It's frustrating to be an Indians fan. I think Manny Acta is a good manager
There goes my respect for you.
Seriously, I don't know what his disposition is like in Cleveland, but in Washington, he didn't support his players at all and they quit on him. Sometimes it's hard to get a sense of that as a fan, when you're not in the clubhouse or anything, but it was clear as day during Acta's time here.
He just never went out to argue calls that were really egregious (and the Nats used to get hosed all the time when they were horrible because umps didn't respect them), and his answer to everything was to glowingly praise players on the other side.
There was one moment that really summed up his tenure - Adam Dunn hit a home run at Citi Field in early 2009 that grazed the part of their OF wall that was considered home run territory. It was called a non-home run by the umpires. Adam Dunn got ejected because he had to stand there and argue with the umpire for himself, seeing as how Acta wouldn't even bother coming out of the dugout or saying anything to any of the umps.
Jim Riggleman - Jim freaking Riggleman! - was .150 percentage points better as a manager with the same team (took over in July of '09). And Riggleman isn't even a good manager!
