Padres play two; only one is on TV

By: JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Thursday, June 29, 2006 11:38 PM PDT ∞

Padres play two; only one is on TV

Baseball fans in San Diego get a rare treat Saturday ---- a Padres home doubleheader.

An April 4 rainout in San Diego has forced the Padres and Giants to play two games in one day. But this is a day-night doubleheader ---- one game at 12:05 p.m. and another at 7:05 p.m. with two separate admissions, as the Padres try to recoup some lost ticket revenue.

The Padres' gain, however, is your loss. Because the first game falls in Fox TV's exclusive Saturday window, Channel 4 can't carry the game.

"We tried everything to get the game on TV, but nothing worked," said Dennis Morgigno of Channel 4. "We asked the Padres to play a regular twilight doubleheader, but with the Giants and Barry Bonds in town, they wanted both revenues. We understand that, but we had to ask."

When that failed, Morgigno said Channel 4 officials appealed to Major League Baseball for a waiver so the station could jump into the Fox window. Since there was a rainout ---- extenuating circumstances ---- Morgigno figured Channel 4 had a chance.

"We got a resounding 'Go away, kid' on that," Morgigno said. "From our standpoint, this isn't good. We lost a night game with the Giants, a game that gets good ---- if not great ---- ratings. We're doing every night game already, so we have to replace a night game against the Giants with a day game (probably Aug. 17 against the Giants). Midweek, non-holiday day games are ratings killers.

"We guaranteed the Padres 140-plus games, and we will deliver. But as the team gets better, the national networks notice. So there is a chance we might lose a Saturday game in September to Fox."

The result? Fox will send the Angels-Dodgers game to San Diego ---- a good game, to be certain, but it's not the hometown team.

So, as it turns out, Channel 4's loss is also the fans' loss.

More doubleheader talk

Double X Sports Radio 1090 will carry both games of Saturday's doubleheader and plans 13 hours of Padres coverage, starting at 11 a.m. ---- one hour prior to the day's first pitch.

Between games, John Kentera and Bob Scanlan will host a postgame show until 4 p.m., when the station starts its normal night-game pregame coverage.

After the second game, Kentera and Scanlan return and take the postgame show to midnight.

No fireworks on 4th

The Fourth of July used to be one of ESPN's best days. It was wall-to-wall baseball with games all day, starting early and ending late.

But when the network signed its new contract with Major League Baseball, holiday games were excluded. So instead of four, five or six games on Tuesday, San Diego fans get two ---- the Cubs-Astros at 11 a.m. on WGN and the Padres-Phillies at noon on Channel 4.

Viewers in Los Angeles get the Angels-Mariners at 1 p.m. on FSN and the Diamondbacks-Dodgers at 6 p.m. on FSN-Prime. Those games, however, aren't available in San Diego.

To fill the baseball void, ESPN will carry the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest live at 9 a.m. from Coney Island, N.Y., followed by a World Cup soccer semifinal match at 11:55 a.m.

This is the third year ESPN has carried the hot-dog eating contest. The first two years, the event averaged 710,000 households.

Keep on pedaling

OLN will have 23 days of coverage from the Tour de France, starting with Saturday's Prologue and running through Stage 20 on July 23.

Race coverage starts most days at 5:30 a.m., with replays at 8:30 and 11:30 a.m.

Phil Liggett, the "Voice of Cycling," is the lead announcer. Seven-time Tour competitor Paul Sherman is the analyst.

The sweet science

> Showtime has a four-bout fight card Saturday night, featuring the sons of four former world champions. Chazz Witherspoon, James McGirt Jr., Ronald Hearns and Jorge Paez Jr. are featured from Michigan with the taped bouts starting at 9 p.m.

> OLN, the home of the NHL, the Tour de France and the Professional Bull Riders, announced a partnership with boxing promoter Top Rank. OLN's "Fight Night" will consist of a series of live bouts as well as classic fights from Top Rank's library. The fights will air roughly once per month at 6 p.m. Thursdays, beginning July 27.

Around the dial

> ESPN will carry the MLB All-Star Selection Show at 4 p.m. Sunday. The 60-minute special will include the announcement of the 2006 All-Star teams, starters, reserves and pitchers. Host Karl Ravech will be joined by analysts John Kruk, Steve Phillips and Harold Reynolds. The show will also include interviews with All-Star managers Ozzie Guillen and Phil Garner.

> Monday's College World Series championship between Oregon State and North Carolina drew a strong 2.2 rating, or 1.979 million households. ESPN's six CWS games averaged a 1.1 rating, up 22 percent from last year. ESPN2's 10 games averaged an 0.8, up 14 percent.

> Longtime NFL broadcaster John Madden, who makes the switch from ABC to NBC this season, has taken delivery of a new bus ---- a 2006 MCI E4500. It features a master bedroom/bathroom with a steam shower, full kitchen and a TracVision mobile satellite TV system from KVH Industries that brings in 155-plus all-digital channels. Madden, who hasn't flown since 1979, travels between 80,000 and 100,000 miles a year by bus.

> "The Big Break All-Star Challenge," airing Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on The Golf Channel, features members of the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox. In a coaches-vs.-players format, White Sox manager Guillen, coaches Tim Raines and Harold Baines and general manager Ken Williams take on players A.J. Pierzynski, Scott Podsednik, Jermaine Dye and Jon Garland. White Sox broadcaster Ed Farmer joins TGC's Stephanie Sparks on the telecast.

> Bonnie Bernstein, who most recently worked as the lead sideline reporter for CBS Sports' NFL and NCAA basketball coverage, has joined ABC and ESPN, where she'll work on ESPN's Sunday night baseball telecasts as well as college football.

John Maffei's TV/Radio Column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.