Gwynn set for magical mystery tour
By: JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | ∞
His bags are packed, he's ready to go. Taxi's waiting and blowing its horn.
Tony Gwynn is leaving on a jet plane. And he doesn't know when he'll be back again.
Heck, he doesn't even know where he's going.
You can blame that on the crazy playoff race in the National League.
Gwynn and Chip Caray will form the No. 1 broadcast team as the Major League Baseball Division Series playoffs move to TBS this year.
Gwynn is in Milwaukee this weekend to call games on Channel 4 for the Padres-Brewers series, a four-game set that has major playoff implications.
With the likelihood of a play-in game Monday to get into the playoffs, he's not sure where he'll be after regular-season play concludes Sunday.
"If someone is playing Monday, I'll be there," Gwynn said. "I've got reservations for every city where there could be a game.
"All I can do is wait and see what happens. And if I have to go, I'll go.
"It's not about the travel, it's about preparing."
With the playoff matchups in both leagues still not clear, Turner Sports executive producer Jeff Behnke said it could be Sunday before he assigns his four broadcast crews ---- Caray-Gwynn, Dick Stockton-Bob Brenly, Ted Robinson-Steve Stone and Don Orsillo-Joe Simpson.
Caray and Gwynn are assured of working the NL Championship Series on TBS.
"I'm very comfortable putting Chip and Tony on any series," Behnke said. "So you could see them on the American League before the NLCS."
Fox has the ALCS and the World Series.
"It's crazy, it's exciting, and I love it," said Gwynn, who has worked two Braves games in recent weeks with Caray in anticipation of the playoffs. "It absolutely helps having already worked with Chip.
"TBS does things differently than the Padres. So now, I know Chip's cadence, when to jump in with a comment.
"There is no doubt, we'll make this work."
Gwynn is confident of that because Caray is a true pro.
Caray just completed his fifth season calling Braves games on TBS. Before that, he worked seven seasons of Cubs games on WGN and put in five seasons with Fox.
"It's really a challenge to get up to date on the American League," Caray said. "To be honest, we don't follow the Yankees, Angels, Indians and Red Sox. But we've been studying, doing our homework, our do diligence.
"And hopefully, we'll be in the playoff city well ahead of the start of the games."
The playoffs start Wednesday with three games, so if there is a Monday play-in game, Caray and Gwynn will be flying by the seat of their pants into their next city.
More playoffs
< TBS will have 30-minute pregame and 30-minute postgame shows for playoff contests. Ernie Johnson will anchor those shows, working with Cal Ripken Jr. and slugger Frank Thomas.
< TBS will have a field reporter at every playoff site, either Craig Sager, Marc Fein, Jose Mota or David Aldridge.ÝÝ
< Chip Caray is working the playoffs, but his father, Skip, who has worked for the Braves and TBS for 32 years didn't get a playoff assignment.
< With a 3 1/2-hour window between contests, there is a good chance games will run into each other. If that's the case, the game that is starting will move to TNT.
< For those not familiar with TBS and TNT, the folks at Cox Communications say that 99.9 percent of homes with cable TV get those stations. Cox will even carry the games in HD on Channel 333 for those with digital cable on the sports tier.
< ESPN, which had been the home of the playoffs, is having a major conflict with MLB. According to the SportsBusiness Journal, ESPN has refused to cross promote the TBS playoffs on its telecasts.
So MLB officials aren't sure if they'll credential ESPN's "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight" shows for studio sets at playoff sites.
< ESPN Radio 800 will have at least one playoff game every day with the schedule set once the pairings are final. XX Sports Radio will carry all Padres games should the team get in the playoffs.
< TBS will have a Sunday afternoon national game next season.
Strange telecasts
Did anyone else notice that Channel 4 Padres didn't have a replay of Sunday's Milton Bradley-Mike Winters on-field confrontation? And did you notice that the situation was barely addressed on Monday's pregame show? And with Bradley and Mike Cameron both injured, the team's player moves weren't announced on the air until the bottom of the first inning.
Channel 4 does a great job on its Padres coverage, but it dropped the ball on this one.
On the other hand, XX Sports 1090 ---- the Padres flagship radio station ---- did a great job Monday. It had interviews with Cameron and club president Sandy Alderson. Both fully addressed Sunday's incident.ÝÝ
Another all-sports station?
People have been let go, offices are being shifted, and the Internet is buzzing.
