and he probably received as much attention from the casual fan as his former team did. In the off-season Acta suddenly came into the spotlight when he was interviewed to fill the managerial vacancy of the Arizona Diamondbacks. More surprisingly, Acta’s first interview went so well that he was one of the three finalists for the job that was first given to Wally Backman, and then Bob Melvin after a well-publicized and embarrassing episode regarding Backman’s past.

Acta managed for three years in the Dominican Winter League: in his first year he made the playoffs managing the Estrellas, and he spent the last two seasons at the helm of the nation’s most popular and successful team, the Licey Tigers. Acta won the League’s championship and Caribbean World Series in his first year with the Tigers, and lost a seven game Final Series against the Cibao Eagles this past January.

We had the opportunity to sit with Manny, and asked him about the interview process for a managerial position, his background as a coach, the Montreal experience, his profile as a manager and his new team, the New York Mets.

Baseball Prospectus: Tell us a little bit about your background in baseball, such as where you played, what organization signed you, and the highest level you reached.

Manny Acta: I played little league and amateur baseball in the Dominican Republic for several years, and in 1986 I was signed by the Houston Astros organization by scouts Julio Linares, Ricardo Aponte and Domingo Mercedes. I started my pro career that year and played for around six years in the minor leagues. In 1991 the organization approached me and made me an offer to be a player-coach for one of the A-level teams, where most of the Hispanic players were assigned. I spoke English very well already by that time and they told me they needed a bilingual coach to work with those young players. That season I worked as a player-coach. The following year the Astros sent me to the MLB Scouting Bureau School to learn how to evaluate players. The first thing I did was to evaluate myself as a ballplayer, and quickly realized I didn't have the skills to play in the major leagues. Then I decided to focus my efforts on my new career as a coach. In '92 I coached at Asheville, NC, and in 1993 the Astros gave me the New York- Penn League team in Auburn to manage. That was my first managerial experience.

BP: After all those years with the Astros, how did you end up coaching third base with the Montreal Expos?