A bench full of fogeys

HOUSTON — The National League All-Star clubhouse will be baseball’s old folks home.

Roger Clemens, who turns 42 in three weeks, is slated to become the oldest player to ever start an All-Star game. He’s joined on the N.L. roster for tonight’s game by Barry Larkin and Randy Johnson, both 40.

“Barry’s a great player. Obviously, he’s doing something to keep himself in great shape and somewhat healthy,” Clemens said. “I have had an opportunity to talk to Randy, and he works extremely hard, too. I would say it’s really not a big secret. Those guys work hard, so that has something to do with it.”

These baseball geezers aren’t All-Stars just because of their reputations. A year after he had said he would retire, Clemens is 10-3 with a 2.62 ERA and 121 strikeouts in his first season with his hometown Houston Astros, increasing his wins total to 320, 14th on the career list.

Johnson, two months shy of 41, is 10-7 with a 2.99 ERA and a major league-leading 145 strikeouts for Arizona. Larkin is hitting .295 for Cincinnati with 33 RBIs.

And just behind them is upcoming birthday boy Barry Bonds, who turns 40 on July 24. Kenny Rogers, at 39, is an All-Star for the first time since 1995, and Tom Glavine and Moises Alou were picked at age 38.

Last year’s 7-6 win by the American League in Chicago marked a milestone for elderly All-Stars, with three players 40 or older playing for the first time — Clemens, Edgar Martinez and Jamie Moyer.

Clemens’ first All-Star game was in 1986, the last time it was in Houston, when he started in the A.L.’s 3-2 win at the Astrodome and threw three perfect innings. When Clemens opens at Minute Maid Park against Oakland’s Mark Mulder, he will be nearly twice as old as the N.L. starter that night in the Astrodome, when 21-year-old Dwight Gooden became the youngest All-Star starting pitcher.

Larkin’s first All-Star game was in 1988.

“My first All-Star game was in 1990 at Wrigley Field and, obviously, I was in awe,” Johnson said. “I didn’t get in that game, but I enjoyed the moment and learned very quickly what an All-Star game’s all about and all the little fun things that go along with it.”

Larkin’s favorite All-Star memory occurred during the 1993 game at Baltimore’s Camden Yards.

“I was on deck when John Kruk was hitting and Randy Johnson was on the mound and Randy threw a ball over John’s head,” Larkin recalled. “Oh my gosh. I laughed. Then I thought, ‘Oh Lord, I’ve got to get up there next.’ “

The current record for oldest All-Star starter is 41, set by Pete Rose in the 1982 game in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. Warren Spahn, then 40, was the oldest starting pitcher when he pitched three perfect innings to open the first 1961 All-Star game, at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.

Before last year, a trio of players 40 and over were selected as All-Stars twice, but all three didn’t get into the game. Spahn and Stan Musial played in 1962, but Hoyt Wilhelm didn’t. Rose and Carl Yastrzemski appeared in 1982, but Phil Niekro didn’t pitch.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig remembered how remarkable it was when Spahn remained an All-Star into his 40s.

“Thirty-five was considered old in those days,” Selig said. “I think they believed the great years in the career were 28 to 32. Once you hit 32, that was it, you were declining.”

But now, players work out regularly during the season and in the winter, too. And they follow diets recommended by nutritionists. Not too far from Minute Maid Park, Clemens has his own gym in a building next to his house.

“Once I made up my mind to come back and do this, I knew it was going to take a great deal of effort,” Clemens said. “To maintain that high level of performance, there’s a lot that goes into it. It didn’t happen by accident.”