Dodgers’ Switch Odd, Sensible

Channel 13, located at the end of the VHF lineup, has always been sort of out of the loop, the forgotten station. It’s probably best known for “Blind Date,” or maybe “WWF Smackdown.”

KCOP certainly has never been much of a sports station, unless you count carrying the Clippers. It televises the L.A. Marathon, but that is a once-a-year event.

The station recently cut its weeknight sports segments to one minute, turning them over to news anchors. Sports anchor Michelle Bonner was let go and is now at Fox Sports Net.

So in some ways it was a surprise that Channel 13 this week wrested the Dodgers from Channel 5. But on the other hand it made perfect sense because Channel 13 and the Dodgers are both owned by the Fox Group. The sale of Channel 13 to Fox got FCC approval in July.

Channel 5 is owned by a competitor, the Tribune Co., which also owns The Times.

Derrick Hall, Dodger senior vice president, said the joint Fox ownership was not the deciding factor. “Channel 13 offered us 50 regular-season exposures, Channel 5 only 20 or 30,” he said. “That was the key.”

Dave Boylan, Channel 13’s general manager, said: “It wasn’t a case where the Dodgers were going to be on KCOP regardless. They negotiated with other stations, then decided our offer was the best deal.”

Channel 13 agreed to pay about $8 million a year over three years for the rights. Channel 5’s offer, because of fewer exposures, was considerably less.

Channel 13 and the Dodgers may have the same owner, but the two entities have separate budgets. So the money was a major factor.

Another plus in going with Channel 13 was that the same production crew will be used on Dodger telecasts on Channel 13 and Fox Sports Net 2.

One hang-up was that Channel 13 is not part of DirecTV’s local-station package. But once the Dodgers learned DirecTV plans to add Channel 13 before the end of the year, it was all systems go.

A Home Run

For ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor Rich Eisen, it was the kind of scoop journalists dream about. You cultivate a relationship with a sports celebrity and that celebrity gives you an exclusive.

Eisen met Mark McGwire at the ESPY Awards in 1999, and the two had stayed in touch.

But still Eisen was surprised when McGwire called him Sunday night and said he wanted to announce his retirement on ESPN.

McGwire, who lives in Orange County, told Eisen that his publicist, Todd Brooks of the Irvine firm of Hill and Knowlton, and his business manager, Jim Milner of Long Beach, would be faxing a statement.

“He didn’t want to have a press conference,” Eisen said. “He knows me and he knows our company and he wanted to announce his retirement on the 11 p.m. [Eastern time] ‘SportsCenter.’

“We had to sit on it for a while, until after ‘Sunday Night Football.’ He didn’t want it on a bottom-line ticker.”

The retirement statement was later faxed to the St. Louis Cardinals, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Associated Press. But by then AP had already filed a story off Eisen’s report.

The scoop helped “SportsCenter” get its highest rating of the year, a 3.11. It was seen in more than 2.6 million homes.

A Nice Respite

While he was at it, Eisen set up a one-on-one interview with McGwire. The interview was done Tuesday at Milner’s Long Beach office, and the trip from Bristol, Conn., where ESPN is located, to Southern California worked well for Eisen.

He took the rest of the week off to spend time with his girlfriend, Suzy Shuster, a reporter for Fox Sports Net’s “Southern California Sports Report” who lives in Santa Monica, and also visit his brother Jeff and family, who live in Manhattan Beach. He may also take in Saturday’s UCLA-USC game, which Shuster will be covering.

Eisen and Shuster usually maintain a bicoastal relationship. “I’ve got 4,000 cell phone minutes, and I take it to the limit every month,” Shuster said.

Eisen, who came to ESPN in 1996 from a station in Redding, Calif., met Shuster when she came there as a producer the next year.

“We were friends for three years, until I hit myself upside the head and saw the light,” Shuster said.

Said Eisen: “It was a long chase.”

They have been a couple since February 2000.

So how do they handle working for competing networks?

“When we’re together, we don’t talk shop,” Shuster said.

As for Eisen scooping her employer, Shuster said: “I was happy for him.”

High Expectations

Commentator Tom Ramsey, who will work Saturday’s UCLA-USC game with Steve Physioc for Fox Sports Net, said, “This might be the best game we’ve had all year. It means so much to each team.”

Ramsey, a former Bruin, hedged on picking a winner. “How could you pick a winner?” he said. “UCLA has to be able to run the ball, with or without DeShaun Foster. The Trojans don’t have to rely as much on the run because that’s not their strength. They’re last in the conference in rushing.”

Although a Times headline this week implied only Southern California would see the game, Ramsey pointed out that is not the case.

“We’re in 78 million homes across the nation,” he said. “Washington-Washington State may be on ABC, but that game is going to only 20% of the country.”

Passing

Popular baseball personality Norman Baer, 75, longtime game-of-the-week producer for CBS Radio and a fixture in the Dodger Stadium press box, died Nov. 7 of a pulmonary embolism.

In recent years he was a sports broadcast agent. His clients included Jeff Torborg, the Angels’ Daron Sutton, KABC Radio’s Jorge Jarrin (the son of Jaime), and Fox’s Jose Mota (son of Manny).

“We didn’t call him an agent,” Mota said. “He was an advisor. He was truly a great friend, beloved by everyone.”

Among those who spoke at his funeral Sunday were Vin Scully and Jerry Coleman.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jo, and a daughter, Ellen, of New York City. The family has asked that remembrances be sent to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, 3 West 35th St., New York, N.Y. 10001.

Short Waves

The Hasim Rahman-Lennox Lewis fight Saturday night is on HBO Pay-Per-View, formerly TVKO. The suggested price is $49.95. The card starts at 6, but the main event won’t start until about 8. Bernard Hopkins joins James Brown as co-host. The regular HBO crew of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and George Foreman call the action.... Recommended viewing: Gerry Faust, the colorful former Notre Dame coach, resurfaces on “NFL Films Presents” on ESPN2 today at 5:30 p.m. The National Basketball Developmental League, the NBA’s new minor league, makes its debut on ESPN2 today at 1 p.m. when the Greenville (S.C.) Groove plays host to the North Charleston (S.C.) Lowgators. ESPN2 will televise 18 NBDL games, including games every Monday at 1 p.m. beginning Dec. 24.... DirecTV offers coverage of the Harvard-Yale game Saturday at 9:30 a.m. on Channel 611, with high-definition coverage on Channel 199.

In Closing

After TNT’s Kenny Smith said the Washington Wizards are only three players away from being competitive, partner Charles Barkley said, “You’re right, they are three players away--Kareem, Wilt and Magic.”