Cable’s Cruise Control Costs Fans : Television: Some systems pick up the wrong feed and miss part or all of the Dodger-Giant game.

A cable television gaffe prevented much of Southern California from seeing at least the start of ESPN’s coverage of the Dodgers’ 12-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

In some areas, the whole game was erroneously blacked out.

Late Thursday, ESPN decided it would televise Sunday’s game at Dodger Stadium if the National League West pennant race was still alive, and on Friday informed its cable affiliates of the plan and also that the game did not need to be blacked out in Los Angeles.

But many of the cable systems apparently didn’t understand--or didn’t care--and had their receiving equipment set incorrectly.

Cable systems in Los Angeles were required to black out Friday’s Dodger-Giant game on ESPN, so at closing time Friday, equipment was set to pick up ESPN’s alternate games: Toronto-Baltimore and Chicago Cubs-San Diego.

Sunday’s Dodger-Giant game had to be blacked out in San Francisco because of a local telecast, so the alternate show on Sunday at 1 p.m. was carried, auto racing from Laguna Seca, which also was on the new ESPN2 network.

The baseball game was on the main ESPN network.

Several cable companies, those that didn’t have a technician working during the weekend to switch back to the main feed, the Dodger-Giant game, mistakenly picked the alternate feed on Sunday, giving subscribers auto racing when most wanted baseball.

The Times received more than 50 calls in a half-hour period, and Dodger Stadium was also swamped with complaint calls. Brent Shyer, the Dodgers’ director of broadcasting, immediately began trying to reach the cable companies that weren’t showing the game.

Getting through to these cable companies on the weekend is no easy task. At most, calls are answered automatically and a tape informs the caller that office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sometimes, a number is given for emergency situations, but that is usually to an answering service, which is of little help.

Shyer said he spent nearly an hour on the phone and got through to about a half-dozen companies to inform them of the mistake, which, he said, was soon rectified.

Century Cable in West Los Angeles switched back to the Dodgers and Giants at 1:39 p.m. Others took longer, and some never made the switch.

Atlanta experienced a similar problem. Prentis Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said five smaller systems, representing about 20% of the market, picked up the alternate feed by mistake but the problem was soon remedied.