So, I need your help.  I spent much of my weekend making a Manny Acta pattern and then carving it out. I turned the World Series off only when I worked on the nose, which I was afraid I’d cut off if something crazy happened. I had guidance and support from Stephanie and my summer baseball family. Without advice from Danielle and Denise, I surely would have detached one of the important parts of Manny’s face. Luckily, it all worked.

Here are all the photos I was able to take.  Which one do you like best? Which one should I submit to the Nationals contest?

You have until tomorrow, October 28 at 5 PM, to submit your pumpkins. And you can download cool Nationals themed patterns here.

Cory VanAllen pitched a scoreless 5th inning Friday night for the American Rising Stars in a loss to the National Rising Stars 6-7.

In Arizona over the weekend, prospect Bill Rhinehart had a huge game.  Playing LF, Rhinehart went 2 for 6 with a double, a homer and 3 RBI.  Leonard Davis was 1 for 4 with 3 RBI and an error.

In Venezuela, Luis Jimenez is back in action after being pulled from a game in the first inning last week.  On Saturday, Roger Bernadina went 2 for 4 in a 0-13 loss for the Bravos.

In the Dominican Republic, Anderson Hernandez and Emilio Bonifacio continue to shine.  After going 0 for 5 on Friday night, Bonifacio had a better game on Saturday, stealing 2 bases, walking twice, and going 1 for 3.  Hernandez went 3 for 4 on Friday with a double and 2 runs scored.

On Sunday, Licey won 11-3.  Bonifacio was 1 for 4 with 3 runs scored, while Hernandez went 2 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored.

Nationals Pride Blogger Mike Henderson of Hendo’s Hutch is out in Arizona to catch some of the AFL, so be sure to check his blog for updates this week!

From the Nationals:

The Washington Nationals today announced that bench coach Jim Riggleman, first base coach Marquis Grissom, third base coach Pat Listach, hitting coach Rick Eckstein and bullpen coach Randy Knorr will join returning pitching coach Randy St. Claire on the club’s 2009 coaching staff.  Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden and Manager Manny Acta made the joint announcement.

Riggleman, 55, adds nearly eight seasons of managerial experience to the Nationals’ bench.  Riggleman, who has skippered San Diego (1992-94), Chicago-NL (1995-00) and Seattle (interim, 2008), returns to the National League, where he has either managed or served on a coaching staff in 14 of the last 20 seasons.  Riggleman’s managerial career is highlighted by the 1998 Cubs, who went 90-73 (.552) to claim the NL Wild Card. Having served stewardships under Tony LaRussa, Jerry Manuel and Jim Tracy, Riggleman is widely considered one of the brightest baseball minds in the game.  In five seasons serving on coaching staffs in Cleveland (2000) and Los Angeles-NL (2000-04), Riggleman’s hard work and knowledge helped those clubs average 89 wins per campaign.  During his distinguished career, Riggleman has managed or coached the likes of Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Luis Gonzalez, Sammy Sosa, Mark Grace, Ryne Sandberg, Gary Sheffield, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Ichiro Suzuki.  Riggleman was the Dodgers’ fourth-round selection in the 1974 June Draft and played eight professional seasons.

The 41 year-old Grissom accepts his first job coaching at the professional level and returns to the organization that drafted him in the third round of the 1988 First-Year Player Draft.  In 17 big league seasons with Montreal (1989-94), Atlanta (1995-96), Cleveland (1997), Milwaukee (1998-2000), Los Angeles-NL (2001-02) and San Francisco (2003-05), Grissom batted .272 (2251-for-8275) with 386 doubles, 227 home runs, 967 RBI and 429 stolen bases and garnered four Gold Glove citations in center field (1993-96). Grissom twice (1993-94) represented the Expos in the All-Star Game and four times enjoyed post-season play, during which he batted .317 with five home runs, 20 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 52 games.  His post-season prowess earned Grissom a World Series ring with the 1995 Braves and the 1997 ALCS Most Valuable Player award.

Listach—who won the 1992 American League Rookie of the Year award after hitting .290 with 54 stolen bases for Milwaukee—joins the Nationals after spending the previous three seasons compiling a 231-189 (.550) record managing in the upper levels of Chicago-NL’s system. In 2008, Listach’s Iowa Cubs went 83-59 (.585), claimed first place in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s American Northern Division and he was named PCL Manager of the Year.  Listach, 41, managed the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate to winning records in both 2007 (Tennessee of the Southern League) and 2006 (West Tenn of the Southern League) and coached in the Arizona Fall League in 2001. Listach batted .251 (444-for-1772) with 63 doubles, five home runs, 143 RBI and 116 stolen bases in six big league seasons with Milwaukee (1992-96) and Houston (1997). Listach played collegiately at Arizona State University, where he and the Sun Devils earned a berth in the 1988 College World Series.

A September 2008 addition to the Nationals’ coaching staff, Eckstein has established relationships with various Nationals, including Ryan Zimmerman, Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes and Cristian Guzman.  While serving as Columbus’ hitting coach last season in the Triple-A International League, Eckstein gained invaluable exposure to young hitters such as Jesus Flores, Roger Bernadina, Emilio Bonifacio and Alberto Gonzalez.  Eckstein—who served as Davey Johnson’s bench coach during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing—has coached in the Nationals’ chain four of the last five seasons, and draws on three seasons of experience as a Triple-A hitting coach.  The 39 year-old Eckstein played collegiately at the University of Florida where he graduated with a degree in Exercise Sports Science.  He is the older brother of Diamondbacks infielder David Eckstein.

