Getting a chance to play professional baseball
Hi NatsTown,
As most of you know, the Draft was last month and yesterday was the beginning of the International Free Agent signing period.
Since I have been a part of that process as a player, a player development staff member, and Big League Manager, I wanted to talk about that from a couple of perspectives.
As a player: I signed to play professional ball in 1986 when the Houston Astros offered me a contract as a 17-year-old; without a doubt, at that time in my childhood, it was one of the happiest days of my life.
It was the reward for having worked so hard to achieve my goals and the opportunity to take care of my family for a long time. I know the hundreds of kids (and their families) that just got drafted in the United States and chosen in the international market are experiencing the same thing that I went through over 20 years ago.
There is no better feeling than putting on the uniform for the first time and each of those kids should be grateful for the opportunity that they've been given.
For those who didn't get picked, don't give up your dreams and keep working hard.
As a member of player development staff: As a manager in the minor leagues, one of my chief responsibilities was to help those newly signed players develop into Major League caliber athletes.
Some players would come to my minor league team as big bonus babies and others as players signed for $1,000; but each of them had to work their tail off to improve and develop their skills.
Focused on player development, I would make sure that each player's specific development plan was followed. It was great fun watching those young men develop into big league players.
Each of the kids who sign on this year to play professional baseball better get ready to work harder than he has ever worked before. Long hours and a lot of sweat!
As an MLB Manager: From the MLB perspective, we never expect the newly signed players to contribute anytime soon to the MLB team; but this year could be different. The draft serves as the big league team's chance to fill the organization with players that project to contribute to the major league team.
Our team has done a great job over the last couple of years in signing some great talent. You can see how much the draft has impacted our MLB team now and I'm excited about what the future holds for your mighty Nats.
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Categories (click for archive)MASNblogs | Manny Acta |
Is there some reason the Orioles fans get to read a Brian Roberts blog on masn and Nats fans have no blogs to read by any of the players? I would love to read a Zimmerman, Zimmermann, Dunn, or Willingham blog. Whats gives? Its not fair to nats fan. Lets get a Nat a blog. Please.
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Hey Nats Fan, While Manny does a great job answering fan questions, I wanted to jump in and answer this one for him to let you know that Adam Dunn will be starting up his blog on MASNsports.com soon. You can copy and paste the following URL in your browser to read the press release with more details: http://masnsports.com/2009/06/masnsportscom-teams-up-with-ad.html, but Dunn will be checking in with Nats fans via a once-weekly video blog just like Brian Roberts does with O's fans. Dunn will also be writing in once a month in addition to his video segments, so stay tuned and check back for Adam Dunn's first entry soon after the All-Star break. Thanks for following the Nats on MASNsports.com! -Kate Wheeler, Managing Editor
I'm writing a piece for the Salisbury Daily Times on how new media (such as blogs like yours) influence professional sports and was wondering if you could spare just a few minutes to answer some questions.
Thanks for your time,
Josh Davis
charliefell@gmail.com
Manny:
Ever since Felipe Lopez left D.C., he has performed much better. You could argue the same thing for Emilio Bonifacio. What in your opinion are the reasons behind this? Do you have trouble connecting to or mentoring players?