Acta announced as acting Indians manager

October 25, 4:42 PMCleveland Indians ExaminerMarcus Barkley

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Sunday, the Indians announced that Bobby Valentine- will not be the manager of the Indians in 2010.
Tony Dejak

When the Cleveland Indians finish their long winter's nap (with the additional fall forty winks for good measure), the team will have a new manager to come back to.

Sunday afternoon, the Indians front office officially announced the hiring of Manny Acta, who will become the 40th Tribe manager in the team's 108 year history.

Acta will be looking to fill the shoes of departed former skipper Eric Wedge- though the shoes won't be that deep in the eyes of many fans. Though Wedge ended his tenure in Cleveland with a near .500 record (561-573), most fans were not distressed to see him go after leading the Indians for the last seven years, which included a the World Series birth that got away in 2007, a moment that propelled many die-hard Tribe fanatics to their indignancy towards the former Indians leader.

Acta will likely bring in a very different style than Wedge, who was often known for his seemingly lifeless dugout demeanor. Acta is fiery and reminds many of Ozzie Guillen in Chicago, who exudes the kind of passion that many fans felt was lacking from the Wedge regime.

In his managerial career, Acta had a seemingly disparaging 158-252 mark, but that has to be put in perspective considering that the Washington Nationals, since coming into existence in 2005, have a total win-loss record of 343-466, with the best season coming in their expansion season in 2005, when the team broke even at 81-81.

Before heading the Nationals for two seasons, Acta was a third base coach for the Montreal Expos (who are now the Nationals) and for the New York Mets. Acta had a short stint in professional baseball and was drafted by the Houston Astros as a first baseman at just 17, but never made it out of the minors.

So, with a new manager in place and a team brewing with young talent that needs guidance and something to fight for, all the fans of the Cleveland Indians have to do now- is wait 162 days for the season to start and possibly watch two former Cy Youngs who both won the award as Indians face off in Game 1 of the World Series- so there is truly nowhere to go but up. Oh...and root for the Angels, they don't have any notable former Indians on their team.