It's the Break; How We Doin'?

I'm sitting here with my laptop watching the All Star Game and thinking about the first half of the season. So I'll tear a page from, well, just about everybody's, blog and review.

At the beginning of the season, I had some expectations and hopes. Let's see how it's going so far:

• I expect to get choked up when they introduce Torii tonight. [Yeah, I kinda did. Then I got over it really fast.]


• I expect that Joe Mauer will take the first pitch to him tonight. [Actually, I think he fouled it off.]


• I expect that Joe Mauer will take the first pitch to him every night. [I don't think he really does that as much as he used to. Or, if he does, it's working out better for him. At any rate, it's not making me crazy like it used to.]


• I expect that Carlos Gomez will make me wildly happy sometime this season. [Check.]


• I expect that Carlos Gomez will make me wildly angry sometime this season. [And, check.]


• I expect that Joe Nathan will give me a near mental breakdown sometime this season. [Yeah, that whole walking the bases loaded with one out in Detroit just the other day pretty much made me whimper, that is until he struck out the final two batters and got out of it.]


• I expect that Joe Nathan will appear to have a near mental breakdown sometime this season. [I didn't really go out on a limb here, did I?]


• I expect that I will be pleasantly surprised by one of the new guys this year. [Wow, definitely more than one -- Alexi, Blackburn, Span, Korecky, and even Harris.]


• I expect that I will be profoundly annoyed by one of the new guys this year. [Hello? Mr. Lamb and Mr. Young? Are you there?]


• I expect that the roster at the end of the season will look quite a bit different
  than today's roster. [Actually, aside from the Korecky-for-Rincon switch, all the new faces have been fill ins for injuries -- so far.]

• I hope that there are more good games than bad. [So far, so good. Eleven games over .500 and 1 1/2 games out of first. I'd say so.]


• I hope that the guys have fun and encourage each other. [And this is why I love this team, and I think it's the secret to their success. As long as they have fun, they seem to do well.]


• I hope this year goes a long way to building a strong core that has a bright future. [Many of the young guys are looking good.]


• I hope the Twins surprise some people. [Um, yeah. Keep it up guys!]

So, boys, so far this year, I'm having a whole bunch of fun watching you. Please keep it up; I want to keep having a whole bunch of fun.

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So I'm watching the All Star Game and wondering why so many players are wearing white shoes. Did the A's equipment manager break in to the clubhouse?

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