Sportswriter Bruce Jenkins in, of all places, the San Francisco Chronicle, recalls the late Dodgers centerfielder as the coolest of them all. The UPI photo of Davis with Don Sutton is from 1966, presumably out of the Chronicle morgue based on the crop marks.

He exuded style, a sense of the pure aesthetic, and he could have excelled at any sport. His choice of baseball was a blessing to the game, and among those of us who watched him up close at Dodger Stadium in the early 1960s, there was no question he was the fastest man alive. In a race from first to third with a running start, I'm not sure even Bob Hayes could have caught him.

Davis was found dead Tuesday at the age of 69 (authorities believe there was no foul play), leaving behind a legacy of unique, unforgettable talent. He made two All-Star teams, racked up 2,561 hits, had a 31-game hitting streak, won three consecutive Gold Glove awards, but he wasn't an elite outfielder in the National League. With the likes of Willie Mays,Henry Aaron, Frank Robinson and Roberto Clemente in the mix, that just wasn't possible.

What none of those players had - few that I can recall in any era - was Davis' combination of urban cool and blazing speed. He addressed the world at a slow, measured pace, never in a rush. He basically let life come to him. Even as he approached home plate with a bat in his hands, he struck the impression of a man wearing shades at the far corner table of a jazz club.

Jenkins grew up rooting for the Dodgers and covered the team part-time for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook in 1972. Davis was found dead yesterday at his home in Burbank at 69.

Peter O'Malley remembers: "I can see him running," O’Malley told Steve Dilbeck. "See him running the bases, running in the field." O'Malley used to lend Davis his car in spring training days at Vero Beach.

Brand, the former host of "Day to Day" on National Public Radio, will host a news magazine show in the old DTD slot at 9 a.m. on KPCC's daily schedule. From the release:

Brand is a native of Los Angeles and was a journalist for National Public Radio for 12 years. She is best known for her work as a co-host of the NPR news magazine Day to Day as well as a west coast contributor to Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

SCPR will immediately begin building a staff for this currently unnamed program. The staff will include producer/reporters, online, technical and support staff. The program itself will cover a wide range of topics, but all with a distinctive Southern California perspective. This will be the first time KPCC has developed a new program with a significant online component from the outset. President of SCPR, Bill Davis says, “Madeleine is an amazing journalist, interviewer and field reporter. She has tremendous intellectual bandwidth, but doesn’t take herself too seriously”. Davis continues, “Adding her to our weekday line-up strengthens SCPR’s position as the broadcast news leader in Southern California; and we can’t wait to hear her on the air again at 9:00 AM.”

The Madeleine Brand hosted show will air Monday through Friday from 9-10am, replacing BBC Newshour. Brand says, “I look forward to working with all the excellent journalists at KPCC, and I'm honored to be in the lineup with Larry and Pat. Even though I'm part British and love the BBC, I think we need a little more California in that 9 am hour, and I'm excited to bring it."

This will give KPCC three locally produced news and talk shows on weekdays, including those hosted by Larry Mantle and Patt Morrison.

He was a Dodger for three injury and cheers-filled seasons, but for this morning's announcement Garciaparra returned to the Boston Red Sox on a one-day contract so he could say he retired with the team where the fans truly loved him. Out of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Garciaparra played 14 seasons in the majors but due to injuries was done as a star by the age of 32. Official reason for retirement: "daughter wants Daddy home." He ends with a .313 lifetime batting average and hit as many as 35 homers in a season. His wife, the soccer star Mia Hamm, attended his emotional press conference in Fort Myers, Fla. Garciaparra will be an analyst in "Baseball Tonight." The video interview is with Gordon Edes, the former L.A. Times Dodgers writer.

Even with his company deep into bankruptcy, Tribune CEO Randy Michaels found time to issue a proclamation banning the use of "newspeak" words and phrases on the company's AM radio station in Chicago. A lot of words — more than 100. As reported by Vocalo.org via Romeneko, among the verboten are:

“Flee” meaning “run away”
“Good” or “bad” news
“Flee” meaning “run away”
“Good” or “bad” news
“Laud” meaning “praise”
“Seek” meaning “look for”
“Some” meaning “about”
“Two to one margin” . . . “Two to one” is a ratio, not a margin. A margin is measured in points. It’s not a ratio.
“Yesterday” in a lead sentence
“Youth” meaning “child”
5 a.m. in the morning
After the break
After these commercial messages
Aftermath
All of you
Allegations
Alleged
Area residents
As expected
At risk
At this point in time
Authorities

And many more. The news director at WGN adds an admonition that staffers should keep track of each other's violations. How long before the ban reaches KTLA here?

The restaurant at Santa Monica Airport accused of serving banned whale sushi is less than two miles from the offices of Heal the Bay. When the New York Times broke the story, HTB president Mark Gold began trying to get the place closed — but this time doesn't have to worry about his brother, Jonathan Gold the food writer.

I sent an e-mail to some Santa Monica city councilmembers asking them to take action immediately. Santa Monica is known as one of the most environmentally sensitive cities in the nation, so a local sushi house selling whale is an outrage and an embarrassment.

Councilmember Kevin McKeown, a vegetarian, responded by asking City Attorney Marsha Moutrie to investigate if a violation of the law is grounds for revoking the Hump’s business license.

Councilmembers Terry O’Day and Richard Bloom also contacted the city attorney. After all, the restaurant actually sits on Santa Monica property at the airport, so a violation of the law should be grounds for revoking its business license or canceling its lease. (The full council was scheduled to discuss the matter at its regular Tuesday night meeting.)

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In a humorous dig at my family, Councilman McKeown also opined that “We need to do something before Mark’s brother (L.A. Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold) goes there and gives the joint a favorable review.”

As a point of fact, my bro likes exotic food but he actually hates the Hump because it is “gimmicky and weird.”

“Restaurants resort to gimmicks generally because their chefs just aren’t very good,” he tells me.

Brothers Mark and Jonathan went a few rounds over whale eating back in 2008.

* City investigates: Gold posts a follow that the Santa Monica city attorney will begin looking into the eatery's legal status as a city tenant.

Gavin Newsom chatter, Cooley calls out his deputies, National Magazine Award finalists, another AOL Patch in South Bay, the death of Corey Haim and more.

The Clippers and general manager Mike Dunleavy are parting ways, just weeks after he stepped down as coach to focus on being GM. "The team has simply not made sufficient progress during Dunleavy’s seven-year tenure," says the statement. "The Clippers want to win now." When?

It's been kind of amusing watching today's Twitter traffic from reporters who showed up at The Hump, the exotic food restaurant upstairs at Santa Monica Airport. They were there because the New York Times went front page this morning with a Jennifer Steinhauer story detailing a sting that accused the restaurant of serving outlawed whale meat. The revelation even had a nice Oscar connection: the presence of whale on the menu was checked by the team from Sunday's Oscar-winning documentary film “The Cove,” whose members went in with hidden cameras and collected speciments that were tested and confirmed as being the flesh of a Sei whale. Steinhauer:

In the clash of two Southern California cultures — sushi aficionados and hard-core animal lovers — the animal lovers have thrown a hard punch.

“This isn’t just about saving whales,” said Louie Psihoyos, the director of “The Cove,” a documentary that chronicles eco-activists’ battles with Japanese officials over dolphin hunting. “But about saving the planet.”

Psihoyos has a local media connection himself. Now a photographer living in Boulder, he was once a photo intern at the Los Angeles Times. For the restaurant, the feds say charges are likely to be filed. The Wrap has the federal search warrant affadavits. Watch for more stories tonight.

Photo: Monica Almeida / New York Times