The 2010 MLG All Star Game Goes in Favor of The National League.

For the first time since 1996 the National League was victorious in the All Star Game. This year was very kind to the NL as they were able to finally defeat the AL in the mid-summer classic by a 3-1 score and were able to gain home field advantage in this years World Series. The festivities began with a moment of silence for late Yankees owner George Steinbrener who passed away yesterday at the age of 80 from a massive heart attack. The highlight of the game offensively was the bases clearing double hit byu eventual game MVP and Braves catcher Bryan McCann. Matt Capps of the Nationals got the win, Phill Hughes of the Yankees was credited with the loss and Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers got the save. Now as most of you know none of the stats collected in the all-star game affect regular season numbers. So anyway besides McCann getting the big hit for the NL, the only other big highlight of the night was the baserunning blunder by Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers. In the 7th inning with 1 out and the American League down by 2, Andrus is on 1st. He takes off to steal 2nd and initially makes it in safely on a high throw to Reds 2nd Baseman Joey Votto. The throw pulled Votto off the bag and Andrus slid right under but overshot 2nd base. As he is looking around for the ball he forgets to put his foot back on the bag and is tagged out by Joey Votto who had the ball he whole time.

Now as I stated before, this was the first time the National League had won an All-Star game since 1996 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The NL took that game by a score of 6-0. John Smoltz of the Braves got the win while Charles Nagy of the Indians took the loss. There were 2 long balls hit in the contest, one by the games MVP Mike Piazza of the Dodgers, and the other by Ken Caminiti of the Padres.

Ever since that 1996 All Star game the American League has taken every one, other than the tie a few years back at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Now with the win by the National League this year, tehy get home field advantage in the World Series, which to me really is a stupid concept. But that is besides the point. So now that the All-Star game is out of the way lets take a quick look at what is coming up in teh 2nd half of the season.

For the Mets, they start the 2nd half of the year off on a 10-game west coast road trip starting tomorrow night in San Fransisco against the Giants. As for the Yankees they start the 2nd half off with a homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays firday night at the stadium.

Also something else to look forward to in the 2nd half of the season, here are some milestone achievements that indivudal players are close to catching:

Batters
600 Home Runs
Alex Rodriguez: 3

450 Home Runs
Chipper Jones: 18

400 Home Runs
Albert Pujols: 13
Jim Edmonds: 14

350 Home Runs
Paul Konerko: 4

1,500 Runs Batted In
Chipper Jones: 22

1,000 Runs Batted In
Jorge Posada: 7
Aramis Ramírez: 22
Derrek Lee: 25

500 Doubles
Chipper Jones: 12

100 Triples
Carl Crawford: 2
Johnny Damon: 3
Jimmy Rollins: 4

2,500 Hits
Chipper Jones: 33

1,500 Runs Scored
Chipper Jones: 9

1,000 Runs Scored
Derrek Lee: 12
Luis Castillo: 14

And for pitchers:
200 Wins
Tim Wakefield: 8

150 Wins
Javier Vazquez: 1
CC Sabathia: 2

100 Wins
Cliff Lee: 2
Joel Pineiro: 4

600 Saves
Trevor Hoffman: 4

550 Saves
Mariano Rivera: 4

200 Saves
Jose Valverde: 14
Brian Fuentes: 21

1,500 Strikeouts
Kerry Wood: 12
Ryan Dempster: 14
Tim Hudson: 37

So there you have it. A recap of this years All-Star game and some things to look forward to in what should be a very exciting 2nd half to the Major League Baseball Season!

Major League Baseball First Half Recap

The first half of the 2010 Major League Baseball Season has come and gone and nnow might be the perfect time to take a look back at the first half of this season. Some of the events that have taken place this season have been pretty surprising. Here are the league standings through the first half of the season:

AL East:
New York Yankees 56 32 .636
Tampa Bay Rays 54 34 .614
Boston Red Sox 51 37 .580
Toronto Blue Jays 44 45 .494
Baltimore Orioles 29 59 .330

AL Central:
Chicago White Sox 49 38 .563
Detroit Tigers 48 38 .558
Minnesota Twins 46 42 .523
Kansas City Royals 39 49 .443
Cleveland Indians 34 54 .386

AL West:
Texas Rangers 50 38 .568
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 47 44 .516
Oakland Athletics 43 46 .483
Seattle Mariners 35 53 .398

NL East:
Atlanta Braves 52 36 .591
New York Mets 48 40 .545
Philadelphia Phillies 47 40 .529
Florida Marlins 42 46 .477
Washington Nationals 39 50 .438

NL Central:
Cincinnati Reds 49 41 .544
St. Louis Cardinals 47 41 .534
Milwaukee Brewers 40 49 .449
Chicago Cubs 39 50 .438
Houston Astros 36 53 .404
Pittsburgh Pirates 30 58 .341

NL West:
San Diego Padres 51 37 .580
Colorado Rockies 49 39 .557
Los Angeles Dodgers 49 39 .557
San Francisco Giants 47 41 .534
Arizona Diamondbacks 34 55 .382

So that is where everybody is currently sitting in baseball right now. As some people may have figured there have been managerial changes that took place during the year. The biggest name to take over as a manager is the Arizona Diamondback's new bench boss Kirk Gibson. Gibson, as most people probably know by now, hit that famous walk off home run for the Dodgers in the 1988 World Series off A's closer Denis Eckersly.

