ALL-STAR NOTES : Bonds Says Dodgers Aren’t Good Enough to Get Him

Barry Bonds, who looms as the top prize in the free-agent market this winter, has eliminated the Dodgers from his list of choices because of his concern over what he sees as the team’s lack of direction.

Bonds, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ left fielder, would like to play near his Rancho California home in southwestern Riverside County--particularly with the Padres.

“The Padres are definitely my first choice,” Bonds said during the All-Star game workout Monday. “Can you imagine putting me between Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff? But I’ve been getting some hearsay. They might not want to pay me. I don’t know.”

Bonds heard right. Officials from the Padres already have said that he is out of their price range.

Bonds’ concerns about the Dodgers do not involve money.

“The Dodgers have history but. . . . I just don’t see the Dodgers in the up-and-running stage yet,” he said. “You wonder if they are going this way or that way. You don’t know what direction they are going. It’s hard.”

Bonds, who will be playing in his second All-Star game and first as a starter, said he is bothered by the Dodgers’ age and injury problems.

“Straw (Darryl Strawberry) and Eric (Davis) have to stay healthy for me,” Bonds said. “The Dodgers have so many older players there, they have to give some of those guys time to rest. They’ve got to open the door for more of their minor leaguers.”

Bonds said his other choice would be the Atlanta Braves, although he wouldn’t mind going to New York to play for the Mets or Yankees.

“I would love to play in Atlanta,” Bonds said. “They are a great team. The main thing is, I want to be with a team like I’m with now. I want a team where everybody tries. I don’t want to go to a team with a bunch of babies.”

Bonds said he has not ruled out the Pirates, although it seems unlikely that they can produce more than $30 million it might take to sign him.

“I’m not counting Pittsburgh out,” Bonds said. “I’ve just said I wouldn’t deal with them during the season.”

Bonds said that no matter what happens, he should not be confused with last year’s top free agent, former teammate Bobby Bonilla. He said they are close friends, but very different.

“Bobby Bo is always smiling and says exactly what you want him to say,” Bonds said. “You say, ‘Bobby, you going to show up?’ Bobby says, ‘Yes.’ But whether he shows up or not is a different story.

“Me, if you ask me whether I’m going to show up, then tell me you live two hours away, I’ll tell you, ‘No way, man.’ ”

Doug Jones, the Houston Astros’ relief ace who could have been signed this winter by anybody with a few hundred thousand dollars and a minor league contract, said he was approached by the Dodgers.

“But everything depended on whether Jay Howell accepted their arbitration offer and returned to the team,” Jones said. “When he did, that fell through.”

Jones, who signed a contract with triple-A Tucson but never pitched a day there, has 19 saves. That is more than the Dodger bullpen combined.

“I always knew there was nothing wrong with me,” said Jones, who was not offered a contract by the Cleveland Indians after representing them in three All-Star games. “I didn’t get a chance to pitch much last year because they didn’t have the lead much. Coming back like this does not surprise me.”

David Cone, the New York Mets’ pitcher who will be a free agent at the end of the season, said he would not be surprised if he is traded before then if the Mets continue to struggle.

“Based on what I’ve heard, I’ve prepared myself to leave New York,” Cone said. “To have us continue to flounder would be miserable enough, but to have be traded from New York, it would not be a happy day.”

Cone said he likes New York so much, he would even consider moving cross-town when he becomes a free agent.

“I hate to start drumming that up but . . . if things don’t work out for the Mets, I would definitely consider the Yankees,” said Cone, 9-4 with a 2.56 earned-run average.

Andy Van Slyke of the Pittsburgh Pirates said he was surprised to be voted as an All-Star starter for the first time.

“Somebody told me I had been voted in and I said, ‘Yeah, me and Ross Perot,’ ” Van Slyke said. “I think everybody who voted for me really wanted to vote for Darryl Strawberry, but when they put their pencil to the punch hole, they realized Darryl was not playing.”

Although this is Jimmie Reese’s 75th year in baseball, tonight’s All-Star game will be only the second he has attended.

Reese, the Angels’ conditioning coach, was made the AL’s honorary captain to commemorate his lengthy service as a player and coach. For him, the best part was an All-Star gift: a batch of cigars presented by AL Manager Tom Kelly.

“I don’t smoke them, though. I just chew them,” said Reese, who will turn 91 in October. “That’s my only vice. At my age, what else am I going to do?”

