Fans flock to 'Rock 'n Jock'

By Wes Woods, On-Line Forty-Niner

Monday, January 25, 1999

Method Man posed for pictures with Vanilla Ice.

No, it was no joke. It was MTV's "Rock N' Jock Baseball '99," which was held Saturday in the colorful confines of Long Beach's Blair Field. About 2,000 fans got a glimpse of their favorite stars in action.

While Method Man mugged with the ear-to-ear grinning Iceman - before running off and jumping up into the stands - other superstars spun stories to whichever media crew would listen.

When asked about the prospects of the Stars against the Pros, D.L. Hughley, from ABC's "The Hughley's," quickly answered with a straight face, "What do baseball stars know about baseball?" Then, after attempting to speak a Spanish phrase recited to him by two Latino disc jockeys, Hughley joked, "I hope I didn't cuss nobody out in Spanish."

Ah, yes. The game. With all proceeds going to The Boys and Girls Club of America, the contest consisted of six professionals taking on 12 stars, who had five reserves in a five-inning game.

Among assurances that the game would be competitive, the Stars batted until they had three outs. The Pros had three outs per inning, with a maximum of six batters per inning.

After a K-Ci and JOJO national anthem, a reintroduction of "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" star Melissa Joan Hart - the MTV cameras were evidently not recording the first time - and a loud booing of Vanilla Ice, the game began.

Despite the Pros scoring two runs early in the game, the contest was dull. Even such memorable antics as Silkk the Shocker sitting down in the outfield with a cellular phone during the first few innings, Redman's constant wrestling with an enormous fake alligator and Snoop Dogg's fall as he attempted to catch a ball failed to produce a colorful game.

In the end, the Stars actually won the game, with a score of 5-4, when a fly ball bounced out of Snoop Dogg's hands and into "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place" star Ryan Reynolds' mitt.

The game also gave celebrities a chance to promote themselves. Dr. Dre said his new album, "Chronic 2000," will be released in the summer. Fellow rappers Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Eminem and "three or four new cats" will make guest appearances. He also said he had written a screenplay based on his life and that an N.W.A. reunion would be discussed later that day, but he would not say with whom.

After meeting Hughley before the game, Seattle Mariner outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. said he still wanted to meet Silkk the Shocker and Method Man. However, that did not mean he was going to be soft on them when it came to play.

"We want to win," he said.