of baseball's top stars.

It happened to Bermudian teenager Wanda Trott on Monday night in Denver, Colorado, when she dined with Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.

And to cap off the occasion, the Bermuda Institute student was among last night's crowd for the All-Star game at Coors Field, tickets courtesy of Griffey, one of the stars of the annual event.

Trott, who is visiting her aunt (the former May Trott of St. George's) and cousins for the summer, met Griffey hours after he won Monday's home run derby which serves as a prelude to the mid-season All-Star game.

The 15-year-old was in a party of 13 at Morton's Steak House that included Griffey's wife, children and his parents. The opportunity to dine with the star came about because one of Trott's cousins, Bridgett, is close friends with Griffey's wife Melissa and was in her wedding party.

On a day when Griffey was booed by the fans in Denver for initially choosing not to compete in the home run derby -- he later changed his mind -- Trott got to see first hand how stars are treated in public... and how they respond.

"When he first came he was real quiet, I guess irritated, because people were coming up to him,'' said Trott.

She said he eventually began teasing her about her Bermudian accent which he couldn't understand.

"Afterwards he got more talkative, he became more relaxed and his attitude changed.'' Both children and adults approached the star asking for his autograph, but one woman missed the opportunity completely after mistaking one of Trott's cousins, 6-foot-7 Gavin Copeland, for an athlete and asking for his autograph instead.

She left without recognising Griffey, who was sporting a new, close haircut.

Trott did manage to get Griffey to sign a Seattle Mariners pennant and had a photo taken with him.

"I can't believe it, people were just staring the whole night,'' she said.

Griffey reversed his decision after being booed by a Coors Field record crowd of 51,231 while accepting a trophy for being the All-Star game's top vote-getter, named on more than 4.2 million ballots.

"I don't like to get booed. I don't think anybody does,'' said Griffey, who hit 19 homers in the three rounds and beat Cleveland's Jim Thome 3-2 in the final round. "This is not a time to get booed, the All-Star game. If they want to see me do the home run competition, the fans, there were 4 million reasons why I did it.'' Griffey, who at 28 has already been selected to nine All-Star teams, has hit 35 home runs already this season for the last-place Mariners, two less than Mark McGwire of St. Louis.

But baseball's home-run leader managed just four home runs and failed to get past the first round in Monday night's contest. McGwire came to Denver with 37 homers, and many figured if he didn't win the title, he would certainly test the laws of gravity 5,280 feet above sea level. Early Monday afternoon, Griffey was insisting he would pass up the chance to rocket balls through the thin Colorado air.

THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE -- Ken Griffey Jr. not only won Monday's Home Run Derby, he acquired a big new fan in Bermudian teenager Wanda Trott.