48th Annual Hollywood Stars Game: Saturday, June 24, 2006
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2006 Hollywood Stars Scheduled to Appear |
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James Denton - "Desperate Housewives"
Jimmy Kimmel - "Jimmy Kimmel Live"
Carlos Mencia - "Mind of Mencia"
Corbin Bernsen - "PSYCH", "Major League"
Tony Potts - "Access Hollywood"
Kendra Wilkinson - "Girls Next Door"
Mia Hamm - "USA Soccer"
James Van Der Beek - "Dawson's Creek"
Wolfgang Bodison - "Akeelah and the Bee" "A Few Good Men"
Shane Powers - "Survivor Exile Island"
Matt Gallant - "Host of American Inventor"
Jonathan Silverman - "In Case of Emergency"
Jen Finnigan - "Close to Home"
Sarah Silverman - "School of Rock"
Brian White - "The Family Stone"
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - Mayor of Los Angeles
Adam Corolla - "The Adam Carolla Project", "Crank Yankers" "Family Guy"
Scott Patterson - "Gillmore Girls"
Larry Joe Campbell - "According to Jim"
Dave Annable - "Brothers and Sisters"
Mario Lopez - "Saved By the Bell"
Michael Rosenbaum - "Smallville"
Michael Clarke Duncan - "The Green Mile"
Luc Robitaille - LA Kings
Antonio Sabato Jr. - "The Bold and the Beautiful"
Brande Roderick - "The Nanny Diaries"
Ron Cey
"Sweet" Lou Johnson
Bret Saberhagen (coach)
Louis Gossett Jr. - Academy Award Winner, "Officer and a Gentleman" (coach) |
Seeing Stars
For 48 Years, the Hollywood Stars Game has brought out some of the biggest stars in film and TV
By Mary Logue
The Brady Bunch in Dodger uniforms? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the pitcher's mound? The Incredible Hulk staring down an umpire with a bat the size of a canoe? Billy Barty doing a headstand on home plate? These are not your everyday happenings before a Dodger Game, these are just some of the pictures from the annual Hollywood Stars game
that has been taking place in Los Angeles for 48 years.
The annual contest has attracted Hollywood icons like Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, and Walter Matthau, stars of film and TV such as Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Lou Ferrigno, Billy Crystal, Annette Funicello and Sally
Struthers, funny men like Jason Alexander, Redd Foxx, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Walker, Robert Wuhl, Jon Lovitz and Rob Schneider, as well as current stars Molly Sims, Rob Lowe, James Van Der Beek, Pamela Anderson, Jonathan Silverman, Anthony Kiedis and Brooke Burke, to name a few. Participants have even been cheered on by the Laker Girls.
The Hollywood Stars Game has been a fixture since the Dodgers moved to the West Coast in 1958 and played their games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The game
changed from baseball to softball in 2004, and a secondary fence was laid out in the middle of the outfield to offer hitters a better chance at knocking one out of the park. Fans were also invited to sit on the grass to watch the game.
"To me, the best part is giving the fans the opportunity to be that close to the celebrities and to sit on the field," said Rob Lowe, who played in his first game in 1979. He was also part of one of the most controversial and memorable calls in Hollywood Stars history in 2004, when James Van Der Beek crashed through the left-field fence to rob him of a home run - so memorable a play that it ended up on SportsCenter.
"I wonder what that call would be at Dodger Stadium today," Lowe said. "If a player not only crushed the fence, but then rolled out of the field of play to make a catch like
that. It was an amazing catch, but I was robbed, not only by James Van Der Beek, but by umpire Tom Arnold as well."
The game has become an occasion to look forward to for Dodger players, both past and present, who come out each year to participate as well. Former Dodger great Ron Cey remembers the Van Der Beek/Lowe dispute well and says his philosophy on plays like that is anything goes.
"In the last couple of years, since it switched from baseball to softball, my job is to just go out there and serve up as many home runs as I can," Cey said. "But if they make an out, it's because they did it. I think I gave up between five and 10 home runs last year…I hope it was 10."
Cey said it's been great to see cast members from Happy Days to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Billy Crystal come out over the years.
"It's a long list," Cey said. "It's great having them all out there participating and the fans enjoy it."
This year's Hollywood Stars game will take place on June 24 before the Dodgers face the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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