Penny Marshall's Back in the Ballgame

COVERING BASES Marshall

Penny Marshall, director of A League of Their Own, will be directing and producing two new baseball films, Radar learned at the Museum of the City of New York's opening for The Glory Days: New York Baseball 1947-1957 last night.

Marshall, who donned blue-tinted sunglasses and a huge diamond-studded cross, tells Radar, "I don't talk about what's next. Today's today." But Byron Motley, who approached Marshall with the two projects he will produce with her, was more forthcoming. He wrote the screenplay about Newark Eagles co-owner Effa Manley, who in 2006 was the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. A documentary about the Negro leagues will be the second film.

As for who'll play Effa Manley, Motley revealed, "I'm not sure who might be right for the role, possibly Demi Moore, possibly Hilary Swank."

The documentary, on the other hand, is slated to include interviews with Colin Powell (who will share his recollections and memories), former Dodger Don Newcombe, and former Giant Monty Irving, among others.

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