Garvey Fired After Show Fails to Become a Hit

SAN DIEGO —  Former baseball star Steve Garvey, plagued by low ratings in his new career as a radio talk show host, was fired Wednesday by XTRA after six months at the AM station.

Garvey, 41, was not immediately available for comment, a woman answering the phone at his La Jolla business office said.

He was informed of his dismissal after completing his four-hour drive-time show at 9 a.m., according to station employees.

“He didn’t seem bitter or upset,” Lee Hamilton, the station’s sports talk show host, said of Garvey.

Tom Jimenez, vice president and general manager of XTRA, said the station and Garvey reached a settlement to cover the rest of his contract. Jimenez declined to reveal the settlement terms and the length of the original contract.

Garvey was hired by the station last June. But his “Garvey & Co.” show, featuring live interviews with local and national sports personalities and occasional call-ins from listeners, failed to generate much of an audience or make in-roads on the market share of XTRA competitors, according to ratings services.

Jimenez said that Garvey’s show would be replaced by news, sports and traffic information.

“Basically what we’ve done is make a commitment to enhance our news format on XTRA News Radio,” he said. “We’ve canceled the Garvey & Co. show segment and really replaced it with morning news. We feel that really right now XTRA has found a real niche (in news).”

Jimenez said he had mixed emotions about Garvey’s dismissal.

“Steve’s attitude was totally professional. He understands what we’re doing here,” he said. “We’re good friends. He was a tremendous help and a pleasure to work with. He’s a true Hall of Famer in my eyes. He’s one of my heroes.”

The dismissal culminates a difficult year for Garvey, a 10-time All Star first baseman in 17 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

He reportedly has financial problems, and his All-American image suffered after it was revealed that he had fathered two children out of wedlock with separate women before marrying a third woman last year.

Garvey and his first wife also engaged in a bitter court battle over visitation rights with their two daughters.