Finale for Scully May Not Be One

Vin Scully’s final baseball assignment for NBC will be the National League playoffs.

After that, his future as a network baseball announcer would appear to be over, since CBS takes over baseball next season.

But don’t count Scully out.

Brent Musburger and Tim McCarver are set as one of the CBS baseball announcing teams, and Jim Kaat is in line to be the commentator on the other team.

There has been speculation that Dick Stockton will be the other play-by-play man, but Stockton’s football and basketball schedule pretty much takes him out of the running.

That’s where Scully could fit in. He would be an obvious choice.

Scully’s contract with NBC expires after he works a couple of golf assignments in November, so he will be available.

Meanwhile, ESPN reportedly has decided that its No. 1 team on baseball next season will include Baltimore Oriole announcer Jon Miller and former all-star second baseman Joe Morgan.

Superfan’s return: Ed (Superfan) Bieler returns to radio station KABC next week. He will serve as the lone host of a new, expanded “Sportstalk” show that will run weeknights from 4 to 8.

Fred Wallin, the current host, will become the show’s producer.

Wallin’s reaction?

“Well, you know, Ed and I have been friends for almost 20 years,” he said. “He hired me to help produce his show when he first came to KABC. He and I think alike. It’s going to be fun.

“I’m not disappearing from the air. I’ll file reports, I’ll fill in when Ed’s on vacation and I’ll do some of the ‘Dodgertalk’ shows next baseball season.”

Bieler is returning to the station that fired him 13 years ago. It has been reported that George Green, KABC’s general manager who is bringing Bieler back, was the person who fired him.

But actually Ben Hoberman was the station’s general manager at the time and Green the sales manager. Green became the general manager in 1979.

To promote Bieler’s arrival, KABC had him on with Stu Nahan Tuesday and with Michael Jackson Wednesday. You’d have thought Bieler and Nahan were old friends.

Back in the ‘70s, though, Nahan, among others, did a pretty good job of bashing Bieler. Most of the sportscasters in town viewed Bieler as an irresponsible hack with no training.

Basically, they were right. He was a trucking executive with no previous radio experience when he started at KWIZ in Orange County in 1972.

He made it to KABC the next year, and became a ratings success.

He stood up for the fans, the little guys, and that was part of his appeal. Besides that, he was entertaining.

But sometimes his judgment left something to be desired. For instance, he criticized the hot dogs at Dodger Stadium, even though the manufacturer was one of his station’s sponsors.

Things like that, plus some threatened lawsuits, eventually got him fired.

Now he’s back.

So what has he learned?

“For one thing, you don’t aggravate the sponsors,” he said.

Suit filed: FNN Sports, as threatened, has filed suit in New York against ABC because of the similarities between Todd Donoho’s “Monday Night Live” show on Channel 7 and “Time Out for Trivia,” a show Donoho used to do for FNN.

Said FNN attorney Tony Handal of Norwalk, Conn.: “We are concerned with being associated with such a show.”

In the papers filed Thursday, FNN calls the show clumsy, humorless and tasteless.

Goodwill host: Turner Broadcasting has announced that CNN’s Larry King, an unusual choice, will serve as the prime-time host of the Goodwill Games in Seattle next summer.

Also hosting will be Nick Charles and Hannah Storm.

TV-Radio Notes

Vin Scully is taking the weekend off, so Bob Costas and Tony Kubek will work NBC’s 981st and final baseball “Game of the Week” Saturday, Baltimore at Toronto at 11:30 a.m. A special half-hour pregame show at 11 a.m. will reflect on NBC’s long run of baseball coverage. . . . If the American League East race is still alive, ABC will televise Sunday’s Baltimore-Toronto game at noon, and if there is a playoff Monday in Baltimore, NBC will televise it at 10 a.m.

Former UCLA announcer Joel Meyers is getting some good assignments from NBC. Sunday, he and Paul Maguire will work the Cleveland-Denver game that will be seen in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. . . . The CBS announcers for the Ram-San Francisco game on Channel 2 at 1 p.m. will be Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts. Channel 2 would also be able to show Washington-New Orleans at 10 a.m. if it weren’t for the Raiders playing at home.

Prime Ticket originally planned to televise UCLA’s 3:30 p.m. game against California at the Rose Bowl Saturday, but chose Arizona-Oregon instead. Good choice. . . . A tape of the UCLA-Cal game will be shown by Prime Ticket at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. . . . USC-Washington State will be on ABC at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, following Notre Dame-Purdue. Steve Alvarez and Mike Adamle will be the announcers on the USC game.

Here’s a good idea from Don Corsini, Prime Ticket program director. During most King telecasts this season, after the game has ended, the third period will be shown again. And during most Laker telecasts, the fourth quarter will be repeated. . . . The Kings will make 75 regular-season appearances on Prime Ticket this season, 13 more than last season. The Kings’ season opener is next Thursday against Toronto at the Forum. It will be on Prime Ticket, as will home games the next Saturday and Sunday against Edmonton and Detroit.

Randy Hahn replaces Rich Marotta as host of the Kings’ pre- and post-game shows on Prime Ticket. The last four years, Hahn has done play-by-play for the San Diego Sockers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Hahn, a Canadian, used to work in Edmonton. “It’s been a dream of mine to get back to the NHL,” he said.

Channel 9, now owned by Disney, is going through some major shake-ups in preparation for its planned 8-11 nightly news block beginning Jan. 15. A lot of announcers have been dismissed, but so far, versatile sportscaster Scott St. James has survived. The station figures to hire additional sportscasters before Jan. 15.

The Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita begins Wednesday, with the nightly replays to be carried by KSCI, Channel 18 in Los Angeles and Channel 48 in San Diego, at 7:30 p.m., plus at 10:30 p.m. on SportsChannel, or immediately after the evening’s main live event. Track announcer Trevor Denman will be the host of the replay shows, and on days there is no racing, Gil Stratton and Charleye Wright will serve as hosts of an interview and talk show.

A new one-hour talk show for horse racing fans, “Thoroughbred Nightly,” makes its debut on KORG (1190) next Wednesday at 8 p.m. John Hernandez is the host of the show, which will be on the air every racing day year-round. . . . KORG also has a general sports talk show, “1190 Sportsbeat,” that runs weekdays, 4-5 p.m., with Lon Brunk.

“Sports Bylines,” a half-hour show featuring four Los Angeles sportswriters, finally makes its debut on SportsChannel Saturday at 1 p.m. Dan Avey is the host and executive producer, and the sportswriters are Doug Krikorian of the Herald Examiner, Steve Bisheff of the Orange County Register, Ron Rapoport of the Daily News, and Scott Ostler, formerly of The Times and now with the yet-to-be published National.

Channel 4 will have its own pre- and postgame shows with Fred Roggin during the baseball playoffs. The pregame shows will begin 10 minutes before NBC’s air time. This year, Roggin will work without Tom Lasorda. . . . Lasorda, however, will be on Channel 4 Sunday at 1 p.m., appearing in a syndicated special, the “Billy Martin Celebrity Roast.” Frank Sinatra and Howard Cosell are among many others on the show.

Angel General Manager Mike Port will take calls on KMPC’s “Sportsline” tonight from 6 to 7. . . . KMPC’s Jim Healy reports that today is Gene Autry’s 82nd birthday and Monday is Jackie Autry’s birthday. He didn’t mention which one this is for Jackie. Wise move.