VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Maddux shows he can still bring the heat

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.

For a millionaire baseball superstar, Las Vegas' Greg Maddux is a pretty unassuming guy. But there is a competitive fire beneath.

When I spoke to him at the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame dinner Friday night, I asked him to do me a favor: stop beating my beloved New York Mets.

"(Blank) that ... The Mets suck," he told me.

"I am a reporter, you know," I cautioned him.

"I don't care who you are. The Mets suck," he said again with a mischievous grin. "I want to beat everybody."

He usually does.

Joining Maddux on the dais were his brother Mike Maddux (who left hours later for spring training, where he assumes a new gig as pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers), Eldorado, Valley and Green Valley high school baseball coach Rodger Fairless and former Olympic and University of Nevada, Las Vegas softball star Lori Harrigan.

Inductee Mike Morgan sent his mother, Nellie, as his emissary; she said he was off celebrating his 22nd wedding anniversary.

Local faces in the crowd of more than 500 at the Cox Pavilion: Marty Barrett, Cliff Findlay, Joe Merica, Steve Schorr, former Jets defensive back Gary Plumlee (he was drafted a few rounds after Joe Namath), former 49ers center Chuck Thomas, ESPN 920-AM radio voice John Hanson, Chris Powell from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, R&R Partners' Rick Glenn, New York-New York President and Chief Operating Officer Felix Rappaport, Bank of America's George Smith, Laura Fritz from Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas and Clyde Caldwell of Boys & Girls Clubs of Henderson.

Seasonal stake

As reported in the business pages the other day, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates reported a fairly significant holding in the Four Seasons hotel chain in a filing this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

What was not reported is why Gates bought in. Apparently he loved the Four Seasons branch on Las Vegas Boulevard when he stayed at the hotel during the Consumer Electronics Show in 2001.

Best boy

For personal reasons it was thrilling to see Adrien Brody nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his role in "The Pianist."

Years ago I would sometimes chase him around the desks at the Village Voice newspaper and we'd play in offices where we weren't supposed to.

My dad was the paper's picture editor; Brody's mother, the gifted photojournalist Sylvia Plachy, was my dad's first staff hire.

Brody would also stand mesmerized by Voice columnist Howard Smith, who would teach Brody magic tricks (Smith won an Oscar for his 1972 documentary "Marjoe," about evangelist Marjoe Gortner).

"The Amazing Adrien" went on to perform tricks at children's birthday parties before becoming interested in the movie thing.

When I called Brody on Tuesday he said all the right things -- that it as an honor to be nominated, yada, yada, yada.

But his mom was far less reserved.

"I think he should win," Plachy enthusiastically told me by phone from her New York apartment. "And I am not saying that just as a mother. His was such an understated and beautiful performance. The other actor men were all very, very good, but Adrien was just fantastic."

The other "actor men" up against Brody: Nicolas Cage for "Adaptation," Michael Caine for "The Quiet American," Daniel Day-Lewis for "Gangs of New York" and Jack Nicholson for "About Schmidt."

Then Plachy had to go. "I am going shopping for a new dress to wear to the ceremony. Los Angeles, here we come!"

The Oscar telecast is March 23.

Swede dreams

Former Miss Sweden finalist and Playboy model Victoria Silvstedt has been added to the cast of the ABC reality-survivor series "I'm A Celebrity -- Get Me Out Of Here!"

"Are those claws I hear being sharpened?" asked the show's Las Vegas contestant, Robin Leach -- referring to the show's other female contestants, Alana Stewart, Melissa Rivers and "Downtown" Julie Brown.

The entire group -- including "Stuttering" John Menendez, Bruce Jenner, Tyson Beckford and Vegas regular Cris Judd -- starts its Australian outback adventure Feb. 19. The show will air for 15 consecutive nights during prime time.

A new Don

Don H. Barden, the first and only black owner of a national casino company, is having a first-anniversary celebration today at his Fitzgeralds on Fremont Street.

He has invited Kim Fields, Malik Yoba, Nancy Wilson, Jackee, Carl Lewis, Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns and Emmanuel Lewis to join him at a private party.

In honor of Black History Month, Fitzgeralds will also hosts exhibits from the National Civil Rights Museum, screen a Motown documentary and produce a pair of Martha Reeves concerts this weekend.

VegasBits

Larry King brought his wife, Shawn, and their two young sons to see Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage on Monday night ...

Socialite and hotel heiress Paris Hilton is celebrating her 22nd birthday Saturday at the Bellagio hot spot Light ...

Nice article on NASCAR star and Las Vegas native Kurt Busch in the current edition of ESPN The Magazine. It talks about his childhood, working the graveyard shift with Las Vegas Valley Water District and his rise to stardom ...

Nicer article in S: The Magazine of Summerlin on Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald and her home in The Arbors ...

Still nicer piece in People about Danny Gans. It includes a full-page image of Gans and his daughter Emily, 7 ...A quartet of opening night tickets for Celine Dion's "A New Day" show March 25 fetched $10,000 at the Neiman Marcus charity auction to benefit the Nathan Adelson Hospice on Saturday night -- and it was a bargain. One ticket broker we called was asking 10 grand for just a pair, and that doesn't include the opening night party afterward, as the auctioned tickets did ...

A real Oscar party: Fox Television is flying 30 couples on blind dates to Las Vegas for Valentine's Day. They will be feted by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman at a party at his favorite bar, Jillian's, on Saturday night.

From Sun wires

Sen. John Kerry says surgery to treat an early form of prostate cancer will not derail his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"I think the best treatment is going to be getting back on the trail," the 59-year-old Massachusetts lawmaker said Tuesday, vowing to return to work within a matter of days.

Kerry's surgery today comes 11 months before the first votes are cast in a Democratic primary campaign that already has attracted six candidates. Kerry said the cancer diagnosis would have "no impact at all" on his campaign, but some Democrats said it could raise questions about whether he is physically fit to lead the country.

"If it is indeed true that he will be able to rebound quickly, I don't think he'll miss a whole lot," said Joe Shannahan, a Democratic activist in Iowa. "But there are people who will take a second look at him now because health is very important in a presidential candidate."