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"Pssst...I got a job managing the Indians. How about you, Riggleman." -- (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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AFL Update:

5-4 Desert Dogs over the Solar Sox after eight, Mesa sends 23-year-old Florida Marlins' infield prospect Bryan Petersen to the plate against the Washington Nationals' 2nd first-round pick Drew Storen, the 22-year-old right-handed Stanford Cardinal closer taken 10th overall in the '09 Draft, who's been making noise in the Nationals' organization since day one, and the Solar Sox' outfielder doubles to right on the first pitch he sees. Cubbies' infield prospect Starlin Castro lays down a sac bunt and Minnesota Twins' outfielder Rene Tosoni grounds out moving Petersen from first to third with two down to set up fellow Twins' prospect Chris Parmalee, who singles in the game-tying run with a grounder to center on a 1-2 pitch from Storen...

Bottom of the ninth, 5-5 tie, Baltimore Orioles' third base prospect Josh Bell singles to left off Solar Sox' and Red Sox' left-hander Dustin Richardson, a 5th Round pick in '06, who gives up back to back walks to A's outfield prospect Corey Brown and A's infield prospect Jemile Weeks, loading the bases with one down and Rays' catcher Nevin Ashley coming up...Ashley fouls two off then connects on one, deeeep to left, and...GONE!! Grand Slam. Desert Dogs win, 9-5 final. Drew Storen gets his first Arizona Fall League win when his teammates pick him up. Storen now (1-0, 1.59 ERA) with (1, BS) in 5 G, 5.2 IP in which he's allowed 7 hits, 3 R, 1 ER and 1 walk with 5 K's collected...Notes: Danny Espinosa starts at short for Phoenix, goes 0 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. Chris Marrero's 0 for 4 with 2 K's as the DH...

• Final Score - Desert Dogs 9, Solar Sox 5. 

BACKPAGE: 

• What Does MASN's Johnny Holiday Know?

• TheGoodPoint.com's Best Moment of the Year.

• What Does MASN's Johnny Holiday Know?

Johnny Holiday, co-host on MASN's Nats Extra with Ray Knight, begins a recent blog post entitled, "The new skipper and an update on Jack", by writing that, "Any day now, we will find out who the Nationals' skipper will be in 2010," (and yes, Mr. Holliday rocks the possessive apostrophe, nice), but he's not breaking news that an announcement is pending, just acknowledging that it's about time, either before or after the World Series, for the Washington Nationals to name a new manager. Mr. Holliday says that, "It's nice to know Jim Riggleman is still under consideration," but he knows that team President Stan Kasten and DC GM Mike Rizzo, "...will get the man they feel is best suited for the job." (ed. note - "If you don't know about Mr. Holliday's grandson, the titular Jack, that's really why I'm posting this here, give the blog post a read, and do something nice...")

• TheGoodPoint.com's Best Moment of the Year.

The good folks at the GoodPoint.com solicited a quick 100-200 word post from bloggers everywhere describing the most memorable moment of the 2009 season for each writer's respective team, and I accepted the challenge on behalf of the Nationals, attempting to capture John Lannan's 3-2 win over the New York Yankees on June 17, 2009 in 200 words or less... (ed. note - I'll post the entire GoodPoint post when it's published. I went with the spontaneous post as I composed this to try to generate some excitement, and I crossed out "the good folks" up above after having read a quote from Marcel Proust, of "Remembrance of Things Past" fame in Edmund White's excellent biography "Marcel Proust: A Life" in which M. Proust expresses disdain for, "obviously hyprocritical expressions such as 'those fine folks' (les braves gens) appllied by aristocrats to peasants," which is totally not what I was doing, but I crossed it out to be sure not to offend..."):

June 17, 2009. Yankee Stadium. New York, NY. John Lannan holds a 3-1 lead through 8.1 innings pitched against a New York Yankees' lineup that is admittedly at half-strength but determined nonetheless to avoid a loss against baseball's worst team, the lowly Washington Nationals. Lannan starts the ninth by giving up a solo shot to to cut DC's 3-1 lead in half, then the Nationals' left-hander allows a one-out single by Mark Teixeira to chase him from the game in favor of right-handed closer Mike MacDougal. MacDougal walks A-Rod after Teixeira's pinch runner Brett Gardner steals second, and then it's 3-2 Nationals, two men on, MacDougal and his fastball against Robinson Cano...for...9...straight...pitches...fastball after fastball outside at 95, 96, 97 and on the ninth fastball low and outside, Cano grounds to short, Cristian Guzman to Anderson Hernandez to Nick Johnson, Double Play! Ballgame!...THAAAA NATIONALS WIN!! THHHHHHE Nationals...WIN!!!

Anyone have a better best moment?