Weekly Feature: Hidden Gems

Today's Hidden Gem: Manny Acta

I attended a luncheon today sponsored by The Press Club of Cleveland and The Cleveland Indians where new Cleveland Indians' manager, Manny Acta, spoke and then fielded questions from the audience.

Stealing a line from a very famous movie, he "had me at hello!"

Today's event was the final leg of the Cleveland Indians' Press Tour Caravan, which has been going on all week.

During these caravans, players, management, broadcasters, and other staffers hop on buses and criss-cross Ohio and Pennsylvania meeting and greeting fans and trying to reel them in for the season ahead.

I was not kidding. When Mr. Acta began speaking, he had me. Within minutes, the audience witnessed what a savvy baseball man the Indians hired. You could say he is a student and teacher of the game of baseball. Acta combines his charisma, honesty, and humor making him a great speaker who wows a crowd.

He prefaced his speech by saying he knows the stats from his last gig are not the greatest for a resume but he looks forward to coming to the Indians because they have much talent already. They are not starting from ground zero. Acta said the Indians already have most pieces in place and he's excited at the prospects currently in the Indians' minor league system. He also brought the audience to laughter by saying if this job does not work out, he'll be handling paper and plastic at WalMart.

Acta said, 'Give these guys a chance and stay behind us. Good things are coming to Cleveland.' Acta refuses to be a realist and expects nothing less than the best. He promised to the sell out luncheon crowd, 'we're going to give everything we have.'

Acta said the top three questions commonly asked during the press caravan were:

• Will there be a set line-up this year?


• Where will Grady bat? Ever bat 3rd in the line-up?


• Will he use the word grind?

In regards to the line-up, Acta first gave high praise to former manager Eric Wedge. He said Wedge had many injuries which is why he had to mix up the line-up on a regular basis. However he did go on to say he really would like to have a set line-up day in, day out.

As to Grady's role --he will continue being the Indians' lead-off hitter and may gradually, as let's say Brantley gets more experience, move to the meat of the order.

And he really never touched on whether or not he will use the 'wedge-ism' --GRIND!!!

At the end of his speech, Acta left the audience feeling hopeful for the 201o season as he said, "I'm not here to compete, I'm here to win!"

I expanded on the Manny Acta luncheon on wkyc.com. To read that story, CLICK HERE!

I believe Manny Acta is the right fit for the 2010 Cleveland Indians. As Spring Training progresses and the Season opens, I hope you too will see why Manny Acta is this week's Hidden Gem!