Dodgers hire blogger Jon Weisman

Jon Weisman began his Dodgers Thought blog more than a decade ago. It became a go-to stop for fans of the team before he slowed down a few seasons ago — part of the toll of having children and a full-time job as an editor covering television for Variety. Well, today Weisman and the team announced he is leaving Variety to become the Dodgers' director of digital and print content. From the team:

In the newly created role, Weisman will be responsible for creating and producing original digital content for the club's website, as well as overseeing all of the Dodgers' publications, including Dodgers Magazine, and integrating them online.

In 2002, Weisman founded the independent website “Dodger Thoughts,” which emerged as a leading voice covering the Dodgers. For his efforts on the site, Los Angeles Magazine named him one of the five most influential people in sports in 2006. “Dodger Thoughts” was subsequently hosted by both the Los Angeles Times and ESPNLA.com in the past decade.

Weisman is also an accomplished author and, in 2009, he published the book "100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," a comprehensive take on the franchise's history and culture.

Weisman began his sportswriting career in 1986 and has written news, features, opinion and analysis for such media outlets as the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Pasadena Star-News, ESPN.com, SI.com, NBC Sports, Baseball Prospectus, The Hardball Times and Sports on Earth.

At his blog, Weisman breaks the news this way:

I will be writing plenty over there, as part of an overall series of duties that involves managing and producing content for the Dodgers’ publications and website.

As you can imagine, it’s an opportunity that was too intriguing and exciting for me to pass up, which is why I’m willing to give up the longest job I’ve ever held, a position at Variety that has brought me more great memories than I can begin to mention and placed me among a group of colleagues that have been such a pleasure to be with.

It’s also why I’m willing to put Dodger Thoughts in storage – though again, this isn’t exactly as newsworthy as it might have been, before I essentially took a vacation during the 2012-13 offseason, to focus on an extremely busy awards season for Variety. I did find a rebirth on Dodger Thoughts during the 2013 baseball season, but it was always in competition with the other directions I’ve been pulled in.

So while it would be premature to get into specifics about my new duties with the Dodgers, I can say that one of the greatest appeals for me is that for the first time, writing about the Dodgers will move from avocation to vocation, from hobby to primary activity.