Manny Acta 2013

The stadium was named after the late baseball player and pride of the Municipality of Consuelo, Rafael (El Gallo) Batista. The dugouts are also marked with the names of former military baseball players, Guillermo Arrendel (Aranda) and Miguel Peguero Fabian.

In the opening ceremony, the Batista family appreciated the gesture of Manny Acta in recognizing Mr. Batista. Also, Guillermo Arrendel as well as Miguel Fabian thanked the distinction.

Manny Acta, meanwhile, visibly moved, stressed the qualities of Rafael Batista, as a human being and his major impact in the winter ball season in the Dominican Republic.

With the opening of this training field, The Impacta Kids Foundation, chaired by Manny Acta, has already built four baseball fields for the use and enjoyment of the Little League baseball.

In the past baseball fields such as the  ”Sammy Sosa”, “Rico Carty”, “Julio Cesar Franco”, as well as the “Alfredo Griffin” school were opened in these same grounds.

The Rafael Batista baseball field has a dimension of 150 feet 165 and 150, where children  ranging from 9 to 11 years of age will have the chance to practice some baseball while having a good time.

The meeting was held in the Manny Acta Sports and Educational field, who currently has the Sammy Sosa, Rico Carty, Julio Cesar Franco fields as well as the Alfredo Griffin school.

Among the players who participated in the clinic were Emilio Bonifacio, Esmil Rogers, as well as former players Julio Cesar Franco, Alfredo Griffin, Luis Mercedes, Francisco Morales, Andres Santana, Hector Eduardo, Alberto Lois, Beban Roy Luis, Juan Ramón Bernhardt (Moncho).

After the clinic was finished, the hundreds of kids received a delicious lunch, and spa in the recreation center “El Compadre”, which is located on the outskirts of the municipality Consuelo.

Acta, who is far from being a native Clevelander, has taken his love of life into the Cleveland community; a community he has embraced since becoming manager of the Indians in 2010. In the past month alone, Manny has impacted lives in more ways than one.

Prior to a recent game, Manny took time away from his family and his busy schedule to visit University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in downtown Cleveland. He visited with nearly 20 sick children and made it a point to talk with each of them for a few minutes as a group and individually, to add a personal touch.

Along with chatting and taking photos, Manny brought goodie bags for each child and made sure to autograph anything and everything they wanted. He even signed enough items for them to take home to their siblings!

Before leaving the hospital, Acta reinforced the message to each child that they were going to be okay and to stay positive. That undeniably, positive attitude stuck with the children as they all went back to their rooms with smiles on their faces.

Manny Acta wasn’t done yet! You see, Manny also has a foundation of his own called the ImpACTA Kids Foundation. He launched the foundation in 2007 and its focus is to provide opportunities for kids to achieve their dreams, both in the Dominican Republic and the United States, by emphasizing the importance of education, health and athletics.

The ImpACTA Kids Foundation partnered with Cleveland Indians Charities to host the 2nd Annual Celebrity Bowling Fundraiser. Fans had the opportunity to purchase a bowling team where they could bowl with 5 of their friends and a Cleveland celebrity. The funds raised from the event went towards providing scholarship opportunities for kids in Cleveland, building homes in Acta’s native country of the Dominican Republic and to help other needy children in both areas.

Mark Shapiro, Indians President, Paul Dolan, CEO, and numerous members of the active roster were also on hand to bowl, sign autographs and take photos with the fans. .

“It’s really great and all it takes is a couple of hours of your time to come out here and interact with people and have fun,” said Indians pitcher Vinnie Pestano when asked about the event.
Manny was pleased with the turnout. “I grew up in a very poor community, and my dream was that if I was ever in a position to help out, I was going to. Everyone’s support shows that people really care, and are really willing to make an impact in other people’s lives.”

Sounds to me like Manny’s contagious attitude strikes again!

For more information on the ImpACTA Kids Foundation and Cleveland Indians Charities, go to www.impactakids.org and www.indians.com/community, respectively.

By Zack Meisel / MLB.com

CLEVELAND — The Indians threw some strikes during Thursday’s off- day.

Riding an eight-game losing streak, the club returned to Cleveland in time for Manny Acta’s second annual charity bowling fundraiser. The event, run by the ImpACTA Kids Foundation, is used to provide scholarship opportunities to kids in Cleveland, build homes in Acta’s native country, the Dominican Republic, and help other needy children in both areas.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s happening at this time, the way things are with our baseball club,” Acta said. “But we just want to give back to our fans. Unfortunately, it’s probably not the happiest time for them, but we’re here doing our part, and it’s a great time for our players to come out here and mingle with our fans.”

This year, some of the money raised went toward a new ambulance for the Dominican.

“That’s going to be very helpful for the people back home,” Acta said. “Part of the proceeds from this is going to go toward shipping it down there to the people that really need it.”

