Alyssa and Baseball



 


How did Alyssa love the Game?

Alyssa Milano is known to be a bit of tomboy. She loves sports, and even has her won personalized line of pro sports clothing. She made an appearance at the pre-party for the All-Star game in NYC last night and talked about her love of baseball.

She said, "My stress reliever is usually baseball. In fact, sometimes when I can't sleep - because my mind is racing - I close my eyes and think about being at the stadium. I create game-winning situations. I think of the sound of the bat cracking. And you know what? It usually works."

But that connection with the sport doesn't cross over to the guys she dates. She says she won't date baseball players because "They are grown men playing a little boy's sport. That makes them childish."

Guess she's changed her ways since dipping into the pitcher pool. She dated Carl Pavano, Barry Zito, and Brad Penny, all of whom are MLB pitchers.

She's like the opposite of Derek Jeter, who always seems to stick to young actresses. Maybe they should date each other!


 

Alyssa Talks Baseball

NEW YORK -- Jerry Manuel was taken aback as he trotted back to the dugout after batting practice before Saturday's game. The Mets manager wanted to know who all of the reporters and TV camera were crowded around.

"Alyssa Milano," someone told him. Manuel looked confused.

"Who's Melissa Alano?" he asked.

When the person corrected him and said that she was an actress, Manuel -- still confused -- said, "Oh. Never heard of her."

He might have been the only one, because every other soul in the Mets dugout was focused on Milano, who was at Citi Field to promote her "Touch Boutique" clothing store. An avid baseball fan (she has her own blog at MLB.com as well as being a Dodgers season-ticket holder), Milano was taken aback at the homage that Citi Field pays to Ebbets Field.

Her parents are originally from Brooklyn and her father was Brooklyn Dodgers fan until the team moved west in 1957. When she moved to Los Angeles in the 80s during her burgeoning TV career, she bonded with her father over Dodgers games.

"That was something that he loved and I could love through his eyes," she said, almost tearing up. "In '88 he made it official and was like, 'OK, I'm a Dodger fan again!'"

The former "Who's The Boss?" star went on to say that her favorite player right now is Dodgers outfield Manny Ramirez because she loves the energy that he has brought to the team since being traded to Los Angeles last year. But she also enjoys great pitching -- citing Dodgers hurlers Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley -- as two of her favorites.

But later on she was asked about a former flame (or it is flame-thrower?), Cleveland Indians pitcher Carl Pavano. The two dated briefly around 2004, and when told that he was going to be pitching Saturday afternoon against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, she said: "That's not going to be pretty."

While she spoke highly of Pavano's work ethic and dedication to baseball, she did make some rather candid statements about the former Yankees pitcher.

"He's got a lot of talent," Milano said. "But I think it's become a head game for him. If I were him, I would've stayed out of the American League."