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A-list celebrities have always been sports fans

Steven Marcus

3:20 PM EDT, May 8, 2008

The Mets always drew heavyweight stars in Los Angeles. Gooden vs. Valenzuela on a Friday night attracted the A list, from Frank Sinatra to Cary Grant. They weren't there to be seen, but to watch and, often, meet the players.

Most celebrities fawn over athletes. The bigger the star, the harder the famous fall. They lose all their cachet around the players. The star you are eager to meet is likely dying to meet a ballplayer. It was true then (Elizabeth Taylor-Ralph Kiner) and now (Alyssa Milano-Brad Penny, Barry Zito, Carl Pavano).

Billy Joel was already Piano Man famous when he entered the Yankees' clubhouse in 1977 and went up to Reggie Jackson. "Hi, Reggie, I'm Billy Joel," the singer said. Reggie, totally unimpressed, barked, "Yeah, man, what do you want?" There was only one star in Reggie's constellation and it wasn't Joel, who, clearly deflated, walked away.

Perhaps that is why Joel, who morphed into a Mets fan in 1986 during the World Series, stayed in the stands (with Christie Brinkley on his arm) and lip-synced his own songs as they were played between innings.

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The Mets were naturals for the show biz crowd, many of whom had New York roots. Comedian Buddy Hackett spitting popcorn in the press box, Cary Grant with actress Dyan Cannon. It was humorous seeing the debonair movie star eating a hot dog. In the MLB inner sanctum, Lee Mazzilli had more zing than a Hollywood star because he was a ballplayer.

Sinatra visited manager Tommy Lasorda before a game with the Mets, though no one in the press corps (except me) was clamoring to meet Ol' Blue Eyes. Sinatra scowled as he exited Lasorda's office. Sinatra was a longtime devotee to big leaguers. He ran with Joe DiMaggio until the two had a falling out involving Marilyn Monroe.

Stars who are fans of the teams are harder to find. Topping that list has to be the Lakers' No. 1 celebrity fan, Jack Nicholson, who is there for the franchise, not any one individual player. Nicholson shoots his movies around Lakers games and reportedly banned Boston Celtics merchandise from the movie set when he filmed "The Departed" in Boston.

Baseball fan Richard Nixon was a frequent visitor to Mets [and Yankee] games after his presidency. At about the same time, kooky Mets pitcher Sid Fernandez was infatuated with a Super Soaker machine gun. Fernandez used to annoyingly squirt unsuspecting teammates and one night, with Nixon in the clubhouse, Nixon's lone Secret Service agent didn't seem to notice the "weapon" in El Sid's locker and the visit proceeded without incident.

President Ronald Reagan was engaging. He showed up in Baltimore and security cleared out most of the press box, but Reagan spoke to a few reporters anyway. Turns out, the pens and pads were not as dangerous as the G-men thought. In training for Robert Redford's movie 'The Natural,' Robert Duvall stood around the batting cage at Shea talking to players. He was rehearsing his role as a sport writer for the movie. When approached by reporters, Duvall refused to speak. An actor playing a reporter who had no comment. Just great.

Reporters are generally unimpressed by the luminaries. They get in the way. Squiggy of "Laverne and Shirley" used to hang around Joe Torre's office on deadline and the writers hoped the manager would have given him the boot. [Torre himself was star struck. He was invited to Sinatra's house one year to watch the Academy Awards].

And being famous in one sport does nothing for you around ballplayers. Bobby Knight, before he was Bob, was nobody in Mets spring training and Bill Murray, of Saturday Night Live fame, melted like a child in the clubhouse around the players.

I recall two major exceptions to the "who cares who they are rule." Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart in the broadcast booth. Eye candy. And Bruce Springsteen, a frequent visitor to Yankee Stadium. A guy from a Jersey paper nearly fell out of the box gawking at him.

The Boss didn't notice.