CHICAGO -- Major League Baseball's No. 2 official is satisfied with the security plan for July's All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field, site of two on-field attacks by fans in the last seven months.

Mientkiewicz: It was a joke!

CHICAGO -- Minnesota's Doug Mientkiewicz backed off his suggestion that the All-Star Game be moved from Chicago because of fan violence, saying his remarks initially were an attempt at a half-hearted joke. Mientkiewicz said Friday he regretted the comments led to verbal sparring with Whhite Sox general manager Kenny Williams. "I think they should take the All-Star Game away from them, honestly," Mientkiewicz said last week after a fan ran onto U.S. Cellular Field last and tried to tackle an umpire, just seven months after a father and son attacked Kansas City coach Tom Gamboa. "You can't be having first base coaches and umpires getting attacked. That's ridiculous," Mientkiewicz said. Williams responded the next day by saying: "Doug Who? He doesn't have to worry about making the All-Star game, anyway." Mientkiewicz said Friday he'd already apologized to some security people at U.S. Cellular Field and hoped to meet with Williams to straighten it out. "The funny thing about it, it started out as a humorous joke. I say what I said, and the second line of the punch line, it was like a tongue-in-cheek thing," he said. "The punch line of the joke was, 'Maybe seven or eight first basemen in the American League will boycott it, so I might have a chance to play in one.' " -- Associated Press

"Our security has been working with White Sox officials and the city of Chicago almost a year before the incident last fall and the incident last week," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Friday.

"Major League Baseball is responsible for the security for the All-Star Game. There is generally more security for any jewel event because of the fact there are always sellouts and big crowds and people trying to get in. We are satisfied with the plan we have in place."

The All-Star Game is scheduled for July 15 and marks the 70th anniversary of the first one, at old Comiskey Park.

On April 15, a fan ran on the field and attempted to tackle an umpire during a game between the White Sox and visiting Kansas City. Last Sept. 19, Kansas City coach Tom Gamboa was attacked by a father and son who came out of the stands.

And on Thursday at Wrigley Field in Chicago, a fan threw a cell phone onto the field, and San Diego third baseman Sean Burroughs said he was struck on a foot.

"There has always been a concern about projectiles coming from the stands," DuPuy said. "Whether it be a bottle, a battery, coins and now cell phones. It's troublesome. There are a few fans who believe baseball is a fan participation sport. It is not."

DuPuy, echoing earlier statements from White Sox and baseball officials, said he supports increased penalties for violent fans. He said the commissioner's office will embark on a program to encourage state legislatures around the country to adopt laws calling for harsher penalties.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf said the number of fans causing trouble is minuscule compared to the millions attending games each season.

"Having said that, the only acceptable number is zero," he said. "So we're doing everything we can in our power to make sure we don't have any more incidents. But as long as I've been coming to baseball games, there have been people who run on the field, sometimes it was Morganna and it was funny. But we want to get it down to zero if we can."

Starting Friday, fans with single-game tickets for the upper deck will not be allowed into lower decks.

DuPuy said there is no plan to limit fan/player access during All-Star weekend activities.

"We have had wonderful All-Star experiences for years and years and we expect that. Players will do their part in Fan Fest and in the workout day," he said.

White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, an All-Star last season, is one of the spokesmen for the Fan Fest, which features seminars, autograph sessions, memorabilia and clinics.

"You can't have one security guard per person in the park," Konerko said. "All you can do is educate fans and say it's not the right thing to do. Granted, we've had a couple here that have not happened in other places. In all stadiums, people run on the field. We've had a bad run here lately, but I don't see it as a problem in the future."