NL West

Joe Torre is undoubtedly one of the most successful managers in sports history. Starting as a manager for the Yankees in 1996, Torre went on to manage the team for 12 straight years, bringing them to the playoffs in each year. Also add in four championships.

At the end of the 2007 season, Joe Girardi took over as the Yankees manager, and Torre went on to manage the Dodgers. Three years later, he has announced that he will be stepping down as manager of the Dodgers in 2011, and will hand over the job to Don Mattingly.

Don Mattingly will has been announced as the next manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Torre, who is in his 29th season as a MLB manager, has resigned as the Dodgers manager. The Dodgers are 72-75 and have been struggling lately.

Torre has managed the Dodgers for three seasons.

The Dodgers have scheduled a news conference for later today where they will name Mattingly as the next manager.

It is still unclear whether Torre will retire or search for another job.

According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, Joe Torre will soon announce that he is stepping down as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he will be replaced at the helm by former Yankee captain Don Mattingly.

It has been assumed for years that Mattingly would eventually take over for Torre, but most imagined that it would happen in the Bronx.

With speculations swirling regarding the future of the Los Angeles Dodgers as far as payroll and players, one thing is finally put to rest today. Joe Torre will not have his contract picked up this off-season, and Don Mattingly will replace Torre as manager. 

The changing of the guard will be officially announced later today before the Dodgers take on the Colorado Rockies.

Last Night Rewind

On June 16, 2010, the San Diego Padres got out of bed and looked up at the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were white-knuckling a half-game lead in the National League West. The next day, the Pads would move into a first-place tie with the Bums and wouldn't relinquish the catbird's seat for the rest of June.

Or July.

Or August.

Or the through the first 16 days of September.

The 1989 San Francisco Giants will always be a special team. They were the first Giants squad that I had the rare privilege of watching play in a World Series.

This Giant team had a potent lineup, they could hit for average and power. They featured a good rotation and solid relievers. They also had a repuation for being able to pick it on defense.

With players like Will Clark, Mike Krukow and Candy Maldonado, the 1989 Giants also had some spunk and swagger.

Dear Magic Johnson,

We need you.

That’s right.  We the people of Southern California and the fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers need your help.

Just like you did in 1980 when you came to Los Angeles and revitalized the Lakers, we need your skills to give us an assist in baseball.

Troy Tulowitzki is doing his best to make sure that he doesn't get lost in the Carlos Gonzalez hype.

Here is today's Holy Crap discovery. It has to do with the roller coaster season Andre Ethier has had.

But let's not start in 2010. Let's go back to 2008.

Back in 2008, you'll recall, Manny Ramirez made kind of an ass out of himself (which is like saying back in the summer of 2003 Kobe Bryant had some trouble in Colorado), and got himself run out of Boston. The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Manny, he had an unbelievable two months with L.A., and the Dodgers went to the NLCS.