Sons of Steve Garvey

• Congratulations, Jon Weisman! Weisman hired as director of digital and print content (Dodgers.com)
  
• Godspeed, Tony Jackson. No headline this time, just read the post (dodgerscribe.com)
  
• Orel's joining the team! Dodgers add Orel Hershiser, Alanna Rizzo to TV broadcasts, per report (TrueBlueLA)
  
• Joe Torre has been elected to the Hall of Fame. Torre, La Russa, Cox to Cooperstown (ESPNLA.com)
  

Erstwhile Daily News beat writer Tony Jackson is starting a blog, dodgerscribe:

In terms of content, you’ll be getting a little of everything. The handful of friends and colleagues in whom I have confided about my plan to start this blog have been almost unanimous in offering one piece of advice: the content must be unique. Yes, I will be the only full-time Dodgers blogger who is regularly on the road with the team. And yes, this will be the only media outlet on the road with the team that has the luxury of being able to provide constant, often real-time blog updates. But that alone won’t keep you coming back, and I understand that. So I will work every day to give you something you can’t get anywhere else, even as I also give you all the general news you expect. I want to avoid becoming too formulaic, but at the same time, there will be a few standard, daily things, mostly notably a nightly game thread.

Beyond that, you can expect plenty of news, usually presented in an analytical, what-does-it-all-mean kind of way. There will be opinions, random thoughts and observations, stuff that will appeal to the hardcore baseball fan and other stuff that will appeal to the casual fan. There will be a lot of taking you where you can’t go. I want you to feel like you’re right beside me at the ballpark, in the clubhouse, in the dugout, in the press box, wherever I am. That is my goal, to take you on this journey with me, and to make you feel as if you are seeing what I’m seeing, hearing what I’m hearing, maybe even smelling what I’m smelling. Even in those occasional situations in which I can’t give you a photo or a video, expect a lot of description and scene-setting in the text. I want you to feel like you’re there even when you’re not. We might even do some interesting touristy stuff on the road during the day before going to the ballpark for night games.

Jackson goes on to say he has been planning this blog for the past three months, and eventually the site will transition to a subscription model. Regardless, we're looking forward to checking this out. Welcome back, Tony!

Tony Jackson! Guess we should have seen that one coming. Congrats, Tony!

• Dodgers Report (ESPNLA.com)

In all seriousness, this was a pretty good piece by ESPN.com's Tony Jackson, on how one uncommon series victory can spurn irrational hope even in the most depressing of seasons:

LOS ANGELES -- The psychology of sport has always fascinated me, at least since youth baseball when every time I would strike out I would wonder if it meant I couldn't play this game.

It actually did mean that, but for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, everything felt a little different. In an odd way, after a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals before 36,458 at Dodger Stadium, everything suddenly felt OK. The Dodgers took two of three to win a series for the first time in the second half of this season and are now face with a chance to move into third place in the National League West with the slumping Colorado Rockies coming to town.

Suddenly, it didn't seem to matter that the Dodgers are still heading into the tank, remain 11 games below .500, have lost five of nine since the All-Star break, and they have scored more than three runs in a game just five times this month. After all that, they actually have to sweep that three-game series with the Rockies in order to overtake them in the standings.

All of those things did still matter, of course. They mattered more, in fact, than any of the happy things that had just happened. But in a game in which they say momentum will carry you only as far as tomorrow's starting pitcher will, Chad Billingsley carried the Dodgers to this momentary euphoric state with one of his strongest performances of the season, overcoming first-inning trouble to retire 21 of 22 batters and no-hit the Nationals from the second through the seventh innings.

This is an example of how the psychology of sport can be a godsend when your season is going nowhere and you still are 61 games from the end. If the Dodgers lose to the Rockies on Monday night, they will revert just as quickly to the gloom and despair that has followed them all season. But for the moment, all they can do is try to win each game, and so for the past two days, they did everything they could against the Nationals.

