Columnist Joe Delaney: Stepping to the plate with memories

Joe Delaney

Thursday, July 29, 1999 | 9:55 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joe@vegas.com.

Baseball is this columnist's favorite form of sports entertainment. ... Watching all those great players of the past gathered around Ted Williams, one of the greatest, as a prelude to the All-Star Game recently on TV, brought back so many wonderful personal memories. ... I was there in New York City's Polo Grounds when Willie Mays robbed Cleveland's Vic Wertz of at least a triple in the 1954 World Series, won by the N.Y. Giants in four straight games.

A week or so ago there was another warm reminder as Don Larson threw out the first ball to Yogi Berra on Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium. ... I sat just behind the Dodgers dugout in Yankee Stadium when Larson pitched his perfect World Series game in 1956. ... Yankee pitcher David Cone pitched a perfect game on Yogi Berra Day.

I sat in a box with the Dodgers' brass, Walter O'Malley, Buzzy Bavasi and Fresco Thompson, in Brooklyn's Ebbets Field for the sixth and seventh games of that 1956 series, won by the Yankees.

This past weekend

Last Friday I was in a major league baseball stadium for the first time in 15 years, in Phoenix, watching the Arizona Diamondbacks annihilate the L.A. Dodgers, 10 to 1. ... If you are ever in Phoenix during baseball season and the Diamondbacks are at home, visit one of the finest new ball parks anywhere and root for former UNLV star Matt Williams, and a team that could win the National League West division pennant this year.

As a born-and-raised Giants fan, it was a pleasure to see the Dodgers being defeated even though it meant the Giants could be ousted from first place by the fledgling Arizona team. ... I had a great time.

All of this is by way of urging you to support the Las Vegas Stars, not having a good year. ... Cashman Field is a good ball park, the games are usually interesting, prices are reasonable and it's a great place to spend time with the entire family. ... They're our team, support them.

Star-policy rundown

It's Sheena Easton and Peabo Bryson, Saturday and Sunday (Bally's); Don Rickles, Friday through Sunday (Desert Inn); Patsy Cline Tribute (Gold Coast); Clint Holmes (Golden Nugget); Jackie Mason (MGM Grand); Lance Burton (Monte Carlo); Righteous Brothers (Orleans); Danny Gans (Rio) and Rich Little, Friday and Saturday (Riviera's Top of the Riv).

More stars: Marilu Henner, Stephanie Pope, Ben Vereen, Marcia Lewis and Ernie Sabella in the red-hot "Chicago" (Mandalay Bay), and Tommy Tune starring in the high-tech "EFX" (MGM Grand).

Mandalay Bay is going all-out for this New Year's Eve with the Eagles plus Jackson Browne, Dec. 28 and 29, and Bette Midler Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. ... Don Rickles will appear in the Desert Inn Crystal Room that weekend with Tony Bennett, by invitation only, Dec. 31 in the Grand Ballroom. ... Bennett will follow Rickles into the Crystal Jan. 1 and 2.

News from Paris

You can bet that Park Place Entertainment and the about-to-be-opened Paris-Las Vegas will not wait until the first of the year to premiere "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," a runaway hit as a musical in both France and Canada. ... It is inconceivable that the state-of-the-art, 1,200-seat showroom would remain dark for these four months.

If comedy is your wont, you have three completely different but equally excellent choices this weekend in Rich Little, Jackie Mason and Don Rickles. ... Little led the way for impressionists to become successful LV headliners, paving the way for Danny Gans and Bill Acosta, both now firmly established. ... Rickles is LV's most consistent comedian headliner.

Mason, making his MGM Grand debut, deserves this first-class venue. ... His natural accent enhances the brilliance of his comedic commentary as he describes the "World According To Me," a very funny place.

Thursday addenda

Congrats, Nick Lewin, now in his fifth year performing his "Comedy Magic" at the Maxim at 1 and 3 p.m., dark on Sundays. ... Lewin, equally proficient at both magic and comedy, is also a concerned Las Vegas citizen, active with Variety Club, The Children's Charity plus sharing his talents on behalf of other good local causes. ... At $9.95, which includes tax, gratuity and one drink, it continues a LV entertainment best-buy.

Fans of 1950s music can enjoy free shows, 6-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, at the Fremont Street Experience, featuring Little Anthony and the Imperials, Freddy Cannon, Lil Elmo and the Cosmos, The Champs (Friday) and Brian Hyland (Saturday). ... See you Friday.