One of the spectators in Veterans Stadium...

One of the spectators in Veterans Stadium was Dallas running back Emmitt Smith, in town to file a commercial. He spent time with Cal Ripken Jr., getting a Baltimore Oriole jersey from the shortstop, who said he never played football.

“I found out later that my mother didn’t want me to play,” he said. “Too many injuries, I guess.”

Less than an hour later, Ripken’s nose was broken in an accident during a photo shoot.

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Jacobs Field in Cleveland will be the site of next year’s All-Star game.

Actually, the city will pull off a rare double by also playing host to the NBA’s All-Star weekend.

Denver’s Coors Field will be the site of the 1998 game, and Milwaukee, providing it builds Miller Park, will be the host in 1999. The 2000 game is scheduled for Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami.

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New York Yankee reliever John Wetteland might just as well have been at the NHL All-Star game.

Wetteland, wearing hockey gloves and carrying a hockey stick, skated the tunnels of Veterans Stadium before Monday’s workouts on rollerblades. He practiced his stick-handling and shooting skills with a ball. The baseball’s saves leader at the break says it helps him relieve tension.

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Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn, Jim Bunning, Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts and Mike Schmidt--representing 40 years of Philadelphia Phillies baseball--threw out the ceremonial first pitches for the game.

Bunning is the Phillies’ most recent Hall of Famer. He will be inducted in Cooperstown on Aug. 4.