Beckett bash bowls 'em over

By Mark Shanahan and Paysha Rhone, Globe Staff  |  July 11, 2008

Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett filled the Town Line Ten Pin last night in Malden with several hundred of his best friends, including his mom, and his girlfriend, Whitney Hayes, who wore a sentimental silver J.B. bracelet. Sox pals Mike Lowell, Tim Wakefield, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Timlin, and Javier Lopez also bowled in the second annual Beckett Bowl, which raised money for Children's Hospital Boston and the pitcher's own foundation. Celtic forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis also bowled, as did sports babe Hazel Mae, who was nonetheless too shy to pose for pictures. Former Patriot Max Lane was also at the party along with several Bruins and New England Revolution kickers. Darryl McDaniels (the DMC in Run-DMC) was expected to tear up the turntables later. Children's patient Ryan Reardon, 9, of Groveland bowled the first ball but unfortunately it went in the gutter. "He was nervous," Beckett said. "He hasn't been in many situations like this." Beckett left two pins up on his first roll. "It would have been nice to get a strike," he said.

Tony Denison, who plays Detective Andy Flynn on TNT's "The Closer," hung with his fans Wednesday night at Ned Devine's, where more than 100 folks turned out for a sneak peek at Season 4 of the award-warning cop drama. Many fancy treats - éclairs, tarts, cookies - were also consumed. "I'm a dark chocolate freak," confessed Denison, who apparently shares an addiction with Kyra Sedgwick's character, LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. "All I can say is thank God I got to the dessert table late in the evening." Denison grew up in NYC (yep, a Yankee fan), but he feels right at home in Boston, what with baseball being our religion and all. He's an uber-fan and even pitches softball with friends in LA. "Every situation in life, there's a metaphor in baseball," he opined. For example, after three amazing seasons, "The Closer" is looking to plant another flag, he said. "It's the joy of competition, the joy of trying to find something new and different and creative. You can't just rely on a fastball or curveball. Sometimes you have to work on your slide."

Deval Patrick attended Wednesday's opening-night concert of the Landmarks Festival at the Hatch Shell. The governor narrated the Landmark Orchestra's performance of Copland's "Lincoln Portrait."

Celtics captain Paul Pierce continued his victory lap last night, appearing on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."

Rick Ford is a lover, not a fighter - unless you talk trash about the city of Lynn. Ford fiercely defended his hometown this week after WRKO's Reese Hopkins repeatedly referred to Lynn as "a dump." Ford, who's been a city councilor in Lynn for 10 years, responded by calling Hopkins's producer, and left a nasty message on his voice mail. Not surprisingly, the producer played the message on the air - multiple times. "I'm embarrassed for my family and for myself," Ford told us yesterday. "But I was upset." So upset, in fact, that in his voice mail message he challenged Hopkins to a fight at Rivera Brothers Boxing in Lynn. Reese, of course, accepted. Is Ford really going to fight the guy? "I'm proud enough of my city that I'd do it," he said.

Our Google alerts are blowing up with reports that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are preggo with baby No. 2. There don't seem to be any obvious "bump" shots circulating, but an unnamed (of course) source told the National Enquirer that Jen called friends a few days before the Fourth, reporting she was three months along and that she and Ben are "ecstatic." But who knows? Garner did most gracefully avoid the question in April, on the set of the Ricky Gervais flick "This Side of the Truth" in Lowell. Asked by a fan when she might give 2-year-old Violet a sibling, she just laughed. "Sometime," she answered, coyly. "I don't know. I have to think about that one." Affleck's spokesman, Ken Sunshine, is declining to comment.

Sarah Silverman came home for a benefit at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, N.H., Wednesday night. Beau Jimmy Kimmel was supposed to join her onstage but reportedly wasn't feeling too hot. The comedian's show, "An Evening With Sarah Silverman & Friends," raised cash for the New Thalian Players community theater group. The Bedford, N.H., native, most recently infamous for her musical tribute to the irresistible sexiness of Matt Damon, performed on the Palace stage as a young actress. Her sister, comic actress Laura Silverman, and writer and actor Chris Romano, of Nashua, also made the scene.

Is Alan Dershowitz angling for a job in a Barack Obama administration? Sure seems like it. We're told guests at a private July Fourth beach party on Martha's Vineyard were stunned when the Harvard Law professor began reciting the Declaration of Independence and then launched into a pro-Obama rap that lasted perhaps 20 minutes. It's hard to imagine Dershowitz as US Attorney General, especially if Obama's buddy Governor Deval Patrick is interested in the job.

Celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson, Lindsay Lohan's BFF (and seemingly so much more, if you've seen Ronson's MySpace page, which features a photo of the two of them smooching), will spin at the Marina Bay Beach Club on July 23. Ronson (inset), who'll be dressed head-to-toe in white for an "Ultimate White Party," will repeat her performance at Shrine at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods the next night. Let's hope LaLohan tags along.

A belated congrats to a couple of other Obama acolytes: Cass Sunstein and Samantha Power were married in Ireland on July 4. Sunstein, a celebrated legal scholar who recently joined the Harvard faculty, married the Pulitzer Prize-winning human-rights researcher in the seaside town of Waterville. Sunstein, 54, has been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee in an Obama administration. He was previously in a long-term relationship with Martha Nussbaum, the eminent philosophy professor at the University of Chicago. Power, who's 38, was an adviser to the Obama campaign, was forced to resign after she called Hillary Clinton a "monster." According to the Independent of Ireland, the wedding ceremony included a prayer "for the victims of cruelty and injustice, for those who protect wildlife and animals, and those who are poor and persecuted."

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