I may have been affected as well; I was at the game and perhaps the heatstroke got to me. But the Dodgers actually looked like a pretty decent team there against the Nationals Sunday. Wait a second, it was the Nationals. Okay, I'm snapping back to reality.

Damn reality.

• Dodgers' lineup in need of repair (Tony Jackson, ESPNLosAngeles.com)

The Dodgers are getting desperate at the plate, but is anyone surprised? Having stronger pitching than hitting has always been the Dodger way. A lack of hitting prospects — turns out Jerry Sands is not the answer — limits the Dodgers' options. But don't worry — Frank says we're doing great!

AP photo

After holding a big press conference in New York, Frank McCourt threw some local writers a bone and sat down for individual interviews. Tony Jackson and Bill Shaikin came out swinging, but couldn't ding the slippery McCourt:

• Frank McCourt shows no fear (Jackson, ESPNLosAngeles.com)
• Q & A with Frank McCourt: 'I have just begun to fight' (Shaikin, LA Times)

"MLB did not run up $500 million in debt. You did." Very nice, Mr. Shaikin!

• Matsui steals show as Yanks get rings (ESPNNewYork.com)
• But the Angels had a macabre start to their day yesterday. Angels witness man jump to death at NYC hotel (ESPNLosAngeles.com)
• "Four pound pretzels. They still weigh more than Victoria Beckham." Opening Day photos (...by Ken Levine)
• A helpful caveat from he who caught a foul ball at yesterday's game. Don't fall prey to the RISP bogeyman (Dodger Thoughts)
• Speaking of which, Jon Weisman and Tony Jackson are following in Dylan Hernandez's and Jim Peltz's footsteps and are recording video segments from Dodgers games. Dodgers Slug Way to Victory (ESPNLosAngeles.com)
• Brian Akin's baseball blogging career hangs in the balance. State of the Blog Address (Dear (Tommy) John Letters)

UPDATE: Thanks, Ferio. Vin Scully's Intro to Opening Day (Juan Pierre's Oversized Hat)

photo by Peter Morgan/AP

photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers

From the Twitter feed of SI.com's Jon Heyman:

dont usually like to tout the competition but espn LA hiring tony jackson is a great move.

Congratulations, Tony!

And he's at LADodgerTalk.com. Congrats to Mark Timmons on this impressive addition to his site. From Jackson's latest entry:

Also, we're tentatively targeting June 26 as the day I get back with the team on a daily basis, and hopefully, after that, I will remain with the team for the rest of the season. That's the first day of the last homestand before the All-Star break. I'm then going to make every attempt to make that San Diego-New York-Milwaukee trip. [...] Once I get back with the team, I'll be providing you with the same coverage — actually, a lot MORE coverage — than I was at that other blog that I used to do for that, ummm, newspaper.

Another experienced writer back with the Dodgers, especially one who travels with the team, means more Dodgers information for all of us. Welcome back, Tony!

Earlier: Diamond Back (SoSG)

First Diamond Leung, now Tony Jackson? Scuttlebutt at Dodger Thoughts has it that Jackson has been let go by the Daily News. Jackson's blog was one of the finest—and frankly, last—places for up-to-the-minute Dodger information. He and Leung were beat writers who really took the time to address the internet crowd—no small matter when you're on deadline every night. Sorry to hear it if it's true, Tony. All the best.

As far as remaining beat writer blogs, we seem to be down to Ken Gurnick and the Press-Enterprise (Diamond's old stomping grounds), but both sites are updated only erratically. It makes you wonder: While the LA Times has wised up about Dodger blogs, other newspapers seem to be diminishing their Dodger blog presence. Is the gap between "official" reporting and blogging widening?

From Jackson's blog:

First question to Joe Torre after the game was why it was Ronald Belisario out there with a one-run lead in the eighth inning (he let it get away) instead of Hong-Chih Kuo, the guy who was supposed to fill that role all season. What Joe said, in that way that Joe is so good at of saying something without really saying it, is that he doesn't feel he can trust Kuo right now with a game on the line.

