The Beat

As the wife of a former major leaguer prone to getting into trouble, Charisse Strawberry has spent a lot of time in front of TV cameras. It was on the talk-show circuit last year discussing Darryl Strawberry's four-day drug binge that Charisse (below left, with Darryl) began thinking about putting her experience to use, and on March 19 she made her debut as a TV reporter, on Tampa cable channel Bay News 9. Charisse's segment, called "Today's Woman," was taped before Darryl was tossed from an Ocala, Fla., rehab center on March 12 for having sex with a fellow patient. Although Charisse refuses to discuss the incident, Darryl has said his marriage has been "destroyed." Charisse's bosses say her appeal goes beyond her name. "I hired Charisse, I didn't hire her husband," says Bay News 9 general manager Elliott Wiser. "She brings a lot of experience to the segment, which is about balancing career and family."...

Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe makes his acting debut in the upcoming Life or Something Like It. In the comedy, TV news ring into trouble, Jolie interviews a homeless man who predicts an angel will fall from the sky, a vision that comes true when a sportscaster played by McEnroe reports that an Angels player has died in a plane crash. McEnroe landed the cameo through his wife, Melissa Errico, who plays a newscaster in the film. "Her one piece of advice was, Don't ham it up too much," says McEnroe....

Victoria Beckham, the Spice Girl formerly known as Posh and the pregnant wife of Manchester United midfielder David Beckham, says that contrary to press speculation, her baby was not conceived on Man U's home pitch, Old Trafford. "I think it's illegal to perform an act like that at Old Trafford," says Victoria. "That's not where he was made." She quickly adds, "He or she, I don't know the sex of the baby. And if it's a boy, it will not be called Trafford." British bookies have been taking bets that the child would be named Trafford if a boy and Paris if a girl. The Beckhams' first child, Brooklyn, 3, supposedly was so named because he was conceived in that New York City borough.