Almost no hitter has been happier after a strikeout. Billy Crystal, who turned 60 today, had the opportunity to play for the Yankees in their Spring Training game against the Pirates yesterday. Leading off and serving as the DH -- he said it stood for Designated Hebrew -- Crystal got a piece of one pitch and chopped it foul down the first-base line. He also showed a good eye to work the count to 3-1,......

Even if it's only in a preseason game, and even if it's only against the Pirates, Billy Crystal will realize his lifelong dream of playing for the Yankees. The team announced Monday it had signed him to a one-day minor-league contract. Publicity stunt? Sure. But as far as the Yankees, who will send him to the field Thursday, see it, a harmless one. Crystal, who played baseball for Long Beach High School (Long Island) and......

Playwright David Mamet (pictured) will be maintaining a blog to promote his new Broadway play, November, which stars Nathan Lane as contemporary American president Charles Smith and Laurie Metcalf as his lesbian speech writer. What’s interesting, perhaps, is that Mamet will be writing the blog – which he says he’ll update for the duration of the open-ended run – as President Smith. Sample entry from Monday:CONGRESSIONAL PAGE SEX SCANDALS It seems to me that, at......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Art in the Twenty-First Century (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., WNET 13) Four artists - Robert Adams, Mark Dion , Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Ursula von Rydingsvard – who explore the intersection between nature and culture. Billy Crystal: The Mark Twain Prize (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. WLIW 21) Billy Crystal receives the tenth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in......

Not quite outdoing her husband's 60th birthday bash at the Beacon last year (which starred the Rolling Stones and was filmed by Martin Scorsese), Hillary Clinton entered a new age last night. Choosing the same venue to celebrate her 60th in, the music was provided by Elvis Costello and the Wallflowers (apparently no one from her campaign song list was available), and Billy Crystal provided some humor. The AP reports that she likened herself......

As he stumps for various Repubican candidates vying for win durings the 2006 elections, Rudy Giulaini is, more than ever, bandied about as a possible 2008 presidential candidate. The NY Times has a big article about Giuliani - and the GOP - riding his September 11 coattails. Given that Giuliani is a difficult hybrid of stances - pro-gay rights, pro-gun control, pro-choice, very divorced (and Italian, to boot!) - focusing on September 11 is......

Did you see the crazy Post article about baseball groupies in the city? We say crazy because it gives readers tips on developing on MO to have a fling with players:This, [Melody] says, is how it works: She'll get a call or a text (sometimes from one of her players, sometimes from a go-between) to tell her that the team is in town and does she want to party? Other times, she has to......

Jon Fisch, Comedian...

It's Oscar Night and Gothamist is here. Tonight, it'll be a joint effort, from our resident film guru Karen Wilson and our resident Oscar freak Jen Chung. We hope you weigh in with what you think! KW: I have my popcorn, my diet coke -- I am ready for the spectacle and the excess. JC: ALL RIGHT! I just took extra Vitamin C - I'm waiting for some food delivery. 6:36PM Isaac Mizrahi has NOT......

On Sundays, Gothamist runs opinion pieces on issues relevant to life in New York. The views expressed below belong entirely to the author. It only took me two hours to read Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, about the length of the Tony-award winning play he wrote and turned into the memoir. The success of the play, coupled with Crystal's brilliant sense of humor, prompted me to pick up the sort of book I wouldn't normally read......

Good lord. It's not even five minutes into the Emmys and Gothamist (and friends Aaron Dobbs of out of focus and a Gothamist contributor, and Margaret Lyons, formerly of Chicagoist) is very very frightened. There is no reason why Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas should force Doris Roberts to dance with them. Doris needs to get the AARP to fight the fight with her. Welcome to Gothamist's attempt to liveblog the Emmys, until the......

Gothamist can always get a sense of what shows are crash & burning and which are just plain sizzling by an occasional perusal of the theater tickets for sale/wanted listings on the oh mighty list o Craig. A browse today tells us the following: Billy Crystal is gonna make a killing on his new solo show 700 Sundays. The reviews kicked butt, and here is someone selling a pair for $500 bucks. Ouch, that's steep.......

Dame Edna, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Eve Ensler and Mario Cantone are all heading to Broadway this fall in one-person shows. Variety via Yahoo reports on the huge abundance of one-person shows opening before Christmas. Why so many at once? Because these shows aren't as expensive to capitalize due to their low overhead costs, and they contain a reasonably low amount of risk, given the past track records and fan bases of these performers. The......

Nicole Beland, Writer/Girl Next Door...

Sunday night at Chavez Ravine, Kobe Bryant was sporting a Dodger hat and a Yankee shirt, Billy Crystal caught a foul ball and needed to ice his hand down and "Mr. L.A.", Jack Nicholson, was in attendance to watch the Yankees and Dogers in a three game weekend set. The Yanks ended up dropping two of three in their weekend series with the Dodgers. Javier Vasquez lost the series opener 6-3 (box score) to former......

The second most interesting thing Gothamist found about the Oscars last night was that Oscar-nominated Seabiscuit cinematographer John Schwartzman is Jason Schwartzman's brother, which means he's cousins with Sofia and Nic, nephew of Francis... The first most interesting thing was how bored we could be watching the Oscars. BORING BORING BORING. Gothamist hates your producing, Joe Roth. Hate hate hate! A few moments before the show officially starts, Billy Bush makes Keisha Castle Hughes......

Gothamist wants to be one of the first to say what everyone will be uttering tomorrow with more frequency than usual: Why does Melissa Rivers persist? Joan, we understand, because she can be funny, though lately it's been more outrageous than incisive. And we understand nepotism and accept Tori Spelling's wooden acting...but Melissa...she must be stopped. And when she tears into some poor, celebrity with a bad stylist, no stylist at all, or her/his own......

The Post comes up with a few ideas for Oscar drinking games during the ceremony: • An award winner forgets to thank his or her significant other. • An award winner says the words "blessed," "humbling" or "my agent." • The orchestra cuts off an acceptance speech. • Host Billy Crystal makes a Mel Gibson joke. • A camera cuts to Jack Nicholson. Gothamist would like to add someone saying "Oh my God" (we want......

One of the upsides of going to school in NY (aside from the obvious one of living in the best city in the whole wide world) is being able to intern for hip companies, and the Times' Sarah Schmidt investigates the world of the hipster intern. Internships (or "fanternships") of choices include ones for the Strokes, various music PR agencies, and Vice magazine, where interns can revel in their plus ones and the proximity of......

David Letterman returned last night, to greet guest Billy Crystal, after spending the past couple week getting over the shingles. The Top Ten List was "Top Ten Good Thing About Having Shingles," with a sole entry: "10. There's nothing good about the ****ing shingles. The ****suckers are so ***damn painful, every minute you pray some giant son-of-a-bitch will shove a red-hot poker up your ***."......