Posted on 04/06/2004 7:27:49 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie worked the crowd more than they worked at Dell Diamond
By John DeFore
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
ROUND ROCK -- It was a beautiful evening for baseball Saturday, as the Round Rock Express met the New Orleans Zephyrs at the Dell Diamond. The sky was clear; the rising moon was full; the smell of hot caramel hung in the air. And a filthy-rich party girl in pink stockings was helping with batting practice -- or would be, if she could figure out which hand to stick in the glove she was given.
The Express were hosting Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, whose sequel to their successful TV series, "The Simple Life 2," features the two heiresses roaming the country, being bewildered by the kinds of jobs normal people do. At Round Rock they sold a few hot dogs and played batboy a while, but spent most of their time sitting around or hiding outside the stadium. Observers learned what they might have guessed: The girls perform each job just long enough to obtain usable video footage. At market wages, their combined labor Saturday night would probably have earned them around 10 bucks.
If the night shed little light on the characters of the "celebutantes," it offered an opportunity to see what kind of people care about watching them. The event drew almost 3,000 more fans than an average exhibition game, and a dedicated fraction of those stalked the areas behind the bleachers, awaiting the next glimpse of someone they'd seen on TV.
For most of the game, a group of about 50 people clustered around the service entrance used by "Simple Life 2" producers. (It was the gate closest to the Hooters billboard.) Few in the crowd were older than 25, and it was for the most part an irony-free zone.
A gawky boy in a yellow T-shirt held a wadded dollar bill in the air, offering it in exchange for passage through the tall gates. College-age guys held a homemade sign inviting Paris and Nicole to something called a "FOAM party." A prepubescent girl in a four-piece Louis Vuitton ensemble ("Yes, it's real," she asserted to another girl, although she had a Hiltonlike ignorance of its cost) proclaimed the pair's virtues while her 12-year-old cousin clutched a Maxim magazine featuring a nearly naked Paris, desperately trying to get an autograph.
A quintet of older kids tried to explain Paris' appeal. "I like her because . . . she's rich," said Cori Margerum, 14. "And she's got a lot of cool clothes." Her friend Kristin Miller was more eloquent: "I think Paris is really very smart. She knows how to fight. And she sticks up for herself when she talks to Shannen Doherty."
Hilton needs Doherty-navigation skills more than most folks, of course, because she made a homemade sex video with the "90210" star's estranged husband.
Back on the field, Paris was flitting to home plate, hands outstretched daintily as she retrieved a player's discarded bat. Behind home plate, seats were filled with folks who actually came to see a ball game, such as Bob and Jeri Bradley. The Bradleys didn't find the guests distracting; Bob didn't even know who they were until his wife explained.
The only real input from baseball fans came in the eighth inning, when Hilton ended a half-hearted game of catch by tossing a player's glove carelessly on the field. The crowd booed at her lack of respect, and the girls stayed off the field after that -- returning only after the game ended, to pose for cameras and let their dog relieve himself on the turf.
It wasn't baseball's finest moment. But chances are it will be suitable for the Fox network, when "The Simple Life 2" hits television this summer.
The Express were hosting Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, whose sequel to their successful TV series, "The Simple Life 2," features the two heiresses roaming the country, being bewildered by the kinds of jobs normal people do.I bet if Clinton was still President, he'd invite them to come see what White House interns do.
-Eric
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