Cleveland Indians fired manager Manny Acta Thursday, with just six games of the regular season remaining. The Indians are languishing at the bottom of AL Central. They had a 5-24 record in August which is their worst month in their 112-years history. Acta was hired as manager for the Indians in 2009.
Acta's firing was officially announced by Chris Antonetti, General Manager and Vice President of Cleveland Indians.
Acta however, tried everything he could to prevent his club's miserable form in August but was unable to turn things around. From regular meetings to altered routines to changes in the team's starting line-up, he tried everything but to no avail.
"That month just crushed our hopes,'' Acta said on a conference call.
"I had a great three years here. I have no regrets and no bitterness. I gave my best and that's all I can do. My job was to make us better. We didn't get better."
The season had begun quite impressively for the Indians but ended in despair.
Acta will be replaced by Sandy Alomar, the bench coach, on an interim basis for the next 6 matches this season.
Antonetti said: "Sandy brings a lot to the table. He's obviously been a managerial candidate in other places and I'm confident he will be a primary candidate. Where he will fit among the alternatives, I don't think it's fair for me to speculate at this point."
Alomar was hired by Acta himself who trusts his abilities as manager for the Indians. "I know Sandy is a very good baseball man. He was very helpful to me over the last three years," Acta added.
There were a few decisions made by Atonetti's that did not seem to work in the Indians' favor. When asked Antonetti said. "Manny's not the only one to blame. We need to really look hard organizationally at how we can get better, especially at the major league level because our performance was not what we expected and not what we hoped.
"We have higher expectations and we need to do a better job of identifying some of those solutions."
"I want to manage again, but right now I want to go home to Florida and be a father, a husband, a son and a brother," Acta added on his future plans. "I'll keep my head up and move forward."
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