ALL-STAR NOTEBOOK: Rodriguez unused by own skipper

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Alex Rodriguez was relegated to All-Star observer by his own manager.

The New York Yankees’ never got in the game for the American League on Tuesday night as the National League won 3-1 to snap a long winless streak in the All-Star game.

A-Rod said after he was fine physically, but just didn’t get the call from New York manager Joe Girardi.

“I sat there for about three hours, but I was loose and I was ready to go in the eighth and ninth,” Rodriguez said. “We had a couple of situations where I could have gone in, but it was up to him on which situation to put me in. But it’s not my first. Thank God everything’s good and I’m ready to go on Friday.”

Angels’ Hunter can’t thrill home crowd

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Angels center fielder Torii Hunter caught the ceremonial first pitch from former Angels great Rod Carew before the 81st All-Star game on Tuesday night and autographed the ball for the 15-time All-Star. That turned out to be the personal highlight of the game for Hunter, who was 0-for-2 and struck out with the potential tying runs at the corners against Adam Wainwright. It was the fourth All-Star appearance for Hunter, who came in as a defensive replacement in the fourth inning and finished the game. He flied out to right field against Heath Bell his first time up, and is hitless in six career at-bats in the midsummer classic. That left Boston’s Pedro Martinez and Cleveland’s Sandy Alomar Jr. as the only players to win MVP honors in their home stadium. Martinez earned the award by striking out five of the first six NL batters in as 4-1 win at Fenway Park in 1999. Two years earlier, Cleveland’s Sandy Alomar Jr. took home the hardware after his tiebreaking two-run homer against Shawn Estes in the eighth inning of a 3-1 win at Jacobs Field.

Bat man

Jack Marucci had a special reason for watching the game — nearly a dozen All-Stars, including Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Paul Konerko, were using his bats.

Marucci is the head athletic trainer at LSU and about 10 years ago, his son wanted to swing a wood bat in T-ball, rather than an aluminum model that most kids wield. So he went to his shed and began working.

Chase Utley, Jose Reyes and Mark Teixeira are among the 60-plus who handle the hand-crafted bats. Marucci was the star attraction at an All-Star event Monday, but then had to leave and return to Baton Rouge, La.

“Football season is coming,” he said. Marucci called all of the attention “humbling.”

Marucci said he planned to tune in the All-Star game. In particular, he wanted to study how his big league sticks did.

“I feel like I’m watching my son bat,” he said.

Derby fun

First-time All-Star Nick Swisher is ready to take part in another Home Run Derby. The Yankees right fielder didn’t fare so well in his first, but enjoyed himself nonetheless. He didn’t advance out of the first round.

“I had an absolute blast,” Swisher said. “I’ll do that again, no doubt. It’s just different when you’re talking about the shadows and cameras. What you can have in that is experience, so I think the next time will be way better.”

Extra bases

This is only the second time in history that no home runs were hit in consecutive All-Star games. The other occurrence was 1957-58, when the venues were St. Louis and Baltimore, respectively. … The NL has a 41-38-2 record in the All-Star game despite going 12-0-1 in the previous 14. This was the first win for the senior curcuit since 1996. … Derek Jeter heard a familiar voice when he batted in the first inning. A recording of the late Bob Sheppard introducing Jeter played over the sound system. Sheppard was the longtime Yankees public address announcer who died Sunday at 99. Jeter still uses Sheppard’s intro at home games. … Five-time All-Star Brian McCann, who drive in all three NL runs with a seventh-inning double, became the second Braves player to be named the game’s MVP. The other was Fred McGriff, whose pinch-hit two-run homer in 1994 against Lee Smith in the bottom of the ninth at Pittsburgh tied the score and set the stage for the NL’s 8-7 win in 10. … Texas Rangers DH Vladimir Guerrero, who helped lead the Angels to five AL West titles in a six-year span and was named league MVP in 2004, received one of the loudest ovations during pregame introductions and tipped his cap to the crowd of 45,408.