[bigboydan]

La Russa won't say if he'd pick Bonds as All-Star alternate

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Barry Bonds could become the home run king and fail to appear in an All-Star game in his own home park in the same season.

Although he's slowly closing in on Hank Aaron's career record, Bonds dropped into fourth place this week among NL outfielders in voting by fans, who will select the eight starters.

Players will elect eight more position players and eight pitchers for the game on July 10 in San Francisco's AT&T Park. Then St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, in conjunction with the commissioner's office, will select four pitchers and three non-pitchers.

And La Russa isn't saying what he might do if Bonds, a 13-time All-Star, is left out by players and fans.

"I'm not going to get into whether Barry Bonds is in," he said Tuesday. "He might get voted in. I'm not going to get into that."

La Russa helped lead the Cardinals to the World Series title last season, earning the right to manage the All-Star team with their victory in the NLCS.

"I'll get input from our coaches and MLB, whatever," he said. "The more people who are involved, the better chance you don't miss somebody."

In the latest balloting results released Monday, Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs had opened a 42,009-vote lead over Bonds. Mets standout Carlos Beltran led with 1,017,795 votes, followed by Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. with 759,484.

Bonds hit his 747th career home run Monday night, leaving him eight behind Hank Aaron's major league record 755. It was only his second homer since May 8.

"You try to make the best choice you can for the last picks," La Russa said.

[onlooker]

What would you do without Bonds in the All-Star game Dan? You would be broke up, just admit it.

[Willie Bee]

I used to lvoe the All-Star Game. But it's a complete and utter joke of a media event these days. Don't even get me started about how it determines home field advantage for the World Series.


This is the photo they should use when commissioning a statue of Bud Selig to place at Cooperstown. It's his infamous pose at the end of the even more infamous 2002 All-Star Game when it should've proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to EVERY baseball fan that the man not only lacked brains and character, but he also had no cojones.