BASEBALL ALL-STAR GAME REPORT

Barry Bonds doesn’t know why New York Yankee Manager Buck Showalter would single him out for anything.

The San Francisco Giants outfielder showed up for the All-Star workout and wondered why Showalter criticized him and Ken Griffey Jr. for not having their shirts tucked in at all times.

“That’s stupidity--a manager throwing stones at a baseball player,” Bonds said. “Enough people are throwing stones at them. I think it’s childish, to be honest.”

Showalter told The New York Times Magazine in a story published Sunday that Bonds and Griffey show a lack of respect for the game. Showalter criticized both for not tucking in their shirts, and Griffey for wearing his cap backward.

“(Griffey) comes on the field, and his hat’s on backward and his shirttail’s hanging out,” Showalter said. “I go to the All-Star game, Bonds is there for three days, and the only time he tucked his shirt in was for the game.”

Griffey also challenged Showalter’s remarks.

“For one, my shirt’s never been tucked out,” Griffey said. “You can ask anybody in this locker room. And No. 2, I’ve always worn my hat backward since I was little. I have pictures of it at home.

“If those are the only two things I have to worry about in my game, then I’m OK.”

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No Cincinnati Reds in the 65th All-Star game? No problem.

Pitcher Jose Rijo and shortstop Barry Larkin were chosen for the NL team, but backed out because of sore elbows. Fregosi replaced them with San Francisco closer Rod Beck and Montreal shortstop Wil Cordero.

Rijo and Larkin attended the workouts Monday and will be in uniform for tonight’s game, but can’t play. Fregosi wasn’t upset that they chose a couple of days’ rest over an All-Star appearance.

“I talked to the Reds yesterday and it was not a matter of Barry Larkin or Jose Rijo not wanting to play. Both have elbow problems and their doctors did not want them to risk further injury,” Fregosi said. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

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Vera Clemente was a little confused about baseball’s chain of command as she presented the Roberto Clemente Award, named for her husband, to Dave Winfield on Monday.

She started her remarks by saying, “I want to thank the commissioner of baseball . . .”

There is none. Owners don’t want to hire a commissioner until they get a new collective bargaining agreement with players.

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Winfield wished his wife, Tanya, could have accompanied him to Pittsburgh to accept the Clemente Award.

Winfield said she has a good excuse: She is five months’ pregnant with twins “who will take over for me when I’m done.”

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Manager Chuck Tanner used a starting lineup made up of his former Pittsburgh Pirates as the National League defeated the American League, 5-3, in the annual All-Star old-timers’ game. . . . Wilson Alvarez of the Chicago White Sox is the first Venezuelan pitcher ever chosen for an All-Star squad. . . . The Yankees’ Wade Boggs will make his ninth consecutive start at third base, an All-Star record for that position. Boggs is only the fifth AL player to appear in 10 consecutive All-Star games. The others are Brooks Robinson (15), Yogi Berra (14), Cal Ripken (12) and Mickey Mantle (10). . . . St. Louis Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith, the NL’s top vote-getter, voted for Larkin as the starting shortstop.