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On Friday, several dozen young adults and children gathered at Boys Town D.C. for a unique opportunity -- a chance to hear from a Big League skipper about his journey from the Dominican Republic to Washington D.C. The youngsters waited politely, despite a bit of a delay, pondering questions out loud that they could ask Acta when he arrived.

Boys Town is a national organization with chapters in various cities. In this region, the campus sits on several acres tucked away in Northeast Washington D.C. The property includes several community houses, where children live in a family setting -- as well as a temporary, emergency care building for new children and teenagers.

The organization works with families on both treatment and skill building in the home, and also serves abused, neglected, runaway youth or youth who have been in trouble due to delinquent activities with crisis intervention and emergency residential care.

Acta was well aware of the organization and the audience. His speech was perfectly tailored to these youngsters:

"Life is not easy, it's never been easy and will never be easy. Life is about choices...Choices, everywhere you go. But among all those choices that you have in sports and in life, the one that none of us should have is excuse. That should be completely thrown out of the choices that we have.

Excuse is not a choice, especially in the country that we live in. Our president, Barack Obama. Myself, where I come from and now managing the Washington Nationals, the baseball team in the capital of the world. I mean, no excuses, regardless of where you come from, the neighborhood, your parents, the people that surround you. Those are individual choices that you have to make. My favorite choice in life is attitude - having the right one. That's what you gotta do. Attitude is a choice."

It was Acta at his best, but echoing the same message he's given his players, the media and the fans in Washington. And yet, hearing the message under these circumstances and watching him interact with the youth, made the experience moving for many of the adults in attendance too.

Acta described his childhood, growing up in the Dominican Republic without electricity or cable. He explained many of the decisions he had to make throughout his career in baseball and how each one shaped his path. Through anecdotes, he reminded the children to stay away from peer pressure, follow the law, control your anger and attitude, and never make excuses for your own situation.

He shared funny stories too -- one, about the time he thought about hitting another minor league player with a bat because he was angry -- or another one about salad dressings and how it felt to live in a country where he could not understand what anybody was saying. Acta had them laughing and smiling, but they understood that the message here was important.

"No excuses. Oh, I grew up in a poor neighborhood. Oh, I grew up surrounded by guys that do this or do that. Oh, my mom and my dad -- none of that. It's your life. Your life. And you're going to have people that are going to give you all those excuses, so you can use them. But it's up to you to say no. No way, man. It's your life," he said.

He did talk a little bit about baseball, and though the youth had some questions about the game, they asked mostly about Acta himself and seemed genuinely engaged in his message.

After the motivational speech, Acta signed autographs and took pictures with the kids, who continued to ask him questions. He distributed MASN drawstring backpacks, schedule magnets, Nationals baseball caps and baseballs.

Remember, "you are blessed. You are alive and healthy...you can make it on your own, with the help of all these people here, if you make the right choices because this is the land of opportunity, right here," he continued.

On Saturday, MASN provided the youth and children from Boys Town with tickets to the Nationals vs. Orioles game and an opportunity to watch batting practice.

Check out the Nats Xtra clip about Manny's visit to Boys Town.

If you'd like to make a donation to Boys Town, or volunteer your time to the organization, visit BoysTownWashingtonDC.org.

You can also check out Manny Acta's ImpACTA Kids Foundation or his exclusive blog here at MASNsports.com.