Nats' Acta Finds Valuable Assistance

VIERA, Fla., March 3 -- Manny Acta sat in a folding chair along the edge of the backstop Saturday afternoon at Space Coast Stadium, his team on the field before him. He has approached the task of managing the Washington Nationals with a mixture of confidence and humility. He is just 38, but he has managed in the minors and in winter ball.

"Baseball's baseball," he says, and he will conduct himself no differently now that he runs a big league club.

But to his left on Saturday sat a gray-haired sage of a baseball man who will be there all season. He doesn't say much. He will turn 67 later this month. He was fired in his only three stints as a major league manager. But there are some people within the Nationals organization who believe that whatever adjustments Acta must make will be easier because of Pat Corrales.

"I'm just here to help," Corrales said Saturday morning, casually munching on a bag of corn chips.

When Acta was born in 1969, Corrales was already well into his career as a catcher with the Cincinnati Reds, where he backed up Johnny Bench. By the time Acta's playing career fizzled out in the minors and he became a coach, Corrales had already managed the Texas Rangers for two years, the Philadelphia Phillies for a year and a half and the Cleveland Indians for parts of five seasons.

And as Acta came up through the minors and became a major league coach with the Montreal Expos in 2002, Corrales sat calmly on the bench of the Atlanta Braves, where he served as the alter ego to Manager Bobby Cox.

"You watch," Corrales said. "You ask. You find something out. You talk to young players, and they'll tell you. Players won't lie to you. And what I found out: This is a fine, fine baseball man."

Corrales sat at Acta's side as his bench coach during Saturday's 7-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles only because his tenure alongside Cox in Atlanta ran out at the end of last season. Seventeen years he spent there, including the entire run of 14 consecutive division titles. He and Cox played against each other in high school, Corrales in Fresno, Calif., Cox in nearby Selma. They managed against each other in the 1980s. And when Cox served as the general manager of the Braves in the late '80s, Corrales had just left a one-year stint coaching with the New York Yankees. He would join Cox to watch Braves games.

"Bobby had something in mind for Pat," said Nationals President Stan Kasten, who then served in the same capacity with the Braves. "You could tell he really valued his experience, his expertise."

So when Cox went into the dugout for the 1990 season, Corrales came with him. "It was a dream," Corrales said. The first nine seasons he was the first base coach, the last eight the bench coach.

"He's just one of those guys that when you first meet him, you cling to him right away," said Nationals reliever Ray King, who pitched for the Braves in 2003. "He gives you that aura. In Atlanta, you have Bobby Cox as your grandfather figure, and Pat was that favorite uncle."

Corrales, though, said he ended his own tenure with the Braves at the conclusion of last season. "I'd rather not get into it," he said, "but it had nothing to do with Bobby, and it had nothing to do with [General Manager] John Schuerholz."

Yet he knew, even at 66, he would come back to some team, in some capacity. "I love what I do," he said.

When Acta was hired last November, General Manager Jim Bowden said it was essential to provide the majors' youngest manager with an experienced bench coach. In his first meeting with Kasten, Acta suggested Corrales.

"I was surprised," Kasten said. "Not only is it a quality hire -- you can't do better than that -- but it shows a terrific maturity about the job and understanding of what would be useful on Manny's part. There was no threat, no intimidation."

During the season, Corrales will be in charge of defensive positioning, and be responsible for keeping Acta ahead of the game. In the clubhouse, he'll quietly make his presence felt, too, meeting with players one-on-one, "which makes you feel comfortable," King said.

"He's so wise," said first baseman-catcher Robert Fick, another former Brave. "As a player, you respect everything about him, and it's not like he comes in saying: 'I know this. I was an Atlanta Brave.' You're just kind of looking at him like: 'Tell me more. Tell me more.' "

Nearly two decades have passed since Corrales joined the Atlanta staff. Now, he said, he has a similar feeling.

"They have a nice base here," he said. "You add here, you add there, and suddenly, you're right in the thick of it. Hopefully, I can help somehow, some way."