Houston ? Derek Jeter barely could utter a word, almost frozen with fear when he met Muhammad Ali the day before.

So imagine how Jeter felt when the former heavyweight champ came at him with his fists raised in a classic fighter’s pose Tuesday night.

“It was a little scary when he starting throwing punches,” Jeter joked. “I was scared. I didn’t want to get hit.”

Ali was an honored guest for the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star game, returning to the city where he fought four times and relinquished his heavyweight boxing title by refusing to join the military during the Vietnam War.

The selection of Ali for the gathering of baseball’s best was considered a peculiar choice by some, but commissioner Bud Selig dismissed such criticism. Ali has said he became interested in baseball once his 13-year-old son, Asaad, joined a Little League team in their community of Niles, Mich.

“Muhammad Ali is one of the sports legends of our generation,” Selig said before the game. “I don’t think that that’s valid criticism.”

Ali, now 62, fought four times at the since-deserted Astrodome, beating Cleveland Williams in 1966, Ernie Terrell in 1967 and Jimmy Ellis and Buster Mathis in 1971.

Ali has returned to Houston several times over the years, including a 1997 benefit for Parkinson’s disease, the ailment from which he now suffers.

This time, however, Ali returned to Houston for a welcome worthy of a champion.

Boxing great Muhammad Ali waves to the crowd at the All-Star game. Ali appeared before the game Tuesday in Houston.

“He’s a national treasure as far as I’m concerned,” AL and New York Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “Sometimes when people are going through some physical problems, they tend to hide out. But I think he realizes how much good he does just showing up places.”

Ali walked onto the field with his son, Asaad, and waited on the mound as a boy and a girl threw the ceremonial first pitches to Jeter and hometown Astros star Lance Berkman.

He threw a series of playful punches at the boy, 12-year-old Jacob Hobbs of Houston. The sellout crowd of 41,886 at Minute Maid Park roared with approval.

Jeter then gathered the players around Ali for an impromptu photo opportunity, much like the sentimental All-Star tribute for Ted Williams in 1999.

“It looked like some people might have been scared,” Jeter said. “It’s something I think everyone will remember.”

Barry Bonds made his way through the crowd to gently pat Ali on the back, and Cleveland Indians outfielder Matt Lawton couldn’t resist throwing a couple of lighthearted jabs at Ali as he walked off the field to a standing ovation.

Ali had some fun of his own, too, putting up two fingers behind Alex Rodriguez’s head, drawing big laughs.

Many of the players were awed at the chance to meet Ali.

“Getting to meet him brought chills to my spine,” Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca said. “He’s a special person. Not only was he a great boxer, but he was an outspoken person.”

Others weren’t so excited about Ali’s appearance in Houston.

A local civil rights group, the Houston National Black United Front, urged Ali not to participate in the ceremony, saying that he’d be better off highlighting claimed racial inequities in the nation’s fourth-largest city. A group of about 50 protesters gathered outside Minute Maid Park, chanting “No Justice, No Peace” and handed out fliers to passers-by.

“It’s not about Ali, it’s about the power structure. We love Ali,” group chairman Kofi Taharka said.

As usual in recent years, Ali declined interview requests.