Sox, spouses take a hit for charity

So what are your World Champion Red Sox really like? It isn't pretty, according to their wives and girlfriends, some of whom spilled the beans on the bad habits of their ballplayers during a fund-raiser Saturday night. Take Terry Francona, for example. Asked what the skipper does - or doesn't do - around the house that irritates her, Tito's long-suffering spouse, Jacque, joked: "I'm not sure where to start." A kickoff for Kevin Youkilis's charity Hits for Kids, the laugh fest at Mohegan Sun was ably emceed by sitcom star Mike O'Malley and featured a "Newlywed Game"-style show scripted by "Saturday Night Live" regular Seth Meyers. Without exception, the Sox' significant others said their players are error-prone away from the field. "When he takes his clothes off, it's always right in the middle of the room," said Manny Delcarmen's wife, Anna. Of Jacoby Ellsbury, galpal Kelsey Hawkins said the future star falls short when it comes to unpacking his bags. "He leaves his suitcase on the floor and just lives out of it," she said. Youkilis's fiancee, Enza Sambataro, gave the Gold Glove first baseman props for being a perfect dad to her young son Mikey, but wondered why Youk can't pick up after himself. "He leaves water bottles everywhere," she said. In the end, of course, the BoSox gave as good as they got. Asked which lasts longer, the Big Dig or spousal primping, the Sox didn't hesitate. "The Big Dig was nothing," said Francona. "Jacque getting ready. . . . Talk about an excavation." Saturday's event also included an entertaining live auction, during which one guest with particularly deep pockets dropped $9,000 to dine with Ellsbury at Taco Bell. "Who says America isn't great," marveled O'Malley. Another high roller spent $6,600 on a poker table signed by every member of the '07 Sox, including Manny Ramirez's mother and aunt. Said O'Malley: "Manny's family being Manny's family." Saturday's shindig was Steve DiFillippo's first visit to Mohegan Sun, and it was a memorable one. Due to a mix-up, the Davio's owner and his wife arrived in Uncasville, Conn., to discover they didn't have a hotel room. What to do? A la Clark Kent, the couple donned their party duds in the bathroom. "I'm happy to say the bathrooms are nice," DiFillippo told us.

Circus of the stars

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen stopped backstage over the weekend at "Wintuk," the new Cirque du Soleil show at New York's Madison Square Garden. Tom Brady's fun-loving best friend posed with characters Snob Lady, Wimpy, and Thief, who snuck between Bundchen's legs. If Brady was there, he scrambled before the photographers could get a shot.

We like comedian Denis Leary because he works with a broad brush and sometimes his strokes fall way outside the lines. An example was Saturday's "Comics Come Home" benefit at BU, when Leary did a celebrity-bashing bit that included photos of Britney Spears - sans undies - projected on two giant screens. Half of the crowd recoiled and the other half, including Leary's fellow comics Lenny Clarke, Artie Lange, and Jim Norton, roared. We're told everyone was laughing at the after-party at Game On! Among those making the scene were Leary's son Jack, hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely and his wife, Paulina, celebrity chefs Ming Tsai and Michael Schlow, and Sovereign Bank CEO Joe Campanelli.

Add Bruce Springsteen's name to the long list of left-leaning celebs who admire Howard Zinn. In the new, 40th anniversary issue of Rolling Stone magazine, the Boss gives the BU professor a shout-out, citing his seminal "A People's History of the United States." "It made me feel that I was a player in this moment in history, as we all are, and that this moment in history was mine, somehow, to do with whatever I could," said Springsteen. "It made me feel a part of history, and gave me life as a participant." Zinn, whose other A-list adherents include Matt Damon and Eddie Vedder, lives in Newton.

Burlesque dancer Vita Lightly was in town briefly yesterday, and she showed no ill effects from her appearance on "America's Next Top Model: Cycle 9." The Boston Babydoll, a Bay State native whose real name is Sarah Hartshorne, was bounced from the show last week. "It was great, bizarre, and totally surreal," said the 20-year-old dancer who's studying at Drew University. "It was disappointing to be kicked off, but that's the nature of the show." . . . The night before his band's show at the TD Banknorth Garden, Sting was sipping a Patron's margarita at Ed Kane's club Estate. We're told the Police singer was joined Saturday by his wife, Trudie Styler, and good buddy Bobby Sager, the Boston-based photographer/philanthropist whose pictures the Police use on stage during "Invisible Sun." . . . MIT President Susan Hockfield, Governor Deval Patrick, Senator Ted Kennedy (with his wife, Vicki, below right), and Senator John Kerry were at the MFA Saturday as the Cambridge-based Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research celebrated its 25th anniversary. They were joined by Susan Whitehead (below left), daughter of Edwin C. "Jack" Whitehead, who made the initial gift establishing the institute.

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