Zelasko for Dodgers' TV play-by-play gig? Why not

We're aware of a couple of well-qualified broadcasters who've inquired about what's going into the Dodgers' decision on finding a play-by-play person for their 40-game TV road game package, since Charley Steiner has been reassigned to radio only.

Not to give away any of the candidates -- the usual suspects, sure -- but one that's come up on the radar is someone we should have thought of immediately. At least, if you're thinking outside the box.

Jeanne Zelasko, who found out last month that Fox won't be needing her to do the MLB studio show this summer, has told Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic (story linked here) that's she's "been beating down their door a little bit," telling the Dodgers she's very interested in the gig. Even without baseball play-by-play experience.

"I've been around baseball a very long time, and (former Red Sox and Rangers manager) Kevin Kennedy (working with her in the studio as well as on the FSN Prime Ticket telecasts) ... taught me more about the game than I think most people could ever consider," said Zelasko, the wife of KABC-Channel 7 sportscaster Curt Sandoval and 42-year-old mother ot two. "I was blessed to be next to him for eight years (in the studio).

"So I'm excited. I don't know if they'll bite."

Why wouldn't they? Why shouldn't they? She's done ice skating and gymnastics play-by-play before.

"I would never ask for something I thought I would fail at," she said. "I think it's gonna take the right woman at the right time, and if I may be so bold, I believe that person's me."

To date, we know only of Suzyn Waldman (linked here) doing any broadcasting for a major league team, hired in 2005 as a color analyst for the New York Yankees' WCBS-AM radio, working with play-by-play man John Sterling. Zelasko would be the first woman to do play-by-play in the big leagues if the team is that forward thinking.

Zelasko's next Fox network assignment is as the sideline reporter for the Jan. 2 Cottom Bown. She will also be part of the Fox All-Star Game and World Series coverage in 2009.