Final 6 Dodger games will air on free TV

File photo of misplaced optimism.

Most Dodgers fans have gone the whole season without seeing the team and Vin Scully on television due to the team's and Time Warner Cable's showdown with other cable services over fees. You can watch games on Time Warner Cable only. Now TWC says it will air the last six regular season games, starting Sept. 22, on KDOC Channel 56. That's the small independent station in what used to be called the UHF section of the TV channel spectrum. Check your cable guide etc for which channel you may see it on. LA Times business columnist Michael Hiltzik has been following the dispute all summer and he's not impressed: "This is the least TWC can do--and we do mean the least," he writes.

It's like the early days of the Dodgers in Los Angeles when only road games in San Francisco were broadcast (on KTTV Channel 11), and the occasional high-stakes game at the end of a season. This year might have qualified under that standard. If you aren't paying attention to the baseball thing, the Angels are running away with the American League West division. The Dodgers are in first place too in the National League West, but unimpressively so. They stumbled into a weekend series with the Giants in San Francisco at risk of losing their hold on first, and got swamped on Friday night 9-0. But the Dodgers bats erupted for a 17-0 rout on Saturday, and by winning again on Sunday 4-2 they go into this week with a three-game lead over the Giants — and 13 games to play.

The two teams meet again for three games at Dodger Stadium starting Sept. 22 — and now those will be on free TV.