'Preach and Teach'

As the Nationals have suffered countless injuries -- beginning with center fielder Nook Logan and shortstop Cristian Guzman on Opening Day, followed by four-fifths of the starting rotation at some point in the first half -- there have been countless opportunities for "Why me" moments. But as Acta said last week, when starter Micah Bowie went down with another injury, "We got to move on."

"His calm and patience is one thing that's surprised me," said Tolman, who was the manager at Class A Burlington (Iowa) when Acta was a player-coach in 1991. "I think when you're a young manager coming up, you have ideas that, 'I'm going to be patient with the guys instead of fighting back.' And then once the reality starts hitting you in the face, like with some of the injury problems we've had, your natural reaction is to fly off the handle. But somehow he's kept his poise."

As the Nationals began the season 1-8, as they went through an eight-game losing streak to start the month of May, Acta insisted the losses rolled off his back. "Preach and teach," he said time and again.

The reality of that slogan has sunk in for Acta as the Nationals stumbled to the all-star break. Because so many of his players -- including projected star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman -- have so much to learn at the big league level, he finds himself having conversations about situations and plays that he used to have with his players in the minor leagues. Yet he does not use the word "frustrating."

"Not in my vocabulary," he said. The helpless feeling after the massacre at Virginia Tech? That's frustrating, Acta said. The problems for New Orleans residents in the years after Hurricane Katrina? That's frustrating. Baseball is not frustrating.

Even that Saturday night nearly two weeks ago, when Acta walked into the visitors' clubhouse at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. His club had lost for the sixth straight time, looked listless doing it. The door stayed shut, and Acta spoke. "Don't feel sorry for yourselves," he said.

"At the beginning of the season, he had a statement of what he thought was right, what he wants done," Tolman said. "He wants us to stick with that no matter what we go through. Anything that varies from that, we have to stop and nip in the bud."

In doing so, players and coaches said, Acta showed his external calm should not be seen as a lack of fire. Saying, as he does so often, "Let's go get them tomorrow" isn't idle chatter, but rather a testament of his intentions.

"One of the things Manny does best is just being positive, trying to keep that attitude that you're going to win," right fielder Austin Kearns said. "It's easy to fall into. I've seen it happen. You see guys come to the park and say, 'Oh well, you're supposed to lose anyway.' You got to be better than that, and he reminds us of that."

He does so because he expects to be in his position when the club is in first place, not last, when "preach and teach" has been replaced by something called "Nationals Baseball," a textbook of winning ways. When Acta interviewed for the job, Kasten was ecstatic over how enthusiastically he embraced the club's plan to rebuild. Now, in the midst of a losing season, he is perhaps more ecstatic that Acta's performance in the interview was genuine.

"He wasn't putting on an act for an interview," Kasten said. "He comes to the park expecting to win -- and expecting guys to expect to win. I love that he's not only on the bandwagon for our long-term vision. He's the leader."