All-star game

The first half of the season has come and gone. And boy did it fly. Obviously you could say that a surprise of the first half has been the Houston Astros. Ahead of schedule, the Astros came out of the gate quickly in the AL West, leading the division for almost the entire first half. Now only a half-game behind the Angels, they look to make a push in the second half to make the post season a year ahead of schedule. The Astros still have young, talented prospects waiting their turn for major-league ball, but who knows? Maybe they can prove themselves by the end of this year and make the postseason. One of the disappointments of the year so far has been the San Diego Padres. With a huge overhaul on players over the offseason, this year was supposed to be world series title or bust for the Pad-Squad. Nine games under .500, the second half has always proved to bring success to Padres teams of recent past. Recall back in 2009, a year after the most losses of any padres team this millennium, things were looking pretty bad but then Kyle Blanks hit his stride and Clayton Richard brought a spark to a struggling pitching staff. Last year, the worst offense in franchise history turned things around and ended the season with the best home record at Petco Park history. Then again, there have been disastrous seasons. The 2010 team had a dominating record through August but collapsed in September. So we'll just have to wait and see what happens this year. We needed this all-star break.

As for the game, Mike Trout led off with a home run and the AL went on to win in Cincinnati, 6-3. Trout won the game's MVP award for the second straight year with the most at-bats of anyone in the game at 3. Andrew McCutcheon and Brian Dozier also had homers in the game. Pete Rose made an appearance and was welcomed with some boos in his old confines. Next year is in San Diego! I plan on going. Do you?