Sports Beat

How about that! Former Arizona Wildcats softball pitcher Jennie Finch is following the path of broadcasting great Mel Allen. This Week in Baseball, which the folksy Allen hosted from 1977 until shortly before his death in '96, has hired Finch, 22, to do a weekly segment called "Pitch, Hit & Run with Jennie Finch." She'll discuss fundamentals and strategies with a lucky major leaguer. A two-time NCAA player of the year, Finch has received as much acclaim for her curves—she was chosen as the Hottest Female Athlete over Anna Kournikova in an ESPN.com poll—as for her curveball. She's due to graduate from Arizona this month with a communications degree but has no broadcast experience. Finch says she has already heard grumblings from people who think she's nothing more than a pretty face. "I think I have the talent," she says, "and I'm out to prove them wrong."

?Pass the relish, Mr. President. Last week tennis stars Andre Agassi, Todd Martin and Jan-Michael Gambill were among the ATP players who visited former president George H. Bush in Houston. Along with his wife, Barbara, Bush gave the players—who were in town for the U.S. Men's Clay Championships—a tour of his home, screened Bush family videos in the library and had hamburgers and hot dogs served up on plastic plates adorned with the presidential seal. Bush has impressive tennis lineage: His great-uncle, Joseph Wear, won a bronze medal in doubles at the 1904 Olympics and was the U.S. Davis Cup captain in '28 and '35. Wear, in fact, gave the future president his first lessons at the request of Bush's mother, Dorothy, who once finished second in the U.S. junior nationals. "I was lucky enough to be a ball boy [at the Davis Cup]," said the former president. "I thought I had died and gone to heaven, and that really sparked my lifelong love for the sport."

?Former Growing Pains papa Alan Thicke is Canadian, which means he's a hockey player, which is what led to him catching a puck in the face during a recreational game at a Burbank, Calif., rink last week. The puck knocked out five teeth, and Thicke needed 30 stitches. His hair was O.K., though, and he received a get-well call from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. "He told me, 'Congratulations for taking one for the team,' " Thicke says. "I was touched."...

128-year-old Churchill Downs is about to get a thoroughly modern face-lift. Not long after Saturday's Kentucky Derby, the creaking venue will undergo a $121 million makeover to add, among other amenities, 23 luxury suites, a food court, new bathrooms, lounges and 13 elevators. It's expected to take until May 2005, and fans are already calling next year's Run for the Roses the "Demolition Derby?'...

Eat my shorts, David Beckham. The Manchester United star may have a hit movie named after him (Bend It Like Beckham), but plans to feature him in an episode of The Simpsons have been dropped. "We thought about Becks," said executive producer Al Jean, "but [in the U.S.] he's not really famous enough."...

Charles Barkley's loose lips may cost him some cash. If the Kings and the Sixers make the Finals, Barkley has pledged $50,000 each to charities chosen by TNT colleagues Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith....

Allen Iverson may be Reebok's most famous endorser, but Jay-Z moves product. His signature shoe sold out in less than a day—about 10,000 went at $95 a pop—making it the fastest-selling shoe in Reebok history.