Businesses Cheer Return of Baseball : Sports: Companies connected with the game have advertising, promotions and products on deck.

From hot dog vendors to advertising sales people, the end of the major league baseball strike was hailed on Monday by a wide variety of businesses eager for a winning season after last year’s dismal results.

“It’s now an immediate scramble to (sign-up advertisers) who had promised that they would join us when the regular players returned,” said Jim Kalmenson, general manager of Los Angeles-area radio station KWKW-AM, which broadcasts Dodger games in Spanish. “There is a great deal of enthusiasm and anticipation for the baseball season to return.”

While many anticipate business will remain below normal, the outlook is much brighter than it had been when replacement players were supposed to take to the field on Sunday. That plan was scrapped after owners accepted a players’ offer to return without an agreement.

“Turn on all the burners and serve up all those Dodger dogs . . . we are looking for a strong season,” said Ronald Smith, spokesman for Los Angeles-based Clougherty Packing Co., which makes Dodger dogs and Farmer John brand hot dogs sold at Anaheim Stadium and San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Smith said the company--which saw hot dog sales drop last year as a result of the strike--was still going to sell franks to the ballparks even if the season had opened with replacement players. But attendance probably would have been lower than normal and “there just would not have been as many hot dogs sold,” he said.

Some major sponsors that had gambled on a resolution to the strike said they were in a good position to roll out baseball related advertising and promotion in time for opening day. Brewer Anheuser-Busch, which spends about $50 million annually on baseball ads and promotions and owns the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, said it had baseball merchandise in place, although it will have to scramble to print up pocket-sized baseball schedules, said Tony Ponturo, vice president of corporation media and sports marketing.

“We were essentially sticking with baseball, instead of taking our dollars and going into something else,” Ponturo said. However, he added, “if the ratings and the audience are down, we will adjust our sponsorships accordingly.”

There was disagreement over how long fans will remain angry over the strike and how much damage was inflicted upon baseball’s image and value to sponsors.

“There is a lot of interest . . . because everyone feels there will be a lot of fan interest and the ratings might be higher than normal,” said Gene DeWitt, president of New York-based DeWitt Media, which buys broadcast time for advertisers. “In six weeks, it will be like there wasn’t a strike.”

Times wire services contributed to this report.