2005 MLB ALL-STAR GAME NOTEBOOK: SELIG: MLB TOUGH ON STEROIDS.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

DETROIT - Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Tuesday he is happy with the game's current steroid-testing program, but that there still is room for improvement.

``It is (working) in my judgment,'' Selig said. ``But I believe there are deeper issues. ... Whether this program works or not, I believe we must create an understanding on the part of everyone that we mean to rid this sport of steroids. We're not kidding.''

Selig took questions from members of the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday at the group's annual summer meeting. Selig is negotiating with union head Donald Fehr to toughen the current policy, which carries a possible lifetime ban after a fifth positive test. Selig wants to adopt the policy favored by the World Anti-Doping Agency of a 50-game suspension for a first positive, a 100-game suspension for a second and a lifetime ban for a third.

``If the (goal) is to rid the sport of steroids, then the question is why not (agree to tougher penalties)?'' Selig said.

Selig blamed the fact baseball was dropped last week from the 2012 Olympics partly on the steroid issue. But Selig admitted it also was partly due to his refusal to stop the season during the Olympics so active major-league players could participate.

--First time: It took Chicago White Sox right-hander Jon Garland exactly half the season to surpass his win total for each of the past three years (12). The Kennedy High of Granada Hills product earned his first All-Star selection by going 13-4 with a 3.38 ERA, including winning each of his first eight starts.

``I cut down on my walks big-time,'' said Garland, who still winters in the Valley. ``But I'm also throwing better-quality strikes and keeping the ball down in the zone. I'm attacking the zone a little better, and even when I miss, I'm trying to miss away in the zone.''

Garland had 10 guests for the All-Star Game, most of them from the Valley.

``I'm just trying to soak it all in and have a good time,'' he said. ``I want to have fun with the experience because this might be a chance you get one time that you never get again.''

--Got away: Before right-hander and first-time All-Star Matt Clement signed a three-year, $25.5 million free-agent deal with Boston last winter, he came tantalizingly close to joining the Dodgers.

Clement went so far as to have dinner with owner Frank McCourt and general manager Paul DePodesta before ultimately signing with a team closer to his home in Pennsylvania.

Clement also had serious talks with the Angels.

--No comprende: Yes, Washington closer and former Cal State Fullerton star Chad Cordero is Hispanic. But no, he doesn't speak Spanish. Which is exactly what he had to explain several times during Monday's All-Star media session when various Spanish radio reporters approached, stuck out microphones and presumptuously began asking him questions in Spanish.

``I just kept telling them, 'Sorry, I don't speak the language,''' Cordero said.

Angels' name game update: A legislative effort to ensure people know that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim aren't from Los Angeles fizzled in a Senate committee.

Backed by state Assemblyman Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, AB1041 would have forced professional sports teams to disclose on their tickets and promotional materials if they use a geographic location in their names but don't play at least a plurality of their games there.

The Associated Press contributed.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com