The Artists & Writers 62nd Annual Charity Softball Game takes place at Herrick Field in East Hampton this Saturday, and if you like to watch people get knocked down, this might be the year for you.
That’s despite the fact that the bid to bring “The Bulldog” out East has faltered.
Jim Bouton, a former Yankee pitcher from the 1960s and the man who brought truth to sports reporting with his infamous “Ball Four” tell-all book about Major League Baseball, was being heavily recruited by the Writers. “He said he was going to try to make it,” said the Writers’ team captain Ken Auletta, author of “Googled” and a staff writer at The New Yorker.
Bouton tells Media Ink, however, “My wife reminded me I have another commitment closer to home. Maybe next year.”
Leif Hope, captain of the Artists, will be out for revenge for the one-run loss in extra innings last year — on a single by Mike Lupica — and is recruiting his usual assortment of ringers to help balance the field.
On the mound will be Lauren Gabrielson, a champion college fast-pitch softball pitcher. Media Ink’s Keith Kelly expects to be on the scene. (We reminded Hope that the game is supposed to be slow pitch.)
Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman is expected to test out his artificial knee under game conditions for the Writers, although he may use a pinch runner.
The game is also expected to mark the return of “Bright Lights, Big City” author Jay McInerney to catcher. He’s skipped most of the recent years after he was bowled over by “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin several years ago, as Baldwin was attempting to tag up from third on a fly ball.
Perennial combatant, author and Vanity Fair contributor Carl Bernstein is also expected to take his turn catching for the Writers.
Auletta, while coaxing McInerney back on the field, hasn’t been able to lure Andy Lack into the lineup. Lack was playing first back in the days when he was still a top executive at NBC when boxer Gerry Cooney, a ringer recruited by the Artists, banged into Lack at first base. Lack was bowled over and ended up breaking his collarbone.
Lack, who heads up multimedia at Bloomberg LP and still has a place in Sag Harbor, hasn’t returned since. “The memory of Gerry Cooney still makes my shoulder shudder,” he said. “If only it had been George Clooney.”
Admission is $10, and proceeds go to benefit three East End charities.
OK!’s 99
OK!, the magazine, started by Richard Desmond, has blown through more than $170 million since the mag’s US launch five years ago, but is still attempting to woo readers. Some competitors think its latest cover promotion might be misleading to shoppers. Near the top of the cover on several recent issues there is in big type a “New! 99” or “Special 99” label, done up in bright yellow. Below the number, in tiny type, are the words “hot photos.”
The belief is that some shoppers may think the 99 is referring not to the number of photos inside, but instead to the cover price. Thinking it has been slashed from its usual $3.99 to only 99 cents, shoppers may then toss it into their shopping cart as an impulse buy.
Maybe. Maybe not. But it doesn’t seem to be helping circulation much. In the six-month period, the magazine missed its rate base of 800,000 by over 100,000 copies, as its single-copy sales dropped 9.6 percent to 360,180, while total circulation was off 14.1 percent to 695,197.
ESPN mag 2.0
ESPN the Magazine introduces a new format with the issue that hits newstands today, devoting the bulk of each issue to a single sports topic or theme.
“Rather than continue to try to keep up with every single thing going on in the sports world, we decided to take a deep dive into single topics,” said Gary Belsky, editor-in-chief. This seems to signal that ESPN’s Body issue was a big success. It also signals closer ties between the magazine — which is moving from New York to the Bristol, Conn., headquarters campus of ESPN next year — and the rest of the company’s various sports TV, radio and Web sites.
The first issue in the new format for ESPN is the Col lege Football Kickoff and will be followed in two weeks by the NFL Pre view Issue, both of which are among the best-selling regular issues for rival Sports Illustrated each year.
Belsky said he doesn’t think ESPN the Magazine’s new single-subject focus will alienate readers since the upfront sections “Go” and “Play” will still carry 30 to 40 pages devoted to sports of all kinds in each issue. “We actually don’t think it’s a gamble,” said Belsky. “We think we’ve covered all our bases.” kkelly@nypost.com