It’s been a trying offseason for Dodger fans, with LA being a non-factor in the free agency market thus far and Julie McCourt suggesting Manny Money could be better spent on playgrounds. None of that, however, matches the following item in terms of terror potential, as the Arizona Republic’s Jim Gintino reports Jeanne Zelasko hopes to become the Dodgers’ new radio play-by-play announcer (link swiped from Baseball Think Factory).
A position became available when Charlie Steiner, who did 40 games a year on cable, had his role redefined. Fox, meanwhile, canceled the baseball pregame show she hosted with Kevin Kennedy due to the loss of advertising revenue.
“I love everybody I work with and would do it until I fell out of the chair, and I love sports,” she said. “But this is an interesting time for me as I try to figure out, ‘OK, what’s next?’
“There is an opening for the Dodgers . . . so I have been beating down their door a little bit.”
Zelasko said it is understandable that the Dodgers asked her if she ever had done baseball play-by-play – the answer is no – but she had that role for ice-skating and gymnastics competitions.
“But I’ve been around baseball for a very long time, and Kevin Kennedy, who should be managing somewhere, taught me more about that the game than I think most people could even consider. I was blessed to be next to him for eight years. So I’m excited. I don’t know if they’ll bite.”
She knows the experience and gender factors are not in her favor, but she has conquered the odds before. She was the first female reporter to walk the NASCAR pits, and she has handled other “firsts” with relative ease.
“Honestly, I have walked on this thin ice before with anything I’ve ever done in my broadcasting career,” she said. “As I was telling the Dodgers, I would never ask for something I thought I would fail at. 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.”