KRIS SHERMAN
The News Tribune
August 26th, 2007
Al Borland, the plaid-shirt-wearing “Home Improvement” sidekick, was on the mound.
Buck Rogers was at third base.
And Wisteria Lane widower-turned-murder convict Paul Young was in the outfield.
It was silly, slapstick celebrity softball at Cheney Stadium on Saturday. And the stars whipped a team of media dogs, 14-12, in a sloppy slugfest to benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Tacoma General Hospital.
So, OK, who were those guys?
Well, in reality (the part of life that’s not TV), Borland is Seattle native Richard Karn, Capt. “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” is actor Gil Gerard, and Paul “Desperate Housewives” Young is Mark Moses.
They and a dozen other singers, actors, models and notables from other fields put the glitz, if not the glamour, into the Richard Karn Celebrity Weekend Softball Game.
The event drew about 2,000 spectators and probably raised around $30,000, said Kevin Mullin, managing broker of Windermere Professional Partners.
Windermere was one of several companies helping Karn with a weekend of fundraising events, including an auction and golf tournament.
Last year, the Richard Karn auction and golf tournament raised about $630,000 for Tacoma General’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Parenting Partnership Program offered through Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.
Saturday, the celebs suited up in gray Tacoma Rainiers road jerseys as the visiting team.
Their name: The KARNivores.
A number of local newspaper and television reporters, radio hosts and others formed the home team, outfitted in white Rainiers jerseys.
Their name: The MEDIAtors.
Oh, and the MEDIAtors weren’t completely celebrity-less.
Singer-songwriter Nick Lachey, a minority owner in the Rainiers, wore No. 14 and played shortstop – when he wasn’t having tete-a-tete at second base with girlfriend and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” actress Vanessa Minnillo.
You could hear fans in the stands giggling out “Oh, isn’t that sooooooo cute!” when they copped to the fact that Minnillo also wore No. 14 on her back.
Lachey got his share of heckling, too.
“Oh, I FEEL the wind on that one,” fan Brian Foley hollered as Lachey took a mighty swing and his bat swished nothing but air in the top of the fourth inning
Brian and wife Laurie of Tumwater liked the celebrity confab well enough, but what they really loved was the cause.
Their son Gavin, born 13 weeks early on July 23, is in the NICU at Tacoma General. Saturday morning, his condition improved enough to have a breathing tube removed.
Laurie Foley’s daughter, 8-year-old Madison Bell, also was born early and spent time in the unit.
“I’m glad that Richard Karn put on something like this to raise money,” Laurie Foley said. “It’s definitely needed.”
If Gavin continues to improve, he’ll go home sometime in October, probably around his original Oct. 22 due date, she said.
When the game was over, the scoreboard read: KARNivores 14, runs, 17 hits, 3 errors; MEDIAtors 12 runs, 15 hits, 3 errors.
Karn slapped Lachey on the shoulder and told him, “Hey, good job!” Then he hung out with fans, thanking them for coming, posing for pictures and signing autographs. Karn said he was happy to sponsor the weekend full of fundraisers.
The interest in the charity events, said Karn, “is a real sign that Tacoma’s come of age.”
Sidenote: Ryan Stiles played as a member of the winning team.