A slew of Indians players and front-office executives attended the event, including CEO Paul Dolan, president Mark Shapiro and general manager Chris Antonetti. Jack Hannahan, Lou Marson,

Jason Donald, Carlos Santana and a collection of teammates and coaches joined. The Cleveland celebrities bowled with and signed autographs for fans, who were treated to dinner, drinks and a raffle.

Justin Masterson, widely regarded in the home clubhouse as the team’s best bowler, said his fortune on the lanes has rivaled his tough luck on the mound.

“Lately, my luck in bowling has been the same,” Masterson said. “I’m good at knocking down all but one pin. I keep getting a bunch of nines.”

Masterson said it’s easier to throw a strike on the mound than to bowl one, adding that knocking down 10 pins is more rewarding than hitting his catcher’s mitt one time.

“If you do the little dance after you throw a strike in baseball, or even if you strike somebody out and do a little dance, I don’t think people would like it,” the 6-foot-6 right-hander said. “But if you get three strikes in bowling, you have to do the turkey dance. Maybe I should start doing the turkey dance on the mound.”

Masterson, referencing a turkey, or a stretch of three consecutive strikes, appreciated the opportunity to assist Acta in his fundraiser.

“Manny does a great job of helping people out,” Masterson said. “When it comes to his home in the Dominican, but also here in the States, he loves the game of baseball and has such a heart to impact kids’ lives.”

Last year, the event fell on the day the Indians acquired franchise favorite Jim Thome, the club’s all-time home run leader. This season, it comes amid a stretch during which the Indians have lost 21 of 25. Acta was glad to have a distraction for the evening.

“I don’t think anything can take my mind off baseball,” he said. “It’s obviously my job and my passion. It’s great to have a day off and to have an event like this. Players will be able to come out and relax. We always say that baseball is our job and our passion, but it’s not our life. This is a really good event where we try to give back to our fans and connect with them, and it’s also for a good cause.”

Proceeds of the event supported two scholarships for local students, as well as the continued development of Manny Acta’s baseball academy and educational center in the Dominican Republic. Indians players and other local celebrities were on hand to interact with fans and support the foundations efforts.

The latest recipient of the foundation’s college scholarship was Halle Herringshaw, who graduated from Chardon High School last spring will attend John Carroll University this fall with the help of the scholarship fund.

“It’s absolutely great what Manny does and what the whole fundraiser does,” said Herringshaw. “It helps with a lot of college expenses. I’m going for Anesthesiology so I have a lot of years ahead of me of schooling so a scholarship really helps, and this is a really big one that helped me and relieved stress in applying for schools.”

The scholarship was a very pleasant surprise for her, she explained: “I was actually at work and my Mom called me and said, ‘Oh we’re going to the Indians game on Tuesday, you won the scholarship’ and I couldn’t believe it. I was really thrilled when I found out.”

In addition to the scholarship, the foundation has raised money to send an ambulance to the Dominican Republic to improve the health conditions of the local community.

Indians Pitcher Vinnie Pestano was one of many players on hand to support the ImpACTA Kids foundation. “They raise enough money to send an ambulance over there and they’ve got a great facility over there to keep them occupied and away from doing other stuff,” said Pestano. “It’s really great and all it takes is a couple hours of your time to come out here and interact with people and have some fun.”

The foundation was started in 2007, and this was the second year it held its fundraiser at the Corner Alley. Acta was very grateful for the community’s support of the event, and for the opportunity to support his childhood home.

“I grew up in a very poor community, and my dream was that if I was ever in a position to help out, I was going to,” said Acta. “Everyone’s support shows that people really care, and are really willing to make an impact in other people’s lives.”

– TribeVibe contributor Max Lom

Acta visited with nearly 20 sick children at the hospital, greeting each child individually and chatting for several minutes.

Acta spent time discussing each child’s softball and baseball careers, encouraging them to continue working hard at the sport. Dressed in his Indians jersey, he covered topics from coloring with crayons to fashion with these children, who provided everyone in the room with a fresh perspective on life.

One particular little girl ran out of her room once she heard the news early Friday morning.

“There is a special visitor who came to see you outside in the hallway,” one nurse told her.

The little girl recognized Acta immediately and beamed when Acta commented, “I love your footies.”

A teenage boy, who rarely steps out of the room for visitors, came out of his room without hesitation after the nurse told him Acta was present.

Each patient on the floor received an Indians bag with goodies, including a baseball and — the highlight for most kids — a foam Indians finger for pencils and pens.

Acta offered to sign all jerseys, hats, bags, and stationary for the kids and their families, even suggesting that they bring an autograph home to their siblings.

Before leaving the hospital, Acta pulled each child aside and, like a Major League Baseball manager would, coached them and assured them that everything was okay.

“Everything is going to be okay,” he said to one young girl.

She replied, “I know, I am trying to get better.”

Acta, shaking his head at her, said, “Don’t try; just trust me that everything is going to be okay. Stay positive.”

-Megan Golden, TribeVibe contributor