Manny Acta embracing the analytical conversation
By Isabelle Minasian
You name it and, in the baseball world, Manny Acta has probably already done it. Really, the only major thing missing from Acta’s baseball resume is playing time at the big league level, but he’s more than made up for it, between his scout school graduation, time as an ESPN analyst, and more than a decade coaching and managing in the minor leagues.
His major league leadership experience is only growing – currently he’s the bench coach for the Seattle Mariners, but he has also served as a third base coach for the Montreal Expos and the New York Mets. He’s even been one of just 19 Latinos to manage an MLB team, managing the Washington Nationals from 2007-2009, and the Cleveland Indians from 2010-2012, and those stints certainly haven’t marked the end of his managerial aspirations.
Nailing a New Post
This offseason Acta reportedly “nailed” his interview to manage the Mets (though they ultimately went with former Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway), and this year he stepped in to manage the Mariners while Scott Servais attended his daughter’s graduation.
“Manny and I go way back,” Servais chuckled, when asked about his bench coach. “I’ve known [him] a long time. My first year in pro ball I got to AA and we were on a roadtrip, and Manny was my roommate. His English was far advanced compared to the other Latin players I’d been around at that point. At the end of my playing career Manny was already coaching, and he coached me.”
Their prior relationship allowed Servais to determine that Acta would be “a good fit” for the Mariners, but it was his diverse translation skills that made the Mariners so eager to hire him. Linguistically speaking, Acta was fluent in Spanish, a fact which Servais noted “is huge in our clubhouse,” and has often been called upon to serve as a translator for other Latin players. However, it’s his statistical translation abilities that have made him an invaluable resource for the organization.
Numbers Man
Acta’s interest in statistics began in 2005, when he was with the Mets. Early on in his career he “wasn’t exposed to a lot of [sabermetrics], but I met a bunch of kids, actually, who worked in the clubhouse that were into analytics, and they introduced me to it. They gave me a couple of gifts, baseball books like Moneyball and Mind Game, which are some of my favorite books now, and then everything started from there.”
When asked about his coaching style, Acta emphasizes communication, and the importance of “showing people that you’re just like them.” He believes the traditional “us” against “them” is an old mentality, and that it’s critical to “show [players] that you’re just like them. You can listen to the music that they listen to, you can dress just like they dress, and you can be yourself and allow them to be themselves.”
This open-minded, fair treatment of players has garnered him admiration and respect throughout baseball, but it was also key to Acta’s journey into analytics. In 2005 Moneyball was still a radical text, and sabermetrics rarely discussed beyond certain circles, but Acta “paid attention to [those kids], treated them right and they felt comfortable talking to me, so they broke the barrier and started talking to me about analytics.” The world of sabermetrics has grown rapidly since then, with the development of dozens of new statistics and means of assessing the game, but Acta has remained open-minded because, to him, “stats are facts, and I believe in facts.”
Unfortunately, though sabermetrics have become omnipresent within modern baseball, not all players or personnel are on board. Analytics can often be intimidating or seen as a way of taking fun away from the game, but this is where Acta’s translation skills really come into play.
“I don’t try to shove it down the players’ throat,” Acta said. “I try to convince them, in the best way possible. You make them part of the decision-making, even if you’re not going to do what they want you to do. You make them feel a part of it and explain it to them, whether it’s pitching, hitting, or defense.”
Keying in on Communication
Similar to his coaching strategy, Acta prioritizes communication, explaining that “a lot of people are afraid of the word ‘sabermetrics.’ Right away they hear that word and panic, but once you break it down for them, make it simple and don’t throw everything at them, just what they need to use, they’re more willing to try it.”
Acta believes that it is this lack of open-mindedness to analytics that has contributed to a limited number of Latinos in baseball leadership positions. “We need to embrace the new way that the game is looked at, because 30 front offices right now are analytically inclined, and the GMs are guys who weren’t necessarily players…I want the guys who embrace the new way of approaching baseball, because that’s the only way they’re going to get an opportunity to stay coaching and get up [to the majors] and make an impact.”
Featured Image: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport