With Sparky as Butcher, Angels to Get Prime Cuts

After 26 years of managing, Sparky Anderson isn’t suddenly claiming to be a broadcaster. Anything but.

“You can bet the house I’m going to butcher some words,” he said as he prepares to make his debut as a commentator for Prime Sports on Monday.

It works out nicely that the Angels that night will conclude a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers, Anderson’s former team.

Anderson’s experience behind a microphone is limited. He has worked seven World Series for CBS radio, four with Vin Scully and three with Jack Buck. He worked a playoff series between the Angels and Baltimore Orioles in 1979 for NBC with Dick Enberg.

And that’s about it.

“I’m not an announcer, and I’m not going to pretend to be,” he said. “Don’t even call me an announcer.

“I’m just going to talk, and if the words don’t fit, that’s OK. I don’t care. I’m not there to dazzle anyone with my vocabulary.”

Anderson will work with new Angel television play-by-play announcer Steve Physioc.

“My job is to help the young guy Physioc understand situations. If Cecil Fielder hits three home runs the day before, what I’m going to say is, ‘If it was up to me, he gets nothing to hit.’

“In my 26 years of managing, I always was the leader in intentional walks. There’s a reason for that. You take the bat out of the top guy’s hands, and he’s not going to do any damage. Without a bat, he’s in trouble.”

With a microphone, Anderson may be in trouble finding the right words. But he shouldn’t have any trouble finding things to talk about.

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The Chicago Bulls made history Tuesday night with their 70th victory of the season. But TNT instead gave us Houston-Phoenix.

The network’s reasoning was, that game had playoff implications. Sorry, that doesn’t cut it. It was simply bad programming.

TNT gave viewers some “bonus” coverage of the Bulls’ victory over Milwaukee, but it should have been the primary game.

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The best thing KWNK (670) has done since KMAX-FM abandoned its all-sports format is pick up the four-hour “Bob Golic Show,” which features the former Raider and sidekick Rich Herrera.

It’s a fun show, and the chemistry between Golic and Herrera works. Herrera used to be a little hard to take, coming off as a loser who could never get a date, but fortunately he has cooled that act.

The key is, these guys are likable and they like each other.

One thing for sure, when Golic tells you he enjoys doing the show, you’ve got to believe him. He was commuting from his home in Manhattan Beach to Arcadia to get to KMAX. Now he drives to the western San Fernando Valley.

And he certainly doesn’t make that drive for the pay, which is little more than pocket change.

“It keeps me busy,” Golic said. “And the best thing about radio is you don’t have to get spruced up to go to work.”

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Add KWNK: Believe it or not, the station is bringing back Ed “Superfan” Bieler, the former KABC “Sportstalk” host who always seemed to be getting himself in trouble. Beginning Monday, his show will run 10 a.m. to noon, preceding Golic and Herrera.

Then comes Pete Rose from 4-5 p.m., followed by “Papa” Joe Chevalier from 5-6. Both are syndicated shows.

KWNK has also picked up KMAX’s popular boxing show, “Ringside With Johnny Ortiz,” which will be on Sundays 4-6 p.m.

The station has also added a Las Vegas horse racing show, with host Felix Taverna, which will be on Saturdays and Sundays, 8-9 a.m.

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Good move: For Disney to have respected ESPN President Steve Bornstein also run ABC Sports should work out well. Dennis Swanson, former head of ABC Sports, was eased out, and that’s also a plus. His drill-sergeant tactics rubbed some insiders wrong.

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Nice to see that Prime Sports and the Clippers finally made a deal, especially since the young Clippers should only get better.

Ralph Lawler and Bill Walton are only candidates for the Prime announcing jobs. Prime will pick its announcing team later.

The plan is for Prime to eventually televise 45 games per season, but Prime General Manager Kitty Cohen said it will be more like 35 the first two years of the five-year contract, which takes effect next season.

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Recommended viewing: If you missed the first two showings of Bud Greenspan’s “100 Years of Olympic Glory” this week, the three-hour special is on TBS again Saturday at noon and Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi, Kip Keino and Olga Korbut are among the 11 athletes featured. The film is an offshoot of Greenspan’s outstanding book, “100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History.”

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Awards luncheon: To accommodate a larger crowd, the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Assn. will hold its annual awards luncheon at the Biltmore hotel May 22. The event this year is being co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Sports Council.

Nominees include such mainstays as Vin Scully, Chick Hearn and Bob Miller, but also cracking the lineup were Mike Lamb, David Norrie, Irv Kaze, Rich Marotta and Ken Brett.

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Tuning In

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for sports programs April 13-14.

SATURDAY, April 13

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Event Ch. Rating Figure skating exhibition 7 7.0 Golf: Masters 2 4.4 NBA: Seattle-San Antonio 4 4.1 Wide World of Sports: 7 3.8 horse racing, speedskating Bowling: PBA Open 7 2.0

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SUNDAY, April 14

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Event Ch. Rating NBA: Phoenix-Lakers 4 9.2 Golf: Masters 2 7.2 NBA: Chicago-Cleveland 4 6.4 Auto racing: Long Beach Grand Prix 7 4.9 Baseball: Angels-Detroit 9 3.2 Hockey: Winnipeg-Mighty Ducks 9 2.0 Drag racing: NHRA Nationals 7 1.8 NBA: Clippers-Sacramento 13 1.5 Wonderful World of Golf 7 1.5 Hockey: St. Louis-Chicago 11 1.4

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