Reese’s previous All-Star appearance was in 1981 in Cleveland, when he was a coach. “I thought that would be the only one I’d do,” he said. “I’ve been really lucky.”

Kelly promised he would get Mark Langston, the only Angel player on the AL squad, into tonight’s game. Langston and Bryan Harvey were chosen for last season’s game at Toronto, but didn’t play. “We’re going to try and save Mark and match him up against one or two left-handed hitters, like Will Clark,” Kelly said. “We’ll get him out there for a batter or two.”

Said Langston: “As long as I get in there this time, it doesn’t matter when he puts me in. I just want to play.”

Langston, whose 8-7 record gives him the fewest victories among the AL starters, said the excitement of being at the game has overcome his initial feeling that he didn’t deserve to be picked. “We thought Jimmie Reese was going to be our representative,” he said. “This has been one of the tougher years I’ve ever gone through. . . . Just to be here is the best thing about being here. These are the best players in the game, and that’s special for my family and myself. We have a good time when we come here.”

The Angels also are represented by trainer Ned Bergert and bullpen catcher Rick Turner, who pitched to AL hitters in the home run derby. “I’m knocking some of those boys down,” Turner joked. “I’m throwing breaking stuff. Wait--I don’t have any breaking stuff.”

With giving up homers the idea, Turner had a good source for advice in Angel pitcher Bert Blyleven, who has yielded 421. “Bert and Scotty Bailes were fighting me,” Turner said. “They said they’d do as good a job here as I could.”

Kelly was jovial Monday, except when the subject of his All-Star additions came up.

“As much as I’d like to have everybody on the team, I can’t because I have to work within the parameters of the system.” he said. “Cecil Fielder should be here. So should Kevin Appier, Mike Bordick, Dave Fleming, Dave Winfield, Brian Harper, Mickey Tettleton and Manny Lee. And how about that kid Albert Belle? And how about that kid in Texas (Juan) Gonzalez? There’s a whole bunch of people who should be here. If there were 40, they’d be saying 50 should be here. As much as I wish I could take everybody, I can’t. They only let you have 28.”

Having three members of the Cleveland Indians, last place in the AL East, on the team surprised some observers, including one of the three players.

“Sandy (Alomar) is one of the best defensive players in the game, and the fans voted him, and Charles Nagy is having a great year, but for me, I didn’t know,” said second baseman Carlos Baerga. “I had the numbers (he’s hitting .323 with 12 homers and 53 RBIs), but I knew it was going to be hard to take me and Chuck Knoblauch. I’m happy they took me. I wanted to come here very much.”

Nagy, who is 11-4, was awestruck by his first All-Star selection. “Just coming in on the bus with all these guys, like Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersley, Mark McGwire, I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I never thought this would ever happen. With these two guys here, Sandy and Carlos, it shows the direction the Indians are taking.”

Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., the top vote-getter in fan balloting, said he can’t afford to spend time thinking what he’ll do when he’s eligible for free agency after the season.

“As an act of self-preservation, I try to get rid of major distractions, and it’s a distraction,” said Ripken, last year’s All-Star MVP. “I have this (consecutive games played) streak I have to deal with, and to think about free agency is another distraction I don’t need.”

However, he acknowledged he would like to stay in Baltimore, where he has spent his entire career. “In the ideal situation, if you had to choose how your life and career would go, you’d probably choose that story line,” he said. “It doesn’t always work out that way, and it’s not always your choice. I’ve always been optimistic that it will work out for the better, whatever the better may be.”

Atlanta’s Tom Glavine will be the first pitcher to start All-Star games in consecutive seasons since Robin Roberts did it in 1954-55.

Glavine (13-3) will oppose Texas Ranger right-hander Kevin Brown (14-4) as the NL attempts to win for the first time in five years.

Glavine, last season’s Cy Young Award winner, pitched the first two innings of last year’s game in Toronto, holding the AL scoreless and being credited with the victory. He struck out three, walked one and gave up only one hit.

Glavine said he feels even more at ease this year.

“Last year, I was more in awe of the situation,” he said. “I tried to make sure I did everything, met everybody, and I was a little nervous going out there.

“I’m a little more relaxed, but I’m still excited. I’m sure I’ll still be nervous on the mound.”

Brown, who went to a sports psychologist over the winter, has been successful because he has found consistency in both his sinker and his mechanics.

