NEWS LITE : AILING ROONEY KEPT OUT OF OZ.

Mickey Rooney had to give up walking down the yellow brick road this week to take a trip to the hospital.

The 78-year-old actor missed Friday's opening performance of a stage production of ``The Wizard of Oz,'' because of a bad reaction to some medicine.

He went to the emergency room at Cleveland's St. Vincent Charity Hospital, where he was treated and released, said Jennifer Gaglione, promotions manager for Cleveland's Playhouse Square Center.

She didn't know what medicine he was taking. The hospital would not comment.

Rooney, who is playing the Wizard, first returned to the land of Oz two years ago and has been part of the play's touring company since.

Marriage rumors give actress the giggles

Jennifer Aniston said recent reports of her pending marriage to actor Brad Pitt are greatly exaggerated.

``No! No! And that's what's so amusing - all these detailed stories claiming, two sources said, or, I have sources, yet nothing ever comes from the horse's mouth. I just watch and laugh,'' Aniston said in the March 4 edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

The ``Friends'' star also refuted allegations by critics who say the couple are trying to attract publicity by denying the relationship.

``No. It's not that at all,'' she said. ``My responsibility to the public is my work - not what goes on in my private life.''

Although Aniston was tight-lipped about her private moments with Pitt, she told the magazine: ``I'll just tell you that this is the happiest time of my life - that I'm happier than I've ever been. I'm not saying why. It's for a lot of reasons: work, love, family, just life.''

Aniston, who just turned 30, said she's not desperate to get married.

``I'm not itching for it. It's something that, hopefully, at one time in my life, I'll be able to do.''

Leno to keep pace at Indy 500 race

Gearhead Jay Leno will drive the pace car at the Indianapolis 500.

``Pacing Indy is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I absolutely can't wait,'' Leno said Thursday.

His wheels on May 30 will be a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

The ``Tonight Show'' host owns dozens of vintage cars and motorcycles. He was emcee of the Indy 500 Victory Banquet in 1991 and rode the pace car for two parade laps before the 1994 race.

Brooks to join Padres' spring training workout

Let's see, the San Diego Padres lose a bunch of free agents, trade away their best slugger and then bring in a singing cowboy?

In a move sure to raise eyebrows - if not chuckles - from fans and no doubt some National League West rivals, the Padres announced Friday that country music superstar Garth Brooks has been invited to spring training on a nonroster basis.

No kidding - a singing cowboy whose athletic credentials are playing on his high school baseball team and throwing the javelin at Oklahoma State.

``I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm scared, and it's going to be neat,'' the 37-year-old rookie said in a conference call from Los Angeles. ``Make no mistake about it, I'm out there to play baseball.''

Not in the bigs. At least, not right away.

``There's no chance of him being on the major league club, but we're excited to have him because I think he's going to bring a lot of enthusiasm and hard work into camp, because that's how he goes about his business,'' said Padres manager Bruce Bochy.

Brooks, a switch-hitter, worked out with the Padres for two days at last year's spring training. The extent of his game action was a pinch-running appearance, when he was nearly picked off twice.

After three years on the road playing sold-out concerts, Brooks took a year off, giving him a chance to live out his fantasy of playing professional baseball. If he's any good, he could be back on a bus, riding the backroads of America, playing minor league ball.

The man who sings about friends in low places could end up in the low minors: maybe at Idaho Falls, Idaho; Rancho Cucamonga; or Mobile, Ala.

But he's serious enough about the game that he'll skip the Feb. 24 Grammy Awards ceremonies in Los Angeles, even though he's nominated for three awards, to go to spring training in Peoria, Ariz., a few days before the Feb. 23 reporting day.

Jackson gives beau ticket to splitsville

``What have you done for me lately?'' Apparently, not much for Janet Jackson.

The 32-year-old singer and her longtime romantic interest Rene Elizondo Jr. have separated, according to a statement released Friday by her publicist, Lindsay Scott Management.

The couple, who had a ``personal relationship'' for 13 years, planned to continue their friendship, the statement said. No other details were disclosed.

Jackson, the youngest daughter of the celebrated and controversial Jackson family, was married to singer James DeBarge for about a year when she was in her late teens.

Shortly after her divorce, she and Elizondo began dating.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy and Rick Quist from Daily News staff and wire reports.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1) Tuber suggests romance

Jean Latimer of Sherman Oaks poses with a heart-shaped potato she found atop a 10-pound sack. ``I've never found anything like this and right at Valentine's Day - how appropriate,'' she said.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News

(2) From country to swing?

Singer Garth Brooks takes a swing during batting practice with the San Diego Padres during spring training 1998 in Peoria, Ariz.

(3) LENO

(4) ANISTON