Between working as a sportswriter and a statistician, Alpine resident Steve Dolan estimates he has watched in person more than 3,000 Major League Baseball (MLB) games while sitting in a press box over the past 50 years.
“That’s a lot of balls and strikes,” Dolan told Times of San Diego. “But, I love baseball, it’s a great game. I played baseball in high school (El Capitan High School in Lakeside, class of 1973).”
Dolan, 71, has been affectionately considered as the “Dean of the Padres Press Box” by his peers. He holds the longevity record for active news media covering the San Diego Padres ballclub. He started covering baseball in 1973 with the Back Country Trader, a now-defunct weekly community newspaper based in Lakeside.
Over the decades, Dolan has covered the Padres as a sportswriter for weekly and daily newspapers and wire services. His resume includes the El Cajon-based Daily Californian newspaper (1974-1977); the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs (1977); United Press International (1978-1979); the Los Angeles Times’ San Diego County Edition (1980-1987), the Associated Press (1988-1996) and SportsTicker (1997-2000).
In recent years, he has switched from writing game stories to serving as statistician. His career for compiling game stats has included working with play-by-play announcers for the Padres (2017-2023) and visiting teams’ TV talent since 2001. He has worked on national TV broadcasts on Fox Network and FS1, which owns TV rights for post-season MLB games.
Dolan has worked with Joe Davis, who is this year’s World Series play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports.
“Joe is the consummate professional,” Dolan said. “He’s committed to excellence and great to work with.”
So, what are Dolan’s expectations for the 2026 World Series between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Milwaukee Brewers?
“I’ve watched both teams, including when the Brewers beat the Padres in the National League playoff series, and I believe the Brewers have the advantage,” he said. “They play old-fashioned, team baseball, a style of baseball that typically wins championships. Good defense, strong bullpen that is virtually unhittable, timely base hits, they move runners along, they believe in themselves. Their team has good chemistry.
“The Rays also have good chemistry, but I think too much flair. I was turned off by the recent home run hit by Junior Caminero, the Rays’ third baseman (it was the Rays’ ALCS-clinching win over the Cleveland Guardians). The guy took 38 seconds to round the bases to show-off. That’s ridiculous.”
According to Statcast, MLB’s tracking system that uses cameras and radar to measure what happens on the field in every MLB ballpark, it was the longest postseason trot since the system was installed in 2015.
“I’m expecting an entertaining World Series between two teams with relatively low payrolls, which is refreshing,” said Dolan. “This year nobody is buying a championship, which has been the case in the past with large market teams.”
The Brewers — seeking their first World Series title in franchise history — currently have a 2-0 games advantage in the best-of-seven series.
The Brewers have been the best team in MLB since manager Pat Murphy took the helm, with MLB’s highest winning percentage over the last three regular seasons.
After setting another franchise record with 103 wins during the 2026 season, Murphy is in line to become the first manager ever to win the MLB Manager of the Year award three years in a row.
In 2015, Murphy was managing in the minor leagues for the Padres. He even got a call-up to the majors where he served as interim skipper replacing the fired Bud Black, only to be passed over for the full-time job by Padres general manager A.J. Preller.
Instead of Murphy, Andy Green got the job starting with the 2016 season. Green managed the Padres for nearly four seasons until he was fired in September 2019, posting a win-loss record of 274-366.
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San Diego Press Club to present scholarships at Tuesday awards ceremony
The San Diego Press Club (SDPC) will host its 53rd annual Excellence in Journalism awards program on Tuesday evening, Oct. 27, at the Southwestern College’s Student Union Ballroom, 900 Otay Lakes Rd. Chula Vista.
The awards event is open to the public. The pre-event reception runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m., followed by the program, from 8 to 9 p.m. Cost to attend is $65 for SDPC members and $76 for nonmembers. Free parking is available in Parking Lot “A.”
SDPC said more than 500 awards will be presented in more than 130 categories and 10 divisions, along with special career achievement awards and scholarships for college students. Award winners will include reporters, writers, artists, photographers, videographers and public relations professionals, along with college journalists.
