lol... didn't Dolgin replace that one heavy eyebrowed schmuck that was a legend in his own mind:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... Id=rss_cwsCHICAGO -- Five years ago today, Bryan Dolgin's work responsibilities took him deep into overtime.
With those six or seven extra broadcast hours brought about by the White Sox clinching their first World Series title in nine decades, Dolgin was happy to push through.
"We were on until 5 a.m.," said Dolgin during a recent phone interview, speaking of his duties as the White Sox pregame and postgame host at the time on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, following the team's 1-0 victory in Houston, completing the historic four-game sweep.
"I went home and kissed my wife as she was getting up," Dolgin said. "I said, 'The White Sox are World Series champs and I'm going to bed.' I woke up at noon, thinking it was a dream or something."
Countless White Sox fans celebrating that anniversary as a sort of unofficial holiday on Oct. 26 will confirm to Dolgin how that moment in time lives on in a dream state forever, but it certainly did happen. Dolgin worked just that one year for the White Sox, as the team switched flagship stations to WSCR 670 AM, The Score, beginning a new deal with the 2006 campaign.
But Dolgin has continued on not only as a talented broadcaster but as a Major League good luck charm. One year with the White Sox equaled the franchise's first championship since 1917 and its first World Series appearance since '59.
In his first year filling that same pregame and postgame role for the Texas Rangers' radio broadcasts, a job he began this past March, Dolgin has watched team president Nolan Ryan's club reach the first World Series in franchise history. In fact, Dolgin has a string of first-year playoff/championship success dating back to the Northern League's Joliet Jackhammers reaching the postseason in his debut as their play-by-play man, followed by Myrtle Beach's championship run while Dolgin was broadcasting there.
Even the Miami Hurricanes were repeat College World Series participants during Dolgin's time covering the team in college.
"For me, the season ends with the World Series," said Dolgin with a laugh, referring to his two years working in Major League Baseball. "I don't know how it can't be that way."
"He's certainly got that golden horseshoe," said White Sox vice president and chief marketing officer Brooks Boyer, who worked with Dolgin during the 2005 season and his ensuing years as part of the Chicago media. "I think it's awesome. He was around for a while and did a great job for us. I'm proud of him and happy for him." 35th Street Slick concurs "Dolgin is a good man, a huge upgrade over the previous pre- and post-game host."
Infielder Juan Uribe and center fielder Aaron Rowand, the one-time gritty heart and soul of the White Sox, will be representing the 2005 South Side champions as part of the '10 Giants in the World Series. Dolgin finds more parallels to be drawn between the '05 White Sox and the modern-day Rangers.
Both teams stressed pitching and defense and relied on timely hitting. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who will return for World Series broadcast work with FOX this week, and Texas manager Ron Washington serve as the team's primary focus, taking pressure off the players, with the players believing in their respective manager's doctrine. And both teams always stressed that day's game at hand.
"No matter how great a game or how tough a loss took place the day before, the White Sox and Rangers never looked ahead or behind," Dolgin said. "They washed out the day before."
Then there were the off-the-wall parallels between the two teams coming from Dolgin's perspective. In August 2005, a fan jumped from the upper deck into the netting behind home plate at Yankee Stadium during the eighth inning of a game between the Yankees and White Sox. During the present season, a fan fell from the second deck at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington while reaching for a foul ball.
Luckily and amazingly, both fans quickly returned to full health.
"There's another one," Dolgin said. "In 2005, I had an endorsement deal with Denny Guest South Oak Dodge. This year, I have an endorsement deal with Meador Dodge Chrysler Jeep in Fort Worth, [Texas]."
KRLD 105.3 The Fan and Newsradio 1080 AM are the Rangers' postseason flagship stations, and strangely enough for Dolgin, this is the final year of their broadcast deal. If Dolgin somehow becomes a free agent, the championship-starved Cubs might want to take a look at his availability.
For now, though, the 35-year-old is focused on his work in San Francisco. Dolgin is hoping for continued extra hours of postgame talk to share with ecstatic Rangers fans, especially on that potential clinching night.
"I'm the walk-off interviewer for the clincher," said Dolgin, who was present when the Rangers locked up the AL West in Oakland and when Texas eliminated the Rays and Yankees from the playoffs, capturing the AL pennant. "Both teams, the 2005 White Sox and the Rangers, are extremely fun to be around. Great characters and great people.
"Whether it's colleagues, friends or family, once I got this job, they joked how the Rangers were going to the World Series," said the married father of two daughters. "I've been extremely lucky, really off the charts as far as luckiness."
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