"We're still working on that with him," Torre said. "He is all right physically, but we're just trying to get him into a situation more toward the middle of the game before we get him into the back end of a game." [...]

Belisario was standup about letting this one get away, said he wasn't nervous at all, but I have never seen a guy who wasn't nervous throw a wild pitch while trying to INTENTIONALLY WALK somebody. Come to think of it, I have never seen ANY pitcher throw a wild pitch while trying to intentionally walk somebody, so maybe I should cut Belisario some slack.

As for Matt Kemp batting seventh, Kensai of Fire Ned Colletti Now has some opinions:

With Kemp’s recent stretch of torrid hitting, you’d think that Joe Torre would be forced to eventually bat him higher in the order, but there are a number of factors working against Matt.

First, it’s well known that Torre plays favorites with his players, and he’s made it clear in the past that Kemp is not among them. So unless Torre finds another spot for Russell Martin, or Martin absolutely tanks this year, Kemp will be hard pressed to supplant Russell in the 5-hole.

Secondly, Torre has this obsession with staggering his lefties and righties, so either Ethier or Loney figure to be occupying the cleanup role permanently. The only thing that would change this is a move from Manny Ramirez, which doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

Thirdly, Torre loves speed at the 1 and 2 spots. Therefore, Furcal and Hudson seem to be mainstays at the top of order.

Some grouchiness from Tony Jackson:

WHY WRIGLEY FIELD IS BETTER THAN DODGER STADIUM

NO loud music. NO commercials read over the PA system between innings. NO animated races on the jumbotron/diamondvision/whateveritis at any point (in fact, there is no jumbotron/diamondvision/whateveritis here). There IS a little bit of organ music, played at a nice, unobtrusive volume level, but other than that, when you come to Wrigley, you buy a ticket to see a baseball game and you get ... a baseball game. Novel concept, I know. But the Dodgers -- and almost every other team around the league -- could learn a lot from it.

Not that I dislike Dodger Stadium, mind you, but all that dot race/hat shuffle/MAKE SOME NOISE crap just gets in the way of the baseball. Both the Cubs and Dodgers have loyal fan bases, but when you're trying to market Dodger Stadium as the next Disneyland, I guess you need bells and whistles.

Anyone have any idea whether Wrigley is as "family friendly" as Dodger Stadium? Wrigley tops my list of stadiums to visit.

I don't think Tony Jackson is appreciating his weekend at the arch-rival Giants' turf. Today's post-game blog was especially hilarious, especially this part:

The Sippy Cups played a rendition of the national anthem that was almost unrecognizable. Not sure how the people out in the stands felt about it (didn't hear much booing or cheering), but suffice to say, it wasn't a hit in the press box.

First, what did you expect from a singing group called "The Sippy Cups" (I suppose AT&T Park couldn't book "The Baby Bottles" for today's gig). Second, the reason why you didn't hear a lot of booing or cheering is because there was no one in the stadium until the second inning, according to the many crowd shots that Fox's broadcast aired (it looked a lot like Tropicana Field's crowd size). This second point especially irked me since Fox made no mention of this, but of course would jump all over LA fans showing up late to a Dodger game. Unless there was a chardonnay-sipping event in the concourses, it was clear from today that SF fans are delinquents as well.

Jackson also lamented that he was going to pick up dinner at a greasy spoon somewhere. Assuming he is staying near the ballpark, we would have recommended Boulevard (great martinis) or Lulu's (excellent meats). Alas, he didn't ask....

From Tony Jackson at the Daily News:

Hef and the girls pick the Dodgers

Well, not exactly Hef and the girls. But Playboy magazine's baseball preview issue, which hit newsstands today, has the Dodgers winning the 2007 World Series -- and NO, I did NOT actually buy a copy, nor do I have a subscription. The only reason I know this is that someone at the magazine emailed me a press release alerting me to it.

Methinks Tony doth protest a bit too much. If he wants nothing to do with scantily-clad women, he best avoid SoSG's EXCLUSIVE Abes vs Babes feature!