HOLLYWOOD NAMES IN THE NEWS: MORGAN SLATED FOR BASEBALL FILM

          ESPN/NBC MLB analyst JOE MORGAN has been tapped to star
     in "COMING ALIVE," a film about a "sports hero who is
     transformed from a baseball card to a real-live superstar
     who helps a nerdy kid win at Little League."  Morgan will
     "take about a half-a-million salary plus 5 percent of the
     gross" (Liz Smith, N.Y. POST, 6/13)....Actor BURT REYNOLDS
     has joined the cast of SYLVESTER STALLONE's open-wheel
     racing film "CHAMPS."  Reynolds will play a wheelchair-bound
     former driver.  Shooting is scheduled to begin next month
     (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/14)....USA TODAY's Harlan Jacobson
     examines sports-themed films, and writes that "THE
     REPLACEMENTS," which tells the story of replacement players
     during the '87 NFL strike, is "perhaps the most anticipated
     sports film of the summer."  The film opens August 11.  In
     the works is "VEECK AS IN WRECK," which is based on the
     best-selling book about former White Sox Owner BILL VEECK. 
     Actor BILL MURRAY will play Veeck (USA TODAY, 6/14).