ON THE AIR Fredericks returns to WIP after heart surgery Veteran Philadelphia sports personality Steve Fredericks returned to the airwaves of WIP 610-AM this week for the first time since June when he underwent heart bypass surgery at Lankenau Hospital. Fredericks, 63, who smoked for 50 years ("My last cigarette was when I walked through the sliding doors of the hospital"), was diagnosed with emphysema, but is well enough to work the Eagles post-game shows, and do various on-air shifts including his evening show that was taken over by Glen Macnow a month ago. Fredericks spent much of June and July in the hospital, then convalesced at his home in Ventnor, N.J., in August and September. The former play-by-play man for the Sixers, Big Five and Villanova basketball and Temple football said he is grateful for the support he's received from the sports community and WIP. Fredericks is best known for his sports talk show on WCAU 1210-AM from 1978-1990. There were some rocky times in the late '80s when he was busted for drugs, but Fredericks, who said he's been sober since 1988, rebounded when he was hired by WIP in 1990. He spent the first few years there on afternoon drive before getting switched to evenings three years ago. The West Philadelphia native and Temple graduate did talk and sports talk radio in Boston for many years, where he dated a sportswriter named Lesley Visser, now a sportscaster on CBS. Visser is married to sportscaster Dick Stockton. "It was actually one date, and I could tell about an hour into dinner, she didn't want there to be a second date," Fredericks said with a chuckle. Fredericks, who has two grown daughters from his first marriage, has been married to his second wife Nancy for 21 years. He recently became a grandfather for the first time. Family reunion WPVI sports director Gary Papa's brother Bob Papa will be the announcer for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" tonight in Dover, Del. Macho Row reunion Arizona Diamondbacks ace Curt Schilling will visit former Phillies teammate John Kruk on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Comcast SportsNet at 11 tonight. Pete Incaviglia's invitation got lost in the mail. Happy fifth Comcast SportsNet hit the five-year milestone on Tuesday. The 24-hour local sports network has enjoyed stability as original anchors Leslie Gudel and Neil Hartman continue on the signature show "SportsNite," and many original personalities such as Dei Lynam, Michael Barkann and Derrick Gunn are still with the network. However, one area of instability is "Phillies Post Game Live," which will probably be looking for its third analyst in as many years because Joe Kerrigan is the front-runner for the Phillies pitching coach job.  There's no truth to the rumor that Matt Yallof is the leading contender for the bat boy position. Charles in charge Here are some highlights from the wide ranging TNT conference call to promote Charles Barkley's new show "Listen Up with Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson" which will air at 7 p.m. Thursdays, beginning Oct. 31. * "I shudder every time Pat Buchanan speaks." * "Most people don't give a [bleep] about Iraq." * "Anna Kournikova ain't worth a [bleep], but she looks good." * On whether he'd ever run for the governor of Alabama: "Why would I take a job for only $88,000 unless I could steal money?" * On "Philadelphia" magazine editor-in-chief Larry Platt and his book "New Jack Jocks": "That idiot Larry Platt is a sellout." Clarification This column recently reported that the KYW sports staff did not earn a single Mid-Atlantic Emmy nomination. The reason? According to KYW sports director Beasley Reece, the sports staff didn't submit any entries. Laura Nachman covers television and radio sports for the Courier Times. She can be reaches at bradyresident@aol.com. October 04, 2002