With one series left before the All-Star Break, the Mets have a chance to finish the first half of their season on a high note. They have to play the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The Bucs had a great first half, but have struggled of late having lost 6 of 10. The Mets, on the other hand, have won 7 of their last 10.

Most recently, they wrapped up their first road sweep of the San Francisco Giants since 1994. Here’s the Mets’ roster from that strike-shortened season. (And they’re still paying Bobby Bonilla, amirite??)

What has been the difference in the Mets during this recent stretch of better baseball? The will to win? Emotion? A football mentality? Or maybe it’s just a matter of finding better players to replace the other players who weren’t performing.

Is their recent play a sign of things to come, or is it simply a blip on the radar screen?

They’ve also been much better on the road than at home this year.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking away the moments leading up to the first All-Star Game in Queens since 1964. Should Marlon Byrd have joined David Wright and Matt Harvey in the Midsummer Classic?

Harvey will likely make an appearance in the game, whether he starts or not. The Mets will skip his spot in the rotation during the Pittsburgh series. The reason for this is threefold. First, he’s on pace for 240 innings. He threw 160 total last year between the minors and majors. That’s a huge jump for most young pitchers. Second, he’s been pitching with a blister on his finger lately. And third, it will allow him to throw 25-30 pitches or so in the ASG.

And lastly, Darryl Strawberry thinks Tim Tebow is a “real man.”

That’s all for today. Happy All-Star Break, and have a great weekend.

The All-Star rosters were announced yesterday, and two Mets will have the honor of playing on their home turf in the Midsummer Classic. David Wright was voted in by the fans, and Matt Harvey was selected to the NL club.

Now that Harvey has been selected (a no-brainer), the next question is, will he be the starting pitcher for the National League?

Today, the Mets held a press conference to reveal the official logo of the 2013 All-Star Game, which will be held at Citi Field.  Here’s a link to the full story on mets.com.

To me, it looks great.  Simple and classy.  The team that brought us the infamous “Domino’s Pizza” Citi Field patch has done a much better job with their graphic design lately.

Wright made the 2012 All-Star team, but not as a starter.

The 2012 All-Star Rosters were announced today, and the Mets will have two representatives.  R.A. Dickey and David Wright will join manager Terry Collins (who was selected to Tony LaRussa’s coaching staff) in Kansas City.

The big news for Mets fans is the fact that Pablo Sandoval of the Giants beat out Wright in the fan voting by 1.6 million votes.  Wright had been leading in the voting up until the last couple of days.

But fan voting is an important part of the All-Star Game.  After all, the fans should vote for the players they want to see, since it is an exhibition game held for the fans.

Wait…is it?  I thought “it counted this time.”

In 2002, the All-Star Game finished in a 7-7 tie in the 11th inning, when each manager simply ran out of players.  Because that’s what you did in an All-Star Game: get as many players in the game as possible.  Why?  So the fans of each team could see their men compete in the Summer Classic, that’s why.  Admit it, it was  a thrill to see Lee Mazzilli play in the 1979 All-Star game.  He even tied the game with a home run, and drove in the eventual game-winning run with a bases-loaded walk.  He somehow didn’t win the MVP, mostly because a more popular player (Dave Parker) from a winning team (the Pirates) threw a guy out at home.

Today, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Mets owner Fred Wilpon announced that the  All-Star Game is coming to Citi Field on July 16, 2013.

It will mark the first time the ASG has come to Queens since Shea Stadium’s inaugural season in 1964.  In that game Johnny Callison hit a walk-off home run to give the National League a 7-4 victory.

“The Mets have been great; this is really a very, very happy day,” Selig said. “I know for the citizens of this great city and state, they will enjoy this immensely.”

Wilpon joked that he wished Selig would let him host the World Series at Citi as well.

Another year at the All Star game and Jose Reyes has to sit out because of injuries. Reyes has actually only played in one All Star game after being chosen four times.

Jose was trailing behind other National League shortstop Troy Tulowitski before a the greatest fans in baseball rallied behind their shortstop and successfully voted him in.

Reyes told the Daily News Sunday:

Me personally, every time I have the opportunity to come as an All Star, I do. I want to be around the other great players and be apart of it. It’s not a good feeling because I really want to play, but its better than not being here at all.

Reyes took batting practice Monday from both sides of the plate and planned to do light work in the weight room and walk on a treadmill, still nursing his hamstring.

When asked about the injury, Reyes replied,

It is getting better every day. I did a lot of work on Sunday. I just have to make sure its healed before I play again.

Both Beltran and Jose Reyes flew from San Francisco to Arizona on a private plane with the Giants All Star selections. Reyes laughed when asked if the Giants did any recruiting of him or Beltran. No news there, they just talked about coming to the game.