Now lets take a look at the league leaders in both leagues as of this point in time:
American League Leaders
AVG-Miguel Cabrera-DET & Josh Hamilton- TEX .346
HR-Jose Bautista- TOR 24
RBI-Miguel Cabrera- DET 77
R-Carl Crawford- TB 70
H-Ichiro Suzuki- SEA & Josh Hamilton TEX 118
SB-Juan Pierre- CWS 32

Pitching leaders
W-David Price- TB & CC Sabathia- NYY 12
L-Jeremy Guthrie- BAL 10
ERA-David Price- TB- 2.42
K-Jered Weaver- LAA 137
IP-Felix Hernandez- SEA 137.2
SV-Joakim Soria- KC 25

A stat worth noting is that Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has a shot at becoming Baseballs first Triple Crown Winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Cabrera is trailing in the home run department but leads in RBI's and is teid for the lead in batting average, so he still has the outside shot at it.

Now lets take a look at the NL Leaders to this point in the year.

NL Batting:
AVG-Rafael Furcal-LAD .333
HR-Joey Votto-CIN & Adam Dunn-WAS 22
RBI-David Wright-NYM, Ryan Howard-PHI, & Corey Hart-MIL 65
R-Brandon Phillips-CIN 66
H-Martin Prado-ATL 121
SB-Michael Bourn-HOU 28

Pitching leaders
W-Ubaldo Jimenez-COL 15
L-Wandy Rodriguez-HOU 11
ERA-Josh Johnson-FLA 1.70
K-Tim Lincecum-SF 131
IP-Roy Halladay-PHI 148.0
SV-Francisco Cordero-CIN & Heath Bell-SD 24

Of the stats listed above, really there are no surprises. The fact that David Wright of the Mets is leading the National League in some kind of offensive catagory is really saying something to me, as a Mets fan. Its finally starting to show that he can hit in a lineup where he really is the focal point for the opposing pitchers.

Now I think would be a good time to take a look at the 4 biggest pitching performances of the first half. First up were the 2 perfect games that have been thrown. The first perfecto came on Mother's Day May 9th when Dallas Braden of the Okland A's threw the 19th perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4–0. It was also the second perfect game in Oakland A's history; the first coming on May 8, 1968 when Jim "Catfish" Hunter beat the Minnesota Twins, 4–0. Then exactly 20 days later, Roy Halladay of the Phillies threw perfection, the Florida Marlins 1–0. This achievement marked the first time in the modern (post-1900) era that two perfect games were pitched in the same season. In 1880, both Lee Richmond and John Montgomery Ward both hurled a perfect game five days apart. It was also the first perfect game for the Phillies since Jim Bunning's Father's Day perfect game on June 21, 1964. The big story was the near perfect game thrown by Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers. Galarraga was able to retire 26 straight Cleveland Indians, but had trouble getting the 27th. What happend was first base umpire Jim Joyce made an errant call on Galarraga's coverage of first base on a flip throw by first baseman Miguel Cabrera, which would have been the final out. Jim Joyce later stated that he did make the mistake and blew the call.

Besides that, 2 no hitters have been thrown during the year. Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies threw the first no-hitter in the Rockies 18-year history by blanking the Atlanta Braves 4–0 on April 17. It was also his first career no-hitter and the first no-hitter of the season. The 2nd No-no came from Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Diamondbacks when he blanked the Tampa Bay Rays in a 1-0 win on June 26th. It was the second no-hitter in Diamondbacks history and his first in his career. The only other pitcher to have a no-hit game was Randy Johnson against Atlanta, and that was a perfect game in 2004.

Lineups Announced for Next Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game

This past Saturday, the Starters and Reserves were announced for this year's Major League Baseball All Star Game, which will be taking place in Anaheim. First lets look at the American League Starters, which were selected by the fans. The AL Starters are as follows: C Joe Mauer-Minnesota, 1B Justin Morneau-Minnesota, 2B Robinson Cano-N.Y. Yankees, 3B Evan Longoria-Tampa Bay, SS Derek Jeter-N.Y. Yankees OF Ichiro Suzuki-Seattle, OF Josh Hamilton-Texas, OF Carl Crawford-Tampa Bay, and DH Vladimir Guerrero-Texas. Of the starters chosen for the AL, the only real surprise, if you want to call it that, is Robinson Cano of the Yankees, only because this is his first All-Star Game. And what makes that even more interesting is that in the past 7 years the American League has had 7 different men start at 2nd Base. Also another stat of interest, over the past 20 years, the AL has had only 2 men start at shortstop, Derek Jeter and Cal Ripkin. That goes to show just how flat out good those 2 guys have been over the years.

