And, while you're at it, be great, too...

I feel for Manny Acta. Everything he's ever done in baseball has taught him to try to win every game. If his team doesn't win, he assumes there is something he, as manager, can do to better his team. So, we get quotes like this after a 6-4 loss to the Cubs:

"We have to teach these guys about not letting up," Acta said. "How do you explain about going with that approach with Zambrano in the first inning -- working the count and scoring four runs -- and then allowing him to have some easy innings? After that, the guys completely forgot what they did in the first inning."

And this:

"We just haven't learned how to win without having an outstanding performance by the pitcher," Acta said. "And in this game, you're going to have to learn how to win even when you're struggling at the plate or when you're struggling on the mound. There are games that teams win without having a two-hit shutout, and we just haven't learned how to do that."

It's good that Manny thinks this way, and it's good that his standard of excellence is rubbing off on the players:

"We know we have to put teams away. Guys who have played know that," Kearns said. "It's just doing it. They can show us the way, but we are the ones that are swinging the bat and throwing the ball, but we have to be the ones that do it. [Acta and the coaches] are working. We are all working. The results are not there."

But despite all of Acta's efforts, there is a reason the results are not there, as Kearns says. The reason?

The Nationals stink. They just don't have the talent to win on a consistent basis. That's not a criticism of current management, because these are the cards they've been dealt by Major League Baseball. No, it's a statement of fact, and the really hard thing for Acta is that the Nats aren't going to get better for a long time. The process by which they get better is going to be both long and hard, and I have doubts about whether Acta, or any other manager committed to winning, will survive the process. There's only so much losing a guy like Acta can take.

So, we feel for you, Manny.