Back where he belongs

Mark Wiedemaier, a special assistant to Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, just told us he is back doing what he does best -- and, as many in the game will tell you, he does better than almost anyone else in the business -- advance scouting. He took two years off those duties to be a special-assignment scout, but he is back now. He also got married this winter, for the first time ever at age 54, so it's a really good time in the life of a really good guy. His new stepdaughter, he tells us, is engaged to Brian Bosworth. Mark and his new wife will continue to live in the Tampa Bay area, but he'll go back to spending most of his time on the road. Advance scouting is one of the most important, yet thankless and under-recognized, jobs in the game. Basically, you catch a team about a week before that team plays your team and you look for weaknesses that can be exploited, strengths that need to be avoided and general tendencies you can try to work to your favor. When a club has pitchers' and hitters' meetings before the first game of each series, it is the advance scouting report that they are going over. Anyway, congratulations Wiedy.