Nationals manager Manny Acta donned a suit and tie instead of his usual baseball uniform on Tuesday. It will not be long before he can change back.
With about a month left before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Viera, Fla., Acta and Nats pitchers Jason Bergmann and John Lannan visited Children’s National Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon and later signed autographs before the Capitals-Senators NHL game at Verizon Center.
It was all part of the Nationals’ 2008 Winter Tour, two weeks worth of team appearances that also includes school and hospital visits, book donations and autograph sessions to meet and greet fans throughout the D.C. area.
“[The offseason] gives you a chance to spend a lot more time with the family,” said Acta, who begins his second year as manager next month. “But when you do something that you love — like I do and most of my players do — it’s not like you really need or want to get away from the game. I can’t wait to start everything up again.”
Acta, Bergmann and Lannan hit the NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo last Saturday and packed meals for the Food & Friends program in Northeast, D.C. on Monday, a charity that delivers food to HIV/AIDS patients. Next week Nats pitcher Mike Bacsik visits the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, heads a book donation drive at William Wirt middle school in Riverdale and runs a youth clinic at a Boys and Girls Club in Prince William County.
