SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Felipe Alou quickly pointed out there had been no fix: Tony La Russa asked him months ago to be a coach for the National League All-Stars, well before San Francisco’s skipper had any idea his son and outfielder, Moises, would be named to the team.

Actually, the elder Alou received the invite during the winter meetings – and Moises didn’t join the Giants until a couple weeks later last December.

This will be the sixth All-Star game for Moises with his fifth team, and second appearance in two seasons. The outfielder, who turned 39 Sunday, began the week batting .323 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs. And that’s after he missed two weeks in April with a right calf strain.

His 70-year-old father has turned down chances to coach in baseball’s summer showcase in the past, but he is close friends with La Russa and agreed to do it this time. His family is coming along to Detroit, where Alou was the Tigers’ bench coach in 2002 under Luis Pujols – now San Francisco’s first-base coach.

“It’s very rare to find an old player coaching an old player who is playing, especially when they’re relatives,” Felipe said Monday. “It just happened that way. It was not fixed. It might look that way, but it’s not like he picked me after Moises. It is nice, especially with him being an All-Star with so many teams.”

This has been a reunion season for father and son. Felipe managed Moises in Montreal from 1992-96, but went out of his way to treat his son just like all the other players he managed.

They might just finish their careers together, too. That’s what both are hoping for now.

In June, Felipe signed a contract extension through next season, and the Giants have a mutual option for 2007. Moises, who hit .293 with a career-high 39 homers and 106 RBIs for the Chicago Cubs last season, has a player option for 2006.

“I’m glad to see Moises going to the All-Star game. He deserves it,” Giants assistant general manager Ned Colletti said.

Felipe, an original member of the San Francisco team after the franchise moved from New York in 1958, won 191 games in his first two seasons as manager – the most for any Giants skipper.

Being All-Stars together might mean more to these two later. But they’re both focused on getting the inconsistent Giants back on track before the season’s midpoint.

“I know it’s a big deal for the media and for the fans, and for me it’s a big deal,” Moises said. “Right now, we have other things to worry about here. We need to start playing better, and I think we are playing better. It’s fun to come to the ballpark. In spite of the situation, I love playing and I love being here.”

Moises recently expressed frustration with the Giants’ unfriendly clubhouse, saying not one teammate had asked him to dinner since he signed with the team.

His main dining mate? His dad, of course. Sometimes, Moises drops off food in the manager’s office before games.

Moises seemed upbeat Monday, despite nursing several minor injuries a day after he ran face-first into the left-field fence while catching Damian Jackson’s fly ball in a 9-6 loss at San Diego.

His left knee was heavily bandaged, his left wrist was taped and he pointed at a bruised bump under his left eye and then to his sore chest.

But he’s not feeling old. He still had the energy to celebrate his 39th birthday after the game.

“I wish I was 40, not 39,” Moises said with a smile. “I can’t wait to be 40. I’m going to throw myself a big party.”

Then he thought about it for a moment – Fourth of July games are usually day games, meaning he’d probably be pretty tired after a night of partying.

“I’ll do it for my 41st,” he said.

Felipe planned to give his son the day off for the opener of a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, but changed his mind.

Good thing, too.

“My dad knows I don’t like days off,” said Moises, a .397 hitter with six homers in day games this season.

AP-ES-07-04-05 1711EDT