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!