Knorr, 39, returns to Washington in a familiar role, as he served on Frank Robinson’s coaching staff as bullpen coach for the final three-plus months of the 2006 campaign.  Knorr is fresh off guiding Potomac to the Single-A Carolina League championship, which came in his fourth season managing in Washington’s chain. During his three-year stint with Potomac, he has managed numerous current Nationals pitchers, including John Lannan, Garrett Mock and Shairon Martis.  A catcher, Knorr played in 253 big league games for Toronto (1991-95), Houston (1996-97, ‘99), Florida (1998), Texas (2000) and Montreal (2001), hitting .227 (153-for-676) with 24 home runs and 88 RBI.  He earned a pair World Series rings with the Blue Jays in 1993 and 1994.  Known during his playing days as an excellent defender, Knorr gunned down Tim Raines on September 2, 1995 to halt Raines’ AL record string of consecutive stolen bases at 40.

The Nationals announced on September 28 that the 48 year-old St. Claire would be retained, citing his tutelage of young pitchers such as John Lannan, Joel Hanrahan and Collin Balester.  St. Claire has also had a hand in reviving the careers of both Tim Redding and Odalis Perez.  The longest-tenured pitching coach in the NL East, the 2009 season will be St. Claire’s seventh as the franchise’s big league pitching coach.  Prior to being named pitching coach on December 4, 2002, St. Claire tutored pitchers for seven seasons in the minor leagues, including the final five in the Expos organization.  In nine big league seasons, he finished 12-6 with nine saves and a 4.14 ERA in 162 games with Montreal, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Atlanta and Toronto.

Nats 320 and Let Teddy Win have the scoop on Teddy Roosevelt’s entry into the Marine Corp. Marathon this weekend.

Teddy is also hosting his birthday bash next Monday night at Hudson’s in Dupont Circle.  Teddy will join the party from 8:30-9:30pm.

Anderson Hernandez struggled last night going 0 for 5 in the Tigres 14-7 loss.  Emilio Bonifacio went 0 for 2 with 3 walks.  In 25 at bats with the Tigres, Bonifacio has walked 8 times for a .485 OBP.  In Venezuela, Roger Bernadina went 3 for 5 in his team’s 6-3 loss.

Out in Arizona, Nats prospects had a great night.  The Saguaros won 9-1 with help from Ian Desmond’s solo homer and Bill Rhinehart’s RBI double.  Zinicola and Carr each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Someone just passed along this video about baseball’s impact on our nation featuring McCain and Obama. Enjoy!

Check out Joel Hanrahan’s World Series predictions in the Des Moines Register.  Hanrahan likes Tampa to win because of more consistent starting pitching, though he admits it’s very difficult to play in Philadelphia…”with all the rally towels and the fans going crazy out there.”

“In Philly, they’ll come up with some good stuff out there. I’m sure they’re doing their homework right now, getting info on their families and everything….Sometimes they get pretty ruthless, but most of the time it’s all in good fun. I like to give back to them a little bit, see if they can handle that.”

Anderson Hernandez and Emilio Bonifacio continue to compete for the starting nod at second base with solid and impressive play in the Dominican League.

Nationals teammates Anderson Hernandez and Emilio Bonifacio each drove in four runs as the Tigres snapped a three-game losing streak. Hernandez went 4-for-6 with two runs scored, while Bonifacio singled, doubled, tripled and scored three times.

The Tigres won the game 21-6 with an 11 run 7th inning.

After a great performance this weekend, Luis Jimenez drove in two more runs to lead his team to another win.  In Arizona, another Nats first baseman, Bill Rhinehart, hit a grand slam in a 18-11 loss.  Leonard Davis went 2 for 3 in the game.  Better yet, none of our young pitchers contributed to the 18 run game for the Javelinas.

Check out this article from Computer World…

In addition to sending video clips of spectacular plays to fans at Nationals Park, [Jason] Zachariah [IT Director for the Nationals] said he hopes the team can have other types of wireless interactions with fans. For example, the team might give fans the ability to send text comments or photos that could be posted on the park’s 4,800-square-foot high-definition scoreboard.

Plans also include using RFID tags to track cash bags over the Wi-Fi network as they are carried from a concession stand to a safe, Zachariah added. The tags could also be distributed to parents who could attach them to their children and then use the system to find them if they get lost in the ballpark.

Plans for next spring also include allowing a voice over Wi-Fi system for stadium staffers to use during emergencies when cellular networks might be overtaxed, Zachariah added. Fans could also place food orders over Wi-Fi and have the orders delivered to their seats.

“We’re shooting for all these things next year,” Zachariah said, nothing that the 802.11n network installed last spring had performed “impressively since Day One.” This past season, the network supported wireless ticket-taking, wireless access to player statistics for reporters covering the game, point-of-sale transactions at concession stands and Wi-Fi access for fans with Wi-Fi-capable devices.

Cory VanAllen will represent Washington in the Arizona Fall League’s third annual Rising Stars Showcase.  The game takes places on Friday night at Surprise Stadium at 7:15 p.m. MST.