Dallas ? Not every baseball player is completely averse to an unscheduled meet-and-greet with unruly fans running onto the field.

“I don’t worry about it,” said Rangers outfielder Carl Everett. “I know how to defend myself. In fact, sometimes, with some of the stuff fans say, I wish they would come on the field.”

Cuddly Carl’s sentiments don’t exactly mirror the official stance of Major League Baseball or the majority of its players, however. The second When Fans Attack incident in a span of just 11 games at Chicago’s former Comiskey Park (now U.S. Cellular Field) has some questioning whether the White Sox or the City of Chicago are fit to serve as hosts of this year’s scheduled July 15 All-Star game.

After last year’s embarrassing tie game in Milwaukee, MLB can ill afford another black eye on its midsummer showcase event. And special events have been pulled for less. Remember, the Florida Marlins were told in 1995 that they would be host of the 2000 All-Star Game. But after former owner H. Wayne Huizenga gutted his ’97 World Series champion, commissioner Bud Selig yanked the game from South Florida and awarded it to Atlanta.

No one really expects Selig to strip good buddy Jerry Reinsdorf’s franchise of this year’s All-Star Game, but MLB is demanding the White Sox get their house in order after two dangerous incidents. Two fans attacked Kansas City Royals first-base coach Tom Gamboa last Sept. 19. Another tried to tackle first-base umpire Laz Diaz during a game last Tuesday at the ballpark now ironically nicknamed The Cell.

“Given the fact it has happened twice, are we concerned? Yes, as we have discussed with the White Sox,” MLB executive vice president Sandy Alderson said.

There also was recent trouble across town, in May 2000 at the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field.

Rangers catcher Chad Kreuter, then with the Dodgers, was sitting on the bullpen bench down the right-field line when a fan reached over the short brick wall to hit Kreuter and snatch his cap. Kreuter and teammates charged into the stands after the man, starting an ugly melee that resulted in five players and coaches being suspended a total of 45 games, 20 players and coaches being fined a total of $77,000, and the Dodgers’ insurer paying a reported $300,000 settlement to a Chicago man Kreuter allegedly choked.

“Why do these things only happen in Chicago?” wondered Kansas City outfielder Brandon Berger.

They don’t. There also was ugliness in Milwaukee in September 1999. Houston right fielder Bill Spiers was blindsided by a man who jumped on the field and charged him from behind in the sixth inning of a game at County Stadium. Spiers suffered whiplash and was out of baseball two years later, citing chronic back trouble.

But Rangers manager Buck Showalter said concern shouldn’t be limited to Chicago or the Upper Midwest.

“It just seems like the last few years, the things you see and hear out of the stands have changed,” he said. “And in cities you wouldn’t expect.

“You wonder what type of message it sends to people who were thinking of coming out to the ballpark.”