Opinion

Among other things, the 2015 MLB All-Star Game was to be a celebration of baseball's all-time hit king. Though still banned from baseball for life, Pete Rose had been permitted to be part of the show for the hometown fans at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park.

The air horn prank, as a means of terrifying people, is one of the more reliable scare tactics in the anarchist playbook.

The target is alarmed, no one is punched in the neck (usually) and everyone goes home with a fun, dull ringing in their ears.

The Detroit Tigers find themselves mired in mediocrity as the MLB season nears its midway point. At 36-34, Detroit holds the 16th-best record out of 30 teams in the majors.

This is a big underachievement for a perennially contending team.

There are several reasons for the Houston Astros’ stunning position at the top of the American League West standings. 

1. Warning: Unwritten Rules Ahead

Jose Tabata, villain for either (a) leaning into or (b) not getting out of the way of a hanging slider and ruining Max Scherzer's perfect game?

Or the latest victim of the Internet rushing to a speedy and unfair judgment?

If you've ever wondered what Johnny Cueto would look like in pinstripes, you're not alone.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' lead in the National League West is just 1.5 games, which can be seen as both a positive and a negative at this point of the season. On one hand, the team has suffered massive injuries to key contributors and remains in first place. On the other hand, though, it has gotten some surprisingly positive performances but has been unable to build any kind of lead on San Francisco.

Behold a question that I doubt anybody expected to be asked at any point in the 2015 season:

Is Kris Bryant finally going to start hitting for power now?

An unexpected question, indeed. But before we get to answering it, let's get to what's prompting it.

Seventy games into the 2015 MLB season, the Los Angeles Angels are owners of a 35-35 record. At exactly .500 is not where Los Angeles wanted to be nearing the halfway point of the baseball season, but these 70 games are already banked. The wins and losses aren't going anywhere.

A disappointing Seattle Mariners team will have to play much better in the second half of the season than it did in the first half to have any shot at making the postseason.

Through 70 games, the Mariners sit at a lowly 32-38. That's 8.5 games behind the surprising Houston Astros in the American League West, and six teams currently stand between Seattle and the second wild card.