Pitch-Perfect Pedro
At just 27, Pedro Martinez is baseball’s premier pitcher, a threat to become the first hurler in 30 years to win 30 games. And in the All-Star Game held last week on his home turf, Fenway Park, the Red Sox star demonstrated why. With Boston fans chanting his name and waving Dominican flags, Martinez set a record by striking out the game’s first four batters–including whiffs by sluggers Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. McGwire was still shaking his head hours later. “When you see the best of the best, you know he’s going to go right at you with nasty stuff.” The American League won 4-1, with Martinez a runaway MVP. Winning manager Joe Torre said facing Martinez was “like trying to hit in a dark room.” The neatest trick of all would be if Martinez could lead Boston, which hasn’t won a World Series since 1918, out of baseball’s dark ages.
Who Knew? The ‘Who’s the Boss’ Stars Can Act.
Move over, Yale drama school. The richest source of New York theater talent might well be that cheesy ’80s sitcom “Who’s the Boss?” Tony Danza just finished an acclaimed run on Broadway as the barkeep in “The Iceman Cometh.” Next month, Judith Light takes over the lead in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Wit,” in which she portrays a professor with cancer. And little Danny Pintauro, now 23, has just opened off-off-Broadway in “The Velocity of Gary (Not His Real Name),” a one-man piece about a hustler. With Katherine Helmond occasionally touring in “Love Letters,” that leaves Alyssa Milano as the only major “Boss” star with stage fright. Would she make a decent theater thespian? “No comment,” says the diplomatic Pintauro. “I’m not really sure.” We are.
The Trials of Elton John It’s turning into Elton John’s summer of discontent. First came word that the flamboyant rocker was seeking a $40 million loan to shore up his finances. Then John underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed, an operation he called “minor” despite the fact that it forced him to miss Posh Spice’s wedding. Now Sir Elton is accusing his former manager, John Reid, of cheating him out of $31 million. (Reid couldn’t be reached for comment.) John also may lose his record label, Rocket Man. A label spokesman wouldn’t comment, but Rocket Man’s tepid output speaks for itself. Its biggest acts: Lulu and a group called Jimmie’s Chicken Shack. No wonder John feels ill.