All signs point to Clear Channel's KLSD (1360) going to an all-sports format on or about Oct. 15.
Lee Hamilton would be the station's headliner. John Fricke is another name mentioned as a possibility.
Speaking of Hamilton, three weeks into his gig as color analyst on San Diego State football radio broadcasts on KOGO (600), he is meshing with play-by-play man Ted Leitner as roles have been better defined.
Hamilton will be in the lead chair for Saturday's Cincinnati-San Diego State game as Leitner stays with the Padres in Milwaukee.
Hamilton will work with ex-Aztec Akbar Gbaja-Biamila in the 7 p.m. broadcast.
Local notes
< Matt Vasgersian, the TV voice of the Padres on Channel 4, passed on a Sunday NFL assignment for Fox to remain with the Padres. He'll call tonight's game with Tony Gwynn, move over to Fox for Saturday's 12:55 p.m. to call that game with Eric Karros, and finish the season Sunday with Gwynn on Sunday on Channel 4.
Vasgersian moves back to the NFL beat next Sunday to call the Cardinals-Rams game for Fox.
< Dick Enberg and Randy Cross will call Sunday's Chiefs-Chargers game on CBS. Kickoff is 1:15 p.m.
< Last Sunday's Chargers-Packers game in Green Bay did a 23.9 rating in San Diego with a 52 share of the audience. In Milwaukee ---- the Packers' market ---- the game did a 35.5 rating with a 62 share.
< Speaking of the Chargers, I tried listening to the Patriots game two weeks ago on a Sunday night and last week's game on Sunday morning, both while driving on the I-15 ---- once north and once south. Both times, I lost the signal in the valleys.
Friends who drive the I-5 report the same thing. Shouldn't a playoff-caliber team like the Chargers have a better station with a stronger signal? The team and Clear Channel should be ashamed of themselves for letting this happen.
< Saturday's San Diego State football game against No. 23-ranked Cincinnati will be shown live on Versus.
< Starting Monday, Dan Patrick joins the morning lineup on KLAC (570). Patrick, whose syndicated show will originate from the KLAC studios in L.A., will work the 6-9 a.m. slot.Ý
Soccer time
ESPN2 will have live coverage of the third-place game and the title match from the Women's World Cup.
The third-place match ---- Norway vs. U.S. ---- is scheduled for 1:55 a.m. Sunday.
The championship match ---- Brazil vs. Germany is scheduled for 4:55 p.m.
Despite the early-morning start times, ratings for U.S. matches have been solid at about 0.7. But Thursday's 4-0 U.S. loss to Brazil in the semis will have a serious impact on viewership.
JP Dellacamera and Julie Foudy will call both matches.
NHL
The NHL seasons opens this weekend with a pair of 9 a.m. Ducks-Kings contests in London.
Saturday's game is on Fox Sports Net. Versus will have Sunday's game.
Versus is again the NHL's national ---- TV home with 60 games, including doubleheaders Wednesday and Oct. 10.
NBC joins in after the first of the year.
The Kings have 62 games on FSN and three on FSN Prime Ticket.
The Ducks have 41 games scheduled on FSN Prime Ticket and 17 on FSN.
Around the dial
< TNT will carry the four-ball matches from the Presidents Cup golf matches at 9 a.m. today. Saturday, NBC has the foursomes and four-ball matches, beginning at 5 a.m. Sunday, NBC has the singles matches, starting at noon. Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson highlight a field that includes eight of the top 10 players in the world in a competition that pits the U.S against a team of non-European international stars. "These matches can change a guy's career," NBC's Johnny Miller said.
< Five-time NBA All-Star Brad Daugherty will be in the TV booth for Saturday's noon NASCAR Busch Series on ESPN2.
< NBA superstar LeBron James will host the premiere episode of the 33rd season of "Saturday Night Live" this weekend. The show airs at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.
< NFL quarterback Vince Young will be featured on a segment of CBS' "60 Minutes" at 7 p.m. Sunday.
< The FIBA Americas Women's Basketball Championship game is set for 1 p.m. Sunday on NBA-TV. The semifinals air at 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday on NBA-TV. Today at 1 p.m., the U.S. plays Canada, also on NBA-TV. Former La Jolla Country Day star Candice Wiggins heads a list of U.S players that includes Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Courtney Paris, Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi.
Staff writer John Maffei's TV/Radio Column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.
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