BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ALL-STAR GAME : Nomo Touches Down, Leaves Long Trail of Burned Out Flash Bulbs in His Wake

It was as if he were Michael Jackson walking onto the stage or Mike Tyson walking into the ring.

National League starter Hideo Nomo, flanked by Chicago Cub players Randy Myers and Mark Grace, walked through the tunnel into the National League dugout and faced hundreds of cameras.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Atlanta first baseman Fred McGriff said. “It was unreal.”

Myers and Grace jokingly put their arms around Nomo, realizing they’d be in every newspaper in Japan, and then stepped aside, allowing Nomo to be photographed by himself.

“It was embarrassing,” Nomo said, after photographers had shot away for five minutes.

Nomo was elated, however, when he received a congratulatory fax from Japanese Prime Minister Tomichiichi Murayama.

“I’m very honored,” he said.

Nomo said he had also received a letter from Murhyama, the grand national sumo wrestling champion.

“What a day!” Nomo said. “What a day!”

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Center fielder Lenny Dykstra and catcher Darren Daulton of the Phillies wondered why a fuss was made about their skipping Monday’s workouts.

Dykstra was visiting his ailing mother. Daulton said he was just tired from Sunday’s game with the Chicago Cubs.

“My mother [Marilyn] needed to have some chemotherapy treatment so I was with her,” Dykstra said. “It was a tough day yesterday. I felt it was important to be with her.”

Said Daulton, “I don’t want to make more out of it than it already is. I don’t think I slighted anybody. We just played a five-hour game. I didn’t plan on doing anything, anyway. I came to participate in the All-Star game, and I will.”

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The All-Star break turned out to be some of the busiest days of McGriff’s life.

He played in a Sunday night game in Atlanta against the San Francisco Giants, flew to Arlington on Monday morning, then after the All-Star game took a charter flight to Pittsburgh, where he will start in a 3 p.m. game today. And after that strike-related makeup game, he will fly to San Diego for a four-game series.

“I got to talk to that schedule-maker,” McGriff said. “I can’t even describe it. I’m going on fumes.”

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Dodger catcher Mike Piazza on what’s it like to catch Nomo: “Come on, how do you answer that? What do you think it’s like? Look, you just sit there, somebody throws a ball, and you catch it.”

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Cleveland Indian General Manager John Hart gave his third baseman, Jim Thome, a $25,000 All-Star bonus even though Thome didn’t make the team.

“He played like an all-star,” Hart said. “So I thought it was only right I pay him.”

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An All-Star game-record 12 foreign-born players, representing five countries, were on the teams.

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Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina, making his first All-Star Game appearance, seemed almost embarrassed about replacing starter Cal Ripken Jr., a 13-time All-Star who is on pace to break Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games streak of 2,130 in September.

“It’s pretty silly, I think,” DiSarcina said. “It doesn’t seem right. It’s amazing. It’s an honor just to be here, sitting and watching him play.”

DiSarcina said his All-Star debut felt a lot like his major-league debut against Cleveland on May 21, 1990.

“You have that nervous energy,” he said. “It’s very similar to that feeling I had the first time I stepped in the batter’s box.”

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A broken wrist prevented Seattle Mariner outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. from participating in the game, but the A.L.’s leading vote-getter among outfielders still made it to the game, watching batting practice, signing autographs, posing for pictures and receiving one of the night’s biggest ovations during introductions.

“The fans took time out to punch my name in the ballot, so I felt it was important for me to show my appreciation for them by coming,” said Griffey, who rammed his right wrist into a wall while making a catch on May 26. “I wanted to show them I care about the game.”

Griffey, not expected to return until August, said there has been at least one benefit to his injury. The six-time all-star has spent a lot of time with his 17-month-old son, Trey.

“He’s at an age where he can hit you, kick you, bite you, and I can’t do anything,” Griffey said. “He hits me with golf clubs. . . . but I’m learning a lot about fatherhood--patience--which could help me at the plate.”

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The Ballpark at Arlington, which opened last season, has been getting rave reviews from players, but Piazza, taking note of the scorching heat and humidity, said he would have made one significant architectural addition.

“There should be a retractable dome,” Piazza said. “That should be in the building code--every new stadium should have a retractable dome. This heat is ridiculous. . . . I know, everyone is going to think I’m a wimp.”

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Finley, who started but lasted only three innings in the Angels’ loss to tis agent, Tom Selakovich, said. . . . The Chicago Cubs placed catcher Scott Servais on the 15-day disabled list and promoted catcher Mike Hubbard from Triple-A Iowa.

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As expected, baseball officials amended their speedup rules and pushed back the start of the changes to July 28, acting commissioner Bud Selig announced.