Manny being Manny

Manny Delcarmen showed some Little Leaguers from Weston how to throw - and hit - a perfect fastball at Game On! in Fenway recently. The pitcher from Hyde Park volunteered his time through the Good Sports' Legends of the Ball auction, which supports sports and fitness programs for disadvantaged youths.

There were lots of short skirts and even some thigh-high stockings at Cardi's Furniture in Braintree yesterday when 60 aspiring models showed up to audition to join Drew Carey on "The Price Is Right." CBS and its local station, WBZ-TV, hosted the contest, part of a nationwide search. (The top five finalists will appear on the show this fall, and viewers will choose the winner online.) Cardi's promotions director, Ben DeCastro, said the women came from as far away as Vermont to pose with the store's furnishings and show off their model walks. "You could tell there were nerves in the air," he said. "But all the models did a really good job." And he kept his cool, even around the lady in thigh-highs who told screeners she's a go-go dancer. "It was a tough day to be me," he said. "I represented the company today."

Following the news yesterday that Olympic multi-medalist Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories every day - including lots of pasta and mayonnaise-slathered egg sandwiches - NECN weather guy Joe Joyce (above) decided to go for the gold himself. Joyce ate Phelps's entire regular breakfast on the air yesterday (plus an extra piece of French toast): one five-egg omelette, three fried-egg sandwiches, three chocolate chip pancakes, and four pieces of powdered sugar-coated French toast. He also threw in a bowl of oatmeal, a sub for the grits Phelps eats every morning. ("IHOP didn't have grits," said NECN spokeswoman Doreen Vigue.) Joyce wore swim goggles, to protect from "splash over," and an American flag tie for the feast. He did pretty well until he got to the French toast, he said. He ran out of syrup and ate with his hands. "I've kind of trained all my life for this event," he said, in a video on the NECN website. "I'm doing fine. It's good to be healthy and alive, that's for sure."

Sox stars Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, and Jed Lowrie chatted with announcers Joe Castiglione of WEEI and Don Orsillo of NESN at the State Street Pavilion, as the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon continued yesterday. By 8 p.m. the drive had surpassed its goal of $4 million. Calls came in yesterday from Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who donated $6,000, "Desperate Housewives" actor James Denton, Jim Belushi, and author Harlan Coben. Ben Affleck, Stephen King, and Dane Cook were expected to phone in later. Meanwhile, Sox legend Lou Merloni and CES boxing stars Peter Manfredo, Edwin Rodriguez, Joey Spina, and Bobo Starnino raised money for the telethon at the mall in Warwick, R.I.

Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter held hostage in Iraq for more than two months in 2006, will start recruit training at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in Virginia on Monday, said department spokesman Dan Schmidt. Carroll will undergo five months of full-time training to become a firefighter and emergency medical technician. But she's not up for talking about her career switch, Schmidt said. In late 2006, Carroll was named a fellow at Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy; afterward, she returned to the Monitor and covered war and veterans issues.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.