Kuo to the DL

The shot in the story article was interesting in that it looks like it was taken well over their heads. Where was your photographer shooting that from? The press box?

about freaking time. The guy has not been right for weeks. Hope he can contribute some time this season as when he is healthy he's super, but I think we all knew he would go down at least once during the season, especially the way Torre leans on the pen.

They brought up Leach to replace him.

GScott,

Are you sure it's Leach? I read the following comment in Gurnick's article that's on the Dodger website.

"There was no announcement Friday night, but the likely candidate would be Brent Leach, who was just optioned back to Double-A Chattanooga on Wednesday night after allowing two runs in 2 1/3 innings in San Francisco."

Clearly the reference to the "two runs in 2 1/3 innings" was citing Scott Elbert's work before being sent back to Chattanooga. Besides, Leach was never optioned back to anywhere, since he hasn't been up with Dodgers this year.

Also, I didn't see anything on the Dodger site indicating that anyone had yet been called up to replace Kuo, though I expect that someone will be. It the Dodgers want Leach and Elbert working regularly, I would suspect it might be Milton or Estes.

Finally, I have the following question. Can Tony charge the Daily News a fee for continuing to use his picture on this blog, and for also still referring to the blog as "Tony Jackson's Blog" on their Dodger page?

GScott,

Looks like you're correct. Just got this from Dodger Thoughts.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgerthoughts/2009/05/dodgers-promote-brent-leach-to-replace-kuo.html

Good stuff about Tony. All that follows is from LaDugout at Scout.com. I cut and pasted because it's a subscriber only service, so a link would not be sufficient.

Tony Jackson Second L.A. Beat Writer Laid Off

Tony Jackson By Tot Holmes
Pubisher
Posted May 2, 2009

Tony Jackson, who has covered the Dodgers for the Los Angeles Daily News since 2004 and has covered Major League Baseball on a regular basis since 1995, became the second Dodgers beat writer laid off this spring, following Diamond Leung

We had the privilege of spending six years in the press room at Vero Beach and at Camelback Ranch and Tony was always available to help us or to answer our questions no matter how busy he was. He always treated us as an equal, a reaction we didn't always receive in that small circle of special writers.

An extremely knowledgeable writer, and one of the truly good guys in the dwindling business of writing about sports, previously covered the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds. He is a native of Springdale, Arkansas, and a graduate of the University of Arkansas.

We will truly miss him, along with the thousands of his devoted readers.

Rather than fight back against the talking heads on television, and the inane twitters and tweets of the world, another large paper has chosen to cut back in the sports department.

Diamond Leung, who had it happen to him during spring training and now has his own blog, reported the painful news this way:

"One day during my first spring training with the Dodgers, I was the second-to-last person to leave the stadium after a game against the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

"Near the stadium, I rolled over something and had to pull over my rental car into an empty parking lot. Darkness was falling, and I’m no good with my hands.

"Thousands of miles from home, 45 minutes away from Vero Beach, there was really only one person I could call for help.

"Yes, Tony Jackson - the last man in the press box - finished his story and then changed my flat tire.

"Sure, we were competitors. And definitely we were different - Tony being the Cal Ripkin of beat writers with the Los Angeles Daily News and me the 25-year-old who he’d often joke was too “young, hip and cool.” He was proudly everything those adjectives were not.

"The baseball beat brought us together. You spend more time with the guys on the beat than your own family, friends and co-workers. You learn their quirks. You know them so well that you can exchange looks and know exactly what each other is feeling.

"Getting lost in conversation while sitting in a strange bar restaurant in a strange city with a 6 a.m. flight the next day to catch, that’s all you have to stay sane sometimes. Glamorous, isn’t it?

"When I walked into the clubhouse at AT&T Park earlier this week and saw the Dodgers regulars for the first time since my layoff, Tony didn’t immediately greet me. He laughed and explained later that he was so used to the sight of me in the clubhouse that he immediately didn’t think anything of it.

"We shook hands, and I told him I’d see him in August when the Dodgers came to town again. Yesterday, it was learned that Tony would be the second Dodgers beat writer laid off in as many months and yet another voice silenced

I just don't think Tony can be replaced. This is a grave mistake for the Daily News.