THE EVOLUTION OF THE MLB ALL-STAR.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

These are not your father's All-Stars. More to the point, they are not Moises Alou's uncles' All-Stars.

In generations past, a one-dimensional hitter could enjoy a long major-league career and even an All-Star Game appearance or two. Slap enough singles, and it didn't matter if he needed a Jeep to reach the bleachers. Slug enough home runs, and it was all right if he couldn't crack .240 with a ball-peen hammer.

Matty Alou, brother of Moises' father Felipe, played 15 years and batted .300 eight times, but he never hit more than seven home runs in a season. He made All-Star teams in 1968 and '69 and was the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter for the National League in '69, despite hitting one homer in those two seasons combined.

Jesus, the youngest of Alou the brother trio, played 15 years and batted .300 four times, but never hit more than nine homers in a season.

In that era, there were high-average, no-power guys, and there were all-power, low-average guys. Then there were guys who swung a bat like they were swatting a mosquito but happened to be able to field a key position. It took a Hall of Famer to hit the ball long and hit the ball often and catch the ball.

Such one-dimensional players like are rare today, and certainly tonight when the best of both leagues trot onto the diamond in Detroit for baseball's 76th All-Star Game.

Just to cinch the generational comparison, the current group includes Moises Alou, the San Francisco Giants outfielder who even at age 39 and in an injury-interrupted season is going to the All-Star Game with a .316 average and 12 homers.

The difference, in players' quality and more particularly their versatility, is something to celebrate because it cannot be explained by the ``S'' word alone.

``Something else is going on, besides steroids, that is making these players much better,'' said Elliott Kalb, the sports statistician who wrote the book ``Who's Better, Who's Best in Baseball?''

There are more players doing more things well than there have been in several baseball eras, a general raising of quality in all areas of the offensive part of the game that has done away with the old stereotypes of narrow-shouldered singles hitters and beer-bellied sluggers.

It used to be that catchers, shortstops, second baseman and center fielders could get by with defensive skills alone. Duane Josephson was an American League All-Star catcher in 1968, a year he hit .247 with six homers.

``You don't have bad-hitting catchers anymore, let alone bad-hitting All-Star catchers,'' Kalb said. ``In catching, particularly, there's been an evolution. You used to have `defensive' catchers and `offensive' catchers. You might have one catcher (at a time), a Johnny Bench (in the late 1960s and '70s), who was a great hitter. Maybe more great athletes are becoming catchers.''

Shortstop Mark Belanger was an American League All-Star in 1976 (.270, one homer), backing up Toby Harrah (.260, one homer) along with Fred Patek (.241, one homer).

``Players are better and managers are smarter,'' Kalb said, referring to the fact Belanger batted in the No. 2 slot for good Baltimore teams. ``For managers in previous generations, the conventional thinking was that you could have Mark Belanger batting second. That you could afford an out.''

Of course, the impact of steroids can't be ruled out in every case, but it seems likely that what we're seeing is the result of baseball players steadily becoming better athletes over the decades as physical-training methods have improved and big salaries have increased the incentive for year-round conditioning.

In 2004, five players finished the regular season in their league's top 10 in homers and batting average - Adrian Beltre, Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds and Aramis Ramirez in the National League, and Vladimir Guerrero in the American League. Meanwhile, only one player finished in the top 10 in homers while coming in under the league average in batting - Carlos Delgado at .269 in the AL.

Go back in time in 10-year increments and you see the ratio of those two groups turn around: In 1974, three players were top 10 in homers and batting - Reggie Smith in the NL, Dick Allen and Jeff Burroughs in the AL. Seven were top 10 in homers and below average in batting - Darrell Evans and Willie McCovey in the NL, Gene Tenace, Sal Bando, John Mayberry, Graig Nettles and an aging Frank Robinson in the AL.

Did the American League's introduction of the designated hitter in 1973 make the world safe for big swingers who were even-money to complete a home-run trot - the Dave Kingman-Gorman Thomas-Cecil Fielder mold? Did the prevalence of AstroTurf in those days open the market for banjo-hitting, fleet-footed, stick-gloved types - your basic Rod Carew, Willie Wilson and Tony Gwynn?

Whatever made players one-dimensional and whatever undid it, the result is a different game, one in which a good lineup features more hitters who step to the plate with a chance to do damage in more ways than at anytime in memory.

That's the game we watch tonight.