NOTEBOOK: A'S ZITO: `IT'S ALL GOOD NOW'.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Oakland's Barry Zito received a call Tuesday from Ken Macha, his manager, to make sure he was not perturbed about the miscommunication that occurred with Zito and the All-Star Game.

The A's told baseball that Zito would be unavailable because of a draining start Sunday, but the former Pierce College and USC star still came to Chicago believing he could pitch on one day of rest.

``The bottom line is the past is the past,'' Zito said. ``It's all good now.''

Zito probably will have to answer more questions about being replaced by Roger Clemens when he appears on ``Late Show with David Letterman'' tonight. The appearance had been scheduled before Zito's All-Star status became an issue.

--Meanwhile, Rocket launched: Roger Clemens was on a fishing trip about an hour north of Houston when Yankees general manager Brian Cashman called at Monday morning.

``He said that, basically, somebody went down and they needed an arm,'' Clemens recalled.

Clemens returned to Houston later that night, then drove 1 1/2 hours Tuesday to College Station, Texas, to avoid Hurricane Claudette and flew by private plane to Chicago, arriving at the ballpark 3 1/2 hours before the start of the All-Star Game.

``At about 8 or 9 this morning, it was off,'' Clemens said. ``I didn't think we were coming, just for the fact that we couldn't get a plane through that weather. The winds were very heavy.''

Clemens pitched a 1-2-3 third inning in the American League's 7-6 victory, retiring Javy Lopez on a grounder, then striking out Jose Vidro and Edgar Renteria. It was Clemens' eighth mound appearance in an All-Star Game, matching the record held by Jim Bunning, Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal and Tom Seaver.

``It's still pretty neat to get up on that hill with all these other great players,'' Clemens said.

--Greetings noted: Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf, a product of Woodland Hills' El Camino Real High and Pepperdine, sent home a message during pregame introductions.

When Wolf was announced on the first-base line, he held up a gloved hand with the message, ``For U Dad.'' Underneath, he wrote, ``Hi Jim,'' in reference to his brother, a major-league umpire.

Wolf relieved starter Jason Schmidt in the third inning and gave up the AL's first run, a single by Carlos Delgado that scored Ichiro Suzuki, who walked and moved to second on Wolf's wild pitch. He struck out Jose Posada and Alfonso Soriano.

--More local sightings: Former Montclair Prep of Panorama City product Russ Ortiz pitched the fifth inning and struck out two while hitting a batter.

The Angels' Troy Glaus went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts as the starting third baseman. Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca went 1 for 2.

--Kid stuff: Jorge Posada IV created a cute and memorable scene before last year's All-Star Game as he jogged onto the field ahead of his father when the starting lineups were announced. Little Jorge was wearing a New York Yankees uniform with number 20, just like his father, and even had lamp black under his eyes.

--Heavenly numbers: There's something about All-Star games in Chicago that agree with the Angels.

Garret Anderson's homer Tuesday night was the third by an Angel in an All-Star game, with all three coming in Chicago. Leon Wagner homered in 1962 at Wrigley Field as a member of the Los Angeles Angels (and was game MVP), and Fred Lynn hit a grand slam in 1983 at old Comiskey Park when he played for the California Angels.