Scully’s World Changed in ’53

This year not only marks the 100th anniversary of the World Series, it also marks the 50th anniversary of Vin Scully’s first World Series.

In 1953, the Brooklyn Dodgers played the New York Yankees, and back then the participating teams’ lead announcers worked the Series for network television. The Yankees’ lead announcer was Mel Allen, the Dodgers’ was Red Barber.

Sports broadcast historian David J. Halberstam of Florida, not to be confused with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author from Boston, said Barber got into a salary dispute with the sponsor, Gillette, who paid the announcers.

Barber wanted more than the $200 a game he was to be paid, according to Halberstam. No. 2 Dodger announcer Connie Desmond also declined to work the Series.

So Dodger owner Walter O’Malley recommended that 25-year-old Scully work with Allen.

“The first thing I did was check with Red and Connie to see if it was OK with them,” Scully said Thursday. “I told them I was just a kid and could wait, that I wasn’t going to do it without their blessing.

“They said, ‘If you don’t do it, then somebody else will.’ ”

Scully, who ended up announcing 22 World Series for television, radio or a combination of the two, at the time had done little television. Now he was going to be speaking to a national television audience -- on the World Series, no less.

“I tried to play it pretty cool,” he said. “I was living at home with my mother and father and sister, and before the first game I sat down with them for breakfast as if it was just another day. Then I went upstairs and [lost] my entire breakfast.”

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Record Setter

Commentator Tim McCarver worked his 79th World Series game Thursday night. No other broadcaster has worked that many Series games for network television. Play-by-play announcer Curt Gowdy had held the record of 78.

Fox surprised McCarver with a little celebration to commemorate the occasion in the middle of the fifth inning, when the game became official.

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No Time to Leave

The most memorable moment of the Series so far was Roger Clemens walking off the mound for probably the last time after the seventh inning Wednesday night. Because Clemens was due to bat first in the eighth, the crowd knew he was done and gave him a standing ovation.

Fox, to its credit, stayed with the moment 30 to 40 seconds longer than normal before going to a commercial break and did show Clemens’ curtain call on tape. But ESPN Radio stayed with the celebration throughout, allowing announcers Jon Miller and Joe Morgan to fully describe what was taking place.

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Cable Dispute

Cox Communications chairman Jim Robbins has been leading the cable television industry’s attack on ESPN and Fox Sports Net for what are perceived as excessively high programming costs. ESPN charges cable companies about $2 per month per subscriber, with a 20% increase looming. Fox Sports Net’s fee varies from region to region.

Robbins has threatened to put those sports networks on a pay tier or drop them altogether.

George Bodenheimer, ESPN and ABC Sports president, responded to those threats in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday.

“It is patently absurd to suggest that what Cox offers would be better if ESPN were to be ripped out and placed on a extra-fee tier, or dropped, as Cox has threatened,” Bodenheimer said. “Cox’s effort to blame ESPN for its retail pricing decisions is just plain wrong. For Cox, this is contract negotiation rhetoric directed solely at improving its already healthy, growing 35% [profit] margin.”

Stay tuned. This could get interesting.

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Sounds on the Ice

The Kings and Fox Sports Net have been trying various things to draw more viewers to telecasts, including putting microphones on players and showing Coach Andy Murray’s pregame speeches.

For the Kings’ home game Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, veteran NHL referee Kerry Fraser will wear a microphone, which should pick up some interesting conversations.

Also, Fox Sports Net announced this week it has added five road games to its King schedule, with four of the additions in November. The added telecasts are for games to be played on Nov. 5, 6, 8, 10 and Jan. 13.

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Short Waves

ABC is televising either Penn State at Iowa or Notre Dame at Boston College to most of the nation Saturday as its early game, but West Coast ABC stations, including Channel 7, will carry children’s programming. The West Coast gets USC-Washington at 12:30 p.m., followed by Brigham Young-Nevada Las Vegas at 4.... Fox Sports Net will look ahead at the Clipper and Laker seasons in separate previews tonight at 6:30 and 7 p.m.... Concord De La Salle, undefeated in 144 games, plays host to Evangel Christian Academy of Shreveport, La., on ESPN2 today at 5 p.m. Look for more high school games on ESPN or ESPN2 if the game gets a decent rating.... Game 4 of the World Series got a 13.6 national rating, up 15% from the 11.8 for Game 4 last year.... Bob Costas, in town this weekend for NBC’s Breeders’ Cup coverage, will serve as master of ceremonies for the Jim Murray Scholars-Chris McCarron Awards dinner Sunday night at 7 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Also, Roy Firestone will perform at the affair.... There will be another edition of ABC’s talent contest during halftime of Monday night’s game between the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers. Eddie George, paired with singer Monica, squares off against Atlanta rookie Bryan Scott, who plays keyboards with Michelle Branch.... ESPN aired a special, “Superior Beings,” Thursday that featured the extraordinary accomplishments of disabled athletes and also the meaningful work done by Special Olympics and Paralympics. The special will be rebroadcast Wednesday at noon.

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Radio Daze

KNX (1070), which has taken some heat for dropping longtime general manager George Nicholaw, is going to take some more from horse racing fans after deciding to drop the daily stretch calls. The calls didn’t take up more than 20 seconds.... Jason Levin will have a one-hour special on the Breeders’ Cup on KMPC (1540) tonight at 10.... The “Thoroughbred Los Angeles” show with Mike Willman and Kurt Hoover, carried by KSPN (710) on weekends at 9 a.m., is being expanded to two hours Saturday. Guests will include Burt Bacharach, who will pay tribute to his friend Bill Shoemaker, Gary Stevens’ agent Craig O’Bryan and Julie Krone. ... The last Arbitron ratings book showed that XTRA (690 and 1150) averaged a 2.2 share for weekdays among men 25-54, beating out both KNX (1.6) and KFWB (1.4) in that category.

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In Closing

Rich Perelman is no Jim Healy, but the one-hour show he does Sundays at 10 a.m. on KPLS (830), “The Sports Insider,” is worth a listen. The show, which also features Bruce Tenen in some segments, is modeled after Healy’s old show, which was highlighted by sound effects. One problem with Perelman’s show is the timing of the sound effects, which detracts from the flow. Healy’s timing was almost always perfect.