Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Public Works employees fasten stars featuring prominent Pittsburghers to the boarded-up front of the former G.C. Murphy store on Fifth Avenue, Downtown, yesterday as part of the sprucing up for next week's All-Star Game. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: 1st-time All-Stars fill National League roster Sanchez picked as National League reserve for All-Star Game 2006 All-Star Game Rosters Smizik: Sanchez continues to erase doubts All-Star Moments: July 10, 2001, 72nd Game at Safeco Field, Seattle

The average Major League Baseball player endures some three dozen plane rides during a season -- red-eyes from Los Angeles to Milwaukee, puddle-jumpers from Cincinnati to Cleveland -- and every year, in a tragicomic twist, the sport rewards its top midseason performers with another. This time, it's to Pittsburgh.

"Yeah, a lot of guys groan," said 15-time All-Star Tony Gwynn. "They'll say, 'Ugh, I could have used a few days off.' "

So baseball officials answer that sentiment with an antidote -- or better yet, a gift basket full of them. For 48 hours in mid-July, All-Star Game participants learn the perks of their status.

They fill their suitcases with iPods and autographed memorabilia and customized shoes and rings. The All-Stars retreat to the city's best hotels, gather at posh galas and receive the treatment to elevate the trip above the others. Baseball itself -- two women in the league office, especially -- makes sure of it.

When the 64 players arrive in Pittsburgh Sunday night, they will enter the lobby of the players' hotel (still undisclosed) and find the makeshift offices of either Katy Feeney or Phyllis Merhige, senior vice presidents of club relations.

"First thing you do," Mr. Gwynn said, "go see Katy."

"Phyllis?" White Sox first baseman Jim Thome said. "When you see her, you know things will be great."

Both Ms. Feeney and Ms. Merhige have performed their jobs as All-Star coordinators -- half-chaperoning, half-instructing -- since 1979, starting before the XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game, before the Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game, before the Century 21 Home Run Derby. Behind the scenes, Ms. Feeney and Ms. Merhige provided the opulence.

Ms. Feeney takes care of the National League representatives; Ms. Merhige does likewise for the American Leaguers. With the help of other league officials, they first select a players' hotel, checking for the necessary qualities: most important, 24-hour room service and a full-staffed kitchen, even after midnight "because a lot of these guys come in [to town] very late," Ms. Feeney said.

First thing, the women hand the players a packet of information and goodies: All-Star tickets for their families. A T-shirt or two. A list noting their news media requirements, their evening events, their schedule at the ballpark.

In between the requisite events, players have only a few spare hours, late on the night of the game and early the day of the game.

So for those who'd prefer time off, compensation takes many forms. Every year, both Ms. Feeney and Ms. Merhige select one primary gift for their players -- last year, AL representatives received a wall mirror engraved with their names. Every year, a gift basket holds trinkets reflecting the host city -- last year, Motown pins; this year, officials promise something Andy Warhol-related.

"We do everything we can to make them feel special," Ms. Merhige said.

Said Ms. Feeney: "We try to make this as painless as possible."

When reciting the benefits, players speak first about two things: the autographs and the rings.

Every All-Star Game has its own ring, often decorated with a logo of the host team or a color associated with the city.

"They're kind of like Super Bowl rings," Mr. Gwynn said, "except they're cubic zirconia."

Players exchange autographs -- often one day before the game -- by placing several pieces of memorabilia around the perimeter of a banquet or meeting room. Then, players rotate around the room, signing every item. That's how Pirates outfielder Jason Bay left Detroit last year with a jersey signed by all of his All-Star teammates.

Players' sponsors, too, pick All-Star weekend to load them with bonuses. Those associated with Nike, for instance, will glance into their lockers and see a bag of customized apparel.

"That's the stuff I like," said Mr. Bay, the leading vote-getter this season among National League outfielders. "You have gloves and shoes to go through; it's stuff you can't just go out and buy. No matter how much money you make, that's pretty cool."

Players depart town only hours after the game, often by sunrise the next morning, but they relish the quick intersection of work and rock star treatment. Band members in Van Halen famously asked that a candy bowl of M&Ms, placed backstage, hold no brown pieces. And, in turn, former All-Star third baseman Wade Boggs asked to eat chicken before every game -- a request that Ms. Merhige quickly committed to memory.

"We just want to make sure they're happy," she said.