When Scott Harvey and I launched ThinkBlueLA back in 2009, we did so exclusively as a fan-based interactive forum – this in spite of Scott’s urging that we launch it as a blog site instead. My reasoning was twofold: First, I had been very active on several other forums and loved the ability to interact with those sharing my passion and being able to share in good-natured bantering among friends. Second and more to the point, I am not a journalist, nor have I ever been one – an occupation for which I have always had tremendous respect. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to write or had an aversion to it – Lord knows I spent most of my adult life writing narrative crime reports as a police detective until retiring almost four years ago.

As our membership on the ThinkBlueLA forum grew, I found myself frequently sharing links to several of the better Dodger-related blog sites with our members. Two of the better blog sites out there were Eric Stephen’s True Blue LA site and Tony Jackson’s L.A. Daily News site. What I liked most about these sites was not only what was presented but how it was presented. As we all know, there are hundreds of Dodger blog sites out there, and while some are very good, there are far more that are… well… not so good. I mean, anyone with ten bucks and a catchy domain name can start a blog site, but being brutally honest, there are maybe only a dozen or so Dodger-related blog sites that are daily ‘must read’ sites and Eric and Tony’s have always been at the top of that list.

Tony Jackson has been covering Major League Baseball since 1995 and the Dodgers exclusively since 2004. He holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Arkansas.
(Photo courtesy of DodgerScribe.com)

Although Eric and Tony’s writing styles differ significantly: Eric being a walking baseball encyclopedia and the ‘go to guy’ for virtually any baseball-related question, and Tony being a very direct ‘just the facts, ma’am’ kind of guy who sugarcoats nothing and tells it like it is – good or bad (kind of like a narrative police report), both of these gentlemen were a major inspiration for me and influenced our decision to expand ThinkBlueLA to include a blog site.

It was during Tony’s time with ESPNLosAngeles that I first met him in person (when his hair was down to his… to the middle of his back). My very first words to him were simply “I like your work Tony.” And even though we spoke several times (mostly during spring training at Camelback Ranch), Tony had absolutely no idea who I was and quite possibly still does not. Regardless, I continued following Tony’s site and always enjoyed his work.

Shortly after we went live with the ThinkBlueLA blog site after spring training 2012 I was blessed to receive credentials from MLB and the Dodger organization allowing me access to the press box and related privileges. It was during this time that I met Eric Stephen in person for the first time. Eric was kind enough to show me the ropes, for which I will be eternally grateful. (In my words, I was like a fish out of water and in Dodger PR Director Joe Jareck’s words “You look like one”). I also came to know several of the Dodger beat writers from the L.A. Times, L.A. Daily News, ESPN, Associated Press, MLB.com and several other publications and blog sites. But the one guy who was noticeably missing was Tony Jackson.

After covering several games from the press box, I asked ESPNLosAngeles writer Mark Saxon “Where’s Tony?” Mark politely told me that Tony was no longer with ESPNLosAngeles and that he hadn’t heard from Tony in a while, but heard that he was living in the Phoenix area.

Here again, Tony had (has) no idea who I am and I had no way to contact him to see how (and what) he was doing these days. I certainly had no idea as to the circumstances surrounding his absence, nor was it any of my business, but I also knew that one day, some day Tony Jackson would reappear. If there is one thing that I have learned in my very short time at this it’s that once you get this stuff into your system, it’s like an addiction.

Lo and behold, about two months ago Tony Jackson popped up on Twitter (@dodgerscribe) after a lengthy absence. Tony’s return was well received by many (most) of the journalists and bloggers whom I have come to know over the past two years. And then this past Tuesday, Hall of Fame Dodger broadcaster Jaime Jarrin tweeted that he is excited that his “sobrino” (nephew) will be back on the job in the Dodger press box this coming Friday (today).

Needless to say, this news spread like wildfire and on Wednesday, Tony announced (on Twitter) that he has created his own blog site called (are you ready for this) DodgerScribe.com and he will again be reporting on all things Dodgers; proof yet again that you can’t keep a good man down.