For ticket information, visit www.sdpressclub.org. For sponsorship information, contact Albert Fulcher, SDPC executive director, at admin@sdpressclub.org, or 858-215-1619.
Two local college students planning to pursue a career in journalism will be recognized with scholarships at the event: Calla Jordan from the University of San Diego (USD) and AB Coles from San Diego City College.
Jordan, recipient of the $2,500 Frank Saldana Memorial Scholarship, is a senior at USD earning a degree in communications and political science. She has worked for the student newspaper, the USD Vista, on top of her studies, and is currently its managing editor.
“Throughout my academic career, student journalism has been a constant source of motivation and inspiration for me,” said Jordan. I began contributing to The USD Vista my junior year. I immediately found a community of energized and focused students.
“I feel so lucky because now, not only can I work with USD communities to foster education and accountability, but I can help those interested in journalistic writing become strong and passionate writers.”
Cole, recipient of the $1,500 SDPC Futures Circle Scholarship, is majoring in journalism and is currently a multimedia journalist for SDCC’s City Times. She began her journey in journalism while attending Coronado Middle School.
“Getting this scholarship feels like a sign I am making things happen and, most importantly, helps me feel like I am on the right path,” said Cole. “I left my old university in New York to come home and continue my education locally. It did not feel right in New York despite the success I achieved. I was a main producer for the radio station and a package producer all in my first year, but it never felt right.
“Since dropping out, I was in fear of the future. I got worried, wondering if I made the wrong decision to leave New York, but I have realized one thing this year. It is not about the place, but it is about what you can make of it. No matter where we are, if you have enough passion, you can make anything happen.”
Along with their scholarships, SDPC said each recipient will receive a one-year, SDPC student membership.
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Political ad spending tops $11 billion
The U.S. political advertising business is heading into its final week for the 2025-2026 political cycle and the overall amount of money scheduled to be spent is staggering.
AdImpact, a media tracking firm, continues to project that $11.6 billion will be spent on midterm campaign ads. That compares to previous midterm expenditures of $9 billion for 2020 and $8.9 billion for 2022.
In a similar report, the ad tracking group Kinetiq Political Insights (KPI) said $1.87 billion in broadcast and cable TV has aired or has been booked for October, with $1.01 billion scheduled for Oct. 15-31 alone.
KPI projects $11.96 billion will be spent in total media spending during the 2025-2026 election cycle, with races in Texas and Michigan attracting significant dollar amounts.
Democrats are racing to take advantage of a favorable political environment, while Republicans are committed to defend full control of Congress. Voting already has started in many states, thereby shrinking the pool of Americans left to convince.
Democratic candidates have dominated in fundraising, according to news reports. However, when you include Political Action Committees (PACs), Republicans have a huge financial advantage.
Axios reports that Republicans are trouncing Democrats in political spending across the Senate map, and that advantage is now showing up in one of the metrics campaigns care about most: impressions.
“Money matters in a campaign’s closing weeks, but what campaigns are ultimately buying is voters’ attention,” Axios said.
The New York Times reported that the five largest Republican PACs raised roughly $732 million more than the five largest Democratic PACs between January 2025 and mid-October of this year.
The Times also reported the Republican National Committee has significantly outraised the Democratic National Committee, while transferring about $44 million to party committees.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Republican-supported spending has exceeded that for Democrats in every Senate race considered a tossup by the Cook Political Report.
In House elections, Republican-aligned spending in September was ahead of Democrats in 15 of 21 races that Cook has rated as tossups, according to AdImpact.
In ad reservations, which can change, Republicans are scheduled to outspend their Senate opponents in several states, including in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Ohio and Texas. Democrats have reserved more advertising time in Georgia, according to AdImpact.
“The fight for Congress has never been more expensive,” AdImpact said in its recent report.
Sen. John Kennedy (R.-La.), who has traveled extensively in support of GOP candidates, told the Journal, “I think we’re going to have enough money. I think if we have a bad result in the midterms, I don’t think we’ll be able to blame it on money.”
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly in Times of San Diego.