Now here is the rest of the lineup for the American League: C Victor Martinez-Boston (unable to play due to injury), C John Buck-Toronto (Replacement Player), 1B Miguel Cabrera-Detroit, 2B Dustin Pedroia-Boston (Injured), 2B Ian Kinsler-Texas (Replacement), SS Elvis Andrus-Texas, 3B Alex Rodriguez-N.Y. Yankees, 3B Adrian Beltre-Boston, INF Ty Wigginton-Baltimore, OF Torii Hunter-L.A. Angels, OF Vernon Wells-Toronto, OF Jose Bautista-Toronto, and finally DH David Ortiz-Boston. Seeing some of the names here, it is nice to see the change of pace, and the changing of the gard if you will. A few of the guys here are first timers.

Finally the Pitching staff for the AL is as follows: Clay Buchholz-Boston, Trevor Cahill-Oakland, Fausto Carmona-Cleveland, Neftali Feliz-Texas, Phil Hughes-N.Y. Yankees, Cliff Lee-Seattle, Jon Lester-Boston, David Price-Tampa Bay, Mariano Rivera N.Y. Yankees, CC Sabathia-N.Y. Yankees, Joakim Soria-Kansas City, Matt Thornton Chicago White Sox, and finally Jose Valverde-Detroit. Now of this pitching staff, the 2 guys with the most experience at the All-Star Game would be CC Sabathia (4-time All star) and Mariano Rivera (11-Time All Star) of the Yankees. The AL pitching staff boasts 8 guys who will be playing in the All-Star Game for the very first time, so depending on who gets used when, if at all in the game, could possibly help the National League.

Now moving on to the Nation League. First the Starters as selected by the fans: C Yadier Molina-St. Louis, 1B Albert Pujols-St. Louis, 2B Chase Utley-Philadelphia (injured and will be replaced by Martin Prado of Atlanta as the starting 2nd baseman), 3B David Wright-N.Y. Mets, SS Hanley Ramirez-Florida, OF Ryan Braun Milwaukee, OF Jason Heyward-Atlanta, and OF Andre Ethier-L.A. Dodgers. As of writing, the National League has yet to announce a Designated Hitter. The surprise of the starters for the National League would have to be Jason Heyward, as the rookie has put on a very strong showing through the first have of the season. It was also a bit of a shock to the system, with me being a life-long National League fan, seeing an Outfielder from the Atlanta Braves not be named Andrew Jones starting. Again something very strange to see.

Now for the reserves for the NL: C Brian McCann-Atlanta, 1B Ryan Howard-Philadelphia, 1B Adrian Gonzalez-San Diego, INF Omar Infante-Atlanta, SS Troy Tulowitzki-Colorado (injured), SS Jose Reyes-N.Y. Mets (replacement), 2B Brandon Phillips-Cincinnati, 3B Scott Rolen-Cincinnati, OF Michael Bourn-Houston, OF Marlon Byrd-Chicago Cubs, OF Corey Hart-Milwaukee, OF Matt Holliday-St. Louis, and finally OF Chris Young-Arizona. For the NL reserves the 3 biggest names left off the list in my opinion were Prince Fielder of the Brewers, Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies, and Chipper Jones of the Braves. Now that does not eliminate the possibility of those 3 guys still showing up, Fielder could possibly be used as a DH since the game is being played in an American League park. I understand Jose Reyes is a replacement for Troy Tulowitzki, who is hurt, but I dont necessarly think Reyes should have been taken over say Hanley Ramerez of the Marlins, who I feel right now might actually be a better shrotstop then Reyes. BUt hey that's just the way I see things.

Finally here is the Pitching Staff for the NL: Jonathan Broxton-L.A. Dodgers, Chris Carpenter-St. Louis, Matt Capps-Washington, Yovani Gallardo-Milwaukee, Roy Halladay Philadelphia, Tim Hudson-Atlanta, Ubaldo Jimenez-Colorado, Josh Johnson-Florida, Tim Lincecum-San Francisco, Evan Meek-Pittsburgh, Arthur Rhodes-Cincinnati, Adam Wainwright-St. Louis, and finally Brian Wilson-San Francisco. This pitching staff I think may have the edge, not only based on experiance at the All-Star Game, but experiance in general of pitching in the big leagues. A few critics have questioned the fact that phenom Stephen Strausberg of the Nationals will not be participating. I happen to agree with the fact he isnt going to play in the game this year. The reason being is he has not spent enough time at the big league level to warrent it. No if he had been with the Nats from opening day of the season right through to now then yes he is an All-Star. But otherwise no.

The All Star Game will take place on Tuesday July 13, at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Coverage will get underway around 8pm et and will be live on Fox. Be sure to check back here the day of the game for a complete recap of the first half of the 2010 MLB season.