Front-row squat for Vin Scully’s final FanFest. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

So before I talk about what’s new, I need to mention what’s old.

I’ve been actively writing about the Dodgers since 2002, almost but not entirely without fail. I’ve taken leave a couple times in the past 14 1/2 years, and that experience of coming and going has deterred me about waxing overly poetic about this departure.

That doesn’t mean I’m not feeling sentimental, weird and generally gooey about it. It just means that I don’t want to subject you to too much sentiment, weirdness and goo.

But what’s happened is this: I’ve gotten an opportunity that is a special one, for myself as well as my family, one that will take me back into the television business, which is my other career love, as vice president of corporate public relations for Showtime. So January 31 will mark my last day working for the Dodgers.

Cary Osborne has chosen to stay in his current role as Dodger Insider’s lead contributor, while a new editor for the blog and publications will be announced.

One thing I’m happy to say for certain is that I’m not done writing about the Dodgers. In the fall, I signed a deal for a book on the Dodgers that is scheduled to come out in 2018. In the months ahead, I’ll have more details, which I expect to announce over on my Twitter account if not, in between root beer reviews, at Dodger Thoughts. (Maybe my successors will be kind enough to share the news — hint, hint.)

Clayton Kershaw walks toward the clubhouse after his no-hitter, while I work on my story. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

But the main thing I want get across today is how special it was for me to work for the Dodgers. Short of me taking another career turn to become a park ranger, I’ll never find a job at as beautiful a setting as this. I’ll never forget the fleeting moment of holding Clayton Kershaw’s glove and baseball after his no-hitter, of having Fernando Valenzuela say hello to me in the halls, of a deep conversation with A.J. Ellis in the dugout on a glowing summer morning, among hundreds of other meaningful experiences, big and small.

I’ll also not forget how many grinding hours everyone here puts into their jobs, though those will take on the glow of a palm-lined sunset in my rear-view mirror as I drive away Tuesday. I really valued my opportunity to put my own stamp on Dodger publications, even if that opportunity ran shorter than I expected.

Corey Seager meets Orel Hershiser for the first time in 2014 — time to tweet about it. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Now, I will take another turn on the journey of being a Dodger fan that I wrote about only a month ago, before I knew I’d be leaving this job for another. I won’t stop hoping for the best for this franchise — even as I anticipate the pang in my gut when (yes, when) they win the World Series and I’m watching the celebration not as a colleague, but as a spectator.

Thanks, to all of you, for reading anything I wrote, however occasionally and whatever you might have thought of it. It was nice just to have my stuff looked at. Find me through Twitter — I won’t be a stranger.