“‘I think I trust myself now,” Brown said. “I don’t worry about how I throw the ball. Last year, I got sidetracked and tried to change my mechanics. I never got confident in myself.

“It’s hard getting guys out when all of your focus is in yourself, rather than how to get a guy out.”

Brown, 27, from McIntyre, Ga., pitched three seasons for Georgia Tech after making the team as a walk-on. He said he never envisioned himself as a major league All-Star.

“Honestly, until recently, I can never say I did. Until my sophomore year in college, I never thought of professional ball.”

Brown will be working on only two days’ rest.

“I imagine I’ll try to limit myself to about 30 pitches, somewhere in that neighborhood,” he said. “It’s a great honor (to start), but the real season lingers, and I have to throw again on Friday.”

San Diego Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn, who has won four NL batting titles, finally met former Boston great Ted Williams.

“It was great,” Gwynn said. “Somebody had sent him one of my bats and, when he got it, he couldn’t believe I use a bat that small (32 1/2 ounces, 31 inches).

“Someone from ESPN was there and told me, so I thought, ‘Uh-oh, he’s going to bag on me for using a little bat.’ ”

He didn’t, but he did question Gwynn.

According to Gwynn, the conversation went like this:

Williams: “Tony, you swing down on the ball?”

Gwynn: “Yes, sir.”

“What percentage of your hits go to the opposite field?”

“Sixty percent.”

“I can’t argue with that. Where do you think most opposite-field hits go, in the air or on the ground?”

“In the air.”

“Right. Ground balls are better. You swing down on the ball, so you have a chance to get a hit. You’re a damn good hitter.”

Reggie Jackson’s first-inning grand slam against former Cardinal Bob Gibson led the AL to a 7-2 victory over the NL in the oldtimers’ game.

“It was really nice,” said Jackson, who happened to be sharing a locker with Gibson. “It was a little ‘hit-me’ fastball. It was lovely, in front of all of these people. It almost felt like the real deal.”

Said Gibson: “We don’t call those pitches. When he came up, I said, ‘Pull the ball.’ The idea isn’t to get people out.”

Thirteen American Leaguers are participating in their first All-Star game. Four of them are 23 or younger.

“I think there is a lot of young talent in the AL East, especially,” AL Manager Tom Kelly said. “That’s why the AL East is going to become dominant again. The last five, six, seven years, the AL West was dominant.

“It runs in cycles. The East dominated until 1987, then the West. Things have evened out this year, and next year the East will be dominant.”

Ripken, playing in his 10th All-Star game, said it was hard to overlook all of the unfamiliar faces in the AL clubhouse.

“Before, it seemed like there was some initiation period where you got used to the big leagues before you were ready to take over,” Ripken said. “Not anymore. I don’t know if it’s attitude, talent or better programs (as kids grow).

“You look around the room, you start to feel older.”

Tony Fernandez took it easy Monday after colliding with teammate Kurt Stillwell on Sunday.

Fernandez suffered bruised ribs.

“I thought I broke my ribs at first,” Fernandez said.

Stillwell suffered major bruises to his abdominal muscles and bruised ribs, according to Padre team doctor Jan Fronek. Fronek said that Stillwell probably will be able to play.

Chicago’s Ryne Sandberg on the turf at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium: “It’s fast. You almost make the same adjustment as if your were playing on artificial surface.”

Detroit infielder Travis Fryman on his lack of fame: “ESPN has only said it half-a-dozen times already, that (former major league pitcher) Woodie Fryman is my father. We’re not even related, so believe me, that’s not my father.”

The Padres’ Tony Fernandez did not have his elevator pass, so the elevator operator wouldn’t let him downstairs until Fernandez sought out another operator whom he knows.

And Gwynn couldn’t get into the players’ parking lot until he persuaded an attendant that he was a player.

This is the 15th time that the All-Star game has been played the same year as a Presidential election. The NL, in summers before a Presidential election, is 13-2, and the Republicans and Democrats have split 14 decisions. . . . The NL is 6-0 in years in which an incumbent president has been re-elected. . . . Fernandez and Jones became the 45th and 46th players to appear in All-Star games for both leagues. . . . Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez becomes the first player in All-Star game history to be born in the decade of the 1970s. He was born on Nov. 20, 1971.

Times staff writers Helene Elliott and Scott Miller contributed to this report.