WASHINGTON -- No matter what you think of Manny Acta as a manager – and the thinking here is that like most other managers in baseball, he can be very successful with the right talent – it's clear that the Washington Nationals desperately need a fresh start.Why choose Jim Riggleman to replace Acta?
Certainly it can't be his resumé. Riggleman was Acta's bench coach, so he doesn't represent fresh blood, in fact he was directly complicit in getting the Nationals to this point, to this 26-61 record. Before that, he was an interim manager in Seattle in 2008 and had two managerial stints in the '90s, first with the Padres, second with Cubs. Even counting partial seasons, he's only been a winner once (with Chicago in 1998).
So why? Roughly the same reason any other team fires its manager in the middle of the season – to shake things up.
Acta was known as a player's manager and Riggleman is often characterized as a fiery motivator. The Nationals have made a point organizationally of stressing character and accountability. That's why Lastings Milledge is in another organization and Elijah Dukes is in Triple-A.
And, as Riggleman was introduced to the media Wednesday at Nationals Park, it seemed to be the main reason why he now has the reins of the worst team in baseball.
"I think I'm easy in the sense that if players aren't playing well I understand that," Riggleman said explaining his disposition. "But if they're not playing hard, that irks me. If they're not respectful of the game and respectful of the uniform and the fans and organization, then there's a problem."
Accountability. Message. Attitude.
"Like I've said, I've got no problem if a player misses a ball, but if they don't chase after it hard, then I've got a problem," Riggleman said. "Just give me good effort and there won't be any."
The Nationals are not going to magically turn into a good baseball team overnight, and it is not Acta's fault that they were this bad, but it sounds like whoever is calling the shots in Washington's tangled front office web was not only unhappy with the construction of the team, but also displeased with way the club was carrying itself.
For one day at least, the move seemed to have the intended jarring effect.
While most other teams around baseball were enjoying the last day of the All-Star break, the Nationals participated in a workout, which was ironically scheduled by Acta. The workout was preceded by a closed-clubhouse meeting that lasted nearly an hour.
"You kinda look at yourself as a player [when the manager is fired]," Washington left fielder Josh Willingham said. "When you're 26-61 some things have got to change.
"Jim and Manny have completely different personalities," he added, careful to point out that it's far too early to tell how he'll be as a manager. "As the bench coach, he was not best friends with anybody in here. That wasn't his job. ... We have a pretty good relationship, but I'm not gonna call him when I get home tonight."
A change in attitude can only accomplish so much, though. In between warnings about how "losing should hurt," Riggleman admitted as much, invoking Billy Martin, who famously explained that a manager's job is to lose as few games as possible for his team during the course of the season.
In other words, don't get in the way of the talent, which, of course, is the rub.
You don't have a sub-.300 winning percentage in mid-July without serious talent deficiencies.
"For what our record is, the fans have been tremendous. The media has been tremendous. If this was Boston or New York or Philadelphia, it'd get ugly," Riggleman said.
Hey, the optimism and kind words are cute, and it's a nice story for Riggleman, a Rockville, Md., native, to land a job in what basically amounts to his hometown. Unfortunately, the only reason it hasn't gotten ugly on Half Street is because any goodwill the Nationals had when they arrived is all used up, the void filled by the apathy and indifference of most potential baseball fans in Washington.
It's bewildering and frustrating that that has become the case midway through the fifth season of baseball's return to the nation's capital. It has gotten so bad that the team apologized in a letter to fans recently and Barack Obama noted on national television during the All-Star Game that the team's fans, unlike almost everywhere else in the majors, didn't have much reason for hope.
Change for the sake of change might shake a bad team out of a daze in the short-term, but it won't boost the attendance sheet. The only cure for irrelevancy in a town dominated by the Redskins is winning, and there isn't a manager on the face of the earth that can produce that kind of sustained success with this bunch.
"The work that Manny has put in here ... is as thorough and complete as you can do," Riggleman said of his predecessor. "I know really good days are ahead for Manny."
What about for the Nationals?
