By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 07/08/99

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - While the honor of being named an All-Star now belongs to pitcher Pedro Martinez and second baseman Jose Offerman as well as shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, surely the triumph of the moment belongs to Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette.

Just as Duquette predicted last year when the Red Sox unveiled their All-Star logo on the left-field wall at Fenway Park, Garciaparra and Martinez will be in the starting lineup for the American League team that takes the field at Fenway next Tuesday night.

That prediction was interpreted as a snub by Mo Vaughn, whom Duquette neglected to mention. But while the former Sox star stays home, passed over when the AL reserves were announced yesterday, Offerman was a surprise addition.

For those keeping score, Duquette drafted Garciaparra, traded for Martinez, and signed Offerman last winter as a free agent.

''Nomar's a great shortstop, but there are other great shortstops in the league,'' Duquette said. ''Our fans deserve a lot of credit for voting for Nomar, especially after it was brought to their attention that he was behind [Derek] Jeter and [Omar] Vizquel.

''Pedro Martinez is just unbelievable, and Offerman had a great start, a good season last year, and is a real solid pro. He's struggling a little bit with the bat, but he'll come around.''

Offerman, who has been in a dreadful slump that has dropped his average from .346 May 19 to the .283 he's now hitting, said he already had been making plans to spend the three-day break with his family.

''I'm surprised,'' Offerman said upon learning of his selection when he arrived at Tropicana Field yesterday afternoon. ''And I'm more than happy.

''I'm surprised because this game is `what have you done for me lately,' and I know I haven't been doing that well lately,'' he said. ''But I have to be pleased for myself.''

Offerman was an All-Star reserve for the National League in 1995, when he was chosen from the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played shortstop in the ninth inning but did not bat. In his last 43 games, he is batting .225 (39 for 173), and just 7 of his 32 extra-base hits have come since that date. He had a bunt single last night, but is just 2 for his last 26.

Martinez, who already has been unofficially anointed the AL's starting pitcher by Yankees manager Joe Torre, manager of the AL squad, is an All-Star for the fourth time. When Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove chose David Wells to start ahead of Martinez last year, Martinez attended the game but asked not to pitch, choosing to frolic in the AL dugout instead.

That won't be the case this time. ''To me this is nothing new,'' he said of his selection after last night's 3-2 loss. ''I knew where I was going to be. To me, it's a great compliment. I'm going to have fun.''

But while the Sox players all have been All-Stars before (this will be Garciaparra's second appearance), this will be a novel experience for 23 players who will be making their All-Star debut. There will be seven newcomers on the AL side, 16 on the NL squad.

Among the newcomers on the AL team are Orioles outfielder B.J. Surhoff, making his Star debut in his 14th season, and Rangers reliever Jeff Zimmerman, who two years ago was playing in the independent Northern League and faxing his resume to all 30 big-league clubs. Zimmerman, the Rangers' setup man, is 8-0 with an 0.89 ERA.

''His numbers are so great that it's really hard to ignore what he's done,'' Torre said.

Six of the National League's 11 pitchers will be making their first All-Star appearance: St. Louis's Kent Bottenfield, Philadelphia's Paul Byrd, Atlanta's Kevin Millwood, and Houston's Jose Lima, Mike Hampton, and Billy Wagner.

Missing will be such familiar faces as Vaughn, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Brown, Albert Belle, and the Atlanta pitching troika of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine.

Rodriguez, the gifted Seattle shortstop who was elected a starter the previous two seasons, has more home runs (17) than either Garciaparra or the Yankees' Jeter (14 apiece) despite missing 32 games with a knee injury. Yet, he was left off the AL squad, which was selected by Torre with input from the league office, while Jeter and Vizquel of the Indians were chosen.

''Every year, you're going to have one or two deserving guys out, and that's unfortunate,'' said Rodriguez. ''I'm going to take those three days and rest my knee.''

The Indians, who lead the majors in wins, led both leagues with six All-Stars. Vizquel and righthander Charles Nagy joined four starters: first baseman Jim Thome, second baseman Roberto Alomar, and outfielders Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez.

Nagy replaced Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who reportedly begged out because of personal business at home in Panama.

The Padres' Tony Gwynn was elected to the NL team but will miss the game with a calf injury. Giants closer Robb Nen was selected but will sit out with a callous on his right thumb.

This story ran on page D02 of the Boston Globe on 07/08/99.