The second half has arrived and so have we, in St. Louis. We got in last night with about half the normal group of people on our flight. Several guys were flying on their own to meet us here in St. Louis from wherever they spent their All-Star Break.

Our hotel is right across the street from the New Busch Stadium, which looks pretty nice from the outside. It has a Coors Field look to it, according to A Martinez, who joined myself, Charley Steiner and a couple other Dodger staffers for dinner last night at Shannon’s Steakhouse, owned by Cardinal broadcaster Mike Shannon.

The arch, St. Louis’ signature destination, is actually visible out the window of my hotel room (you have to crane your neck to see it, so it’s kind of like the partial-ocean views that South Bay apartments often claim to have). Still, despite the brutal humidity, this is always a great city to come visit, especially now that there’s a new ballpark to see.

Some interesting articles from the morning papers. The Daily News did stories on the new Roy Campanella stamp, the McCourts and Camille Johnston, my boss. All three were interesting, I thought, and though I know everyone would expect me to praise my boss publicly, what the story says about her is true. She’s definitely earned the respect of just about everyone in the organization and the media in a very short amount of time, which is not easy to do.

Bill Plunkett wrote a nice piece about the prospects on our team and there was a midseason report card from the L.A. Times. Until I read it, I hadn’t realized that we were last in the league in homers. Strange to be leading in so many offensive categories yet trailing in longballs.

One fan asked about Jason Repko, who should be starting a rehab assignment very soon. As for Jeff Kent, we’ll know more about how the break served him and his side when we get to the ballpark, but I didn’t notice until doing game notes today that he’s leading all NL second basemen in fielding percentage. Nomar is second among first basemen and Rafael Furcal has just two errors in the last month or so, which is much more like him. Cesar has been really impressive at third base and in general, our defense seems to be getting better overall, as we’ve got just two errors in the last six games.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Let’s hope the second half is even better than the first and ends with a lot of champagne and celebration.

I hope you all enjoyed the All-Star Game last night, despite the disappointing outcome. I remember when Eric Gagne blew the save a couple years ago that cost the NL the game, he was asked if the Dodgers made the World Series and had to travel for Game 7, would he be disappointed. His answer then is much how I’m feeling today. I hope we have that problem. If we make it to the World Series this year and three and a half months from now, have to play Game 7 in Detroit, Oakland, New York, Boston, Minnesota, Chicago or even Los Angeles of Anaheim, I won’t be cursing Trevor Hoffman.

Brad was impressive last night, pumping 99 mph on the gun several times. It was enough to make me think the radar gun was off by a few miles per hour and as Derek Jeter told Tim Brown of the L.A. Times, it was. "I think the gun was a little slow."

As for Nomar, he did not get to play in the game, but he, Brad, Stan Johnston and Jaime Jarrin all represented the Dodger organization with class and dignity, as Tommy Lasorda would say.

And, I guess since I pointed out all the positive articles yesterday, I also have to point out the negative ones, like the story in today’s L.A. Times by Bill Plaschke that revisits the Brad Penny trade two years after it happened. According to Bill, it "Stunk Then. Stinks Now."

While every columnist is entitled to their own opinion, I feel I should at least play devil’s advocate and offer some counterpoints.

– First and foremost, Brad Penny has been one of our two most dependable starters all season long, a commodity that every team is currently seeking. Without him, we’re probably 8-10 games out of first place.

– If we had not traded Paul Lo Duca and signed him to a long-term deal (which we would have had to have done to still have him right now), we might have traded a young catching prospect named Russell Martin. Plaschke’s article admits that Russell’s development has ensured that the team will overcome Lo Duca’s absence.

– Guillermo Mota hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire since the deal. In fact, since then he’s 4-9 with an 5.04 ERA (75 ER/134 IP) and unfortunately, has had his own arm problems. At 31 years old at the time of the trade, there was reason to believe that Mota may have reached his peak while Brazoban was 24 at the time and will still be 27 when he comes back from Tommy John surgery.

– To suggest that using Eric Gagne for 82.1 innings in 2004 was overuse, you have to consider that he also threw 82.1 innings in 2003 and 82.1 innings in 2002, when Mota was with the team. While many like to point to the single outing in which he threw 3.0 innings, he needed just 37 pitches that day. Prior to the trade, he had two 32-pitch outings in April and July while Mota was still on the team.

– As Kim Ng pointed out in the article, Yhency Brazoban was extremely effective down the stretch, going 6-2 with a 2.48 ERA, numbers that were actually better than Mota’s. Jim Tracy used him regularly as a setup man and he overdelivered.

– And finally, Eric had had back and elbow problems before the trade, too. For those who recall 2003 Spring Training, Eric missed a couple weeks due to a bad back. He had Tommy John surgery before he ever reached the Majors. Were those the root of his current problems? I’m not smart enough to know that, or even guess why they’ve plagued him this year, but I certainly don’t think that a three-inning outing or a 2.2-inning outing can be pointed to as the obvious source of the problem.

At the end of the day, the great thing about trades in baseball is that they can be debated and reevaluated years after they happen. I just think that if we’re going to debate them, we should have both sides of the story on the table.

With no Dodger baseball to watch, you’ll probably want to spend a few minutes reading some great features that are out there today.

As promised, the Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth blogged about his overnight experience during the inaugural sleepover, including the photos you guys requested. Some great shots in there, even if he did out Crystal and I for sleeping in luxury suites! He’s also right, there are a few kinks to work out for the future, but Tom did an awesome job recapping the night and for this, he got a photo of himself on the front page of the Daily News print edition.

In the L.A. Times, Steve Henson wrote an in-depth piece on Brad Penny that shows another side to the tough guy most people see on the field. Very well-written, I think, and some good insight into tonight’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game.

T.R. Sullivan, who’s at the All-Star Game on behalf of MLB.com writes about Nomar’s resurgence in a nice piece on dodgers.com. Tony Jackson, who’s also in Pittsburgh for the Daily News, says that Nomar’s focus is on the field and not on contract negotiations.

Nomar also gets some coverage from the Orange County Register’s Mark Whicker, who thinks he’s the Comeback Player of the Year right now. MVP votes are sure to come his way, too, if he continues his current level of play. In fact, SI’s Tom Verducci picks him third at the midway point of the season. Verducci also picks Penny third in Cy Young voting, yet somehow doesn’t mention any Dodgers in his NL Rookie of the Year picks. Maybe they’re all splitting votes, but not including Ethier, Martin or Saito is a huge oversight in my opinion, though his picks are all having good years, too.

Verducci also tabs Grady Little as Manager of the Year and I couldn’t agree more. He’s guided this team through the second-most injuries in baseball and has his club right in the thick of things at the break. Remember when he said he wouldn’t mind if the team started out 7-7 to start the year. I’m sure if he knew we’d be two games out at the break, he’d be okay with that, too. As he’s told me on several occasions, you really don’t want to peak too early or there’s nowhere to go but down. Of course, we’d all rather be in first place right now, but considering all the circumstances, we’re in pretty good shape.

In addition to SI.com’s story, there are the requisite national stories about our All-Stars, who each had hour-long media sessions yesterday. These include pieces in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Hartford Courant, Miami Herald, and others. Safe to say, you’ll probably be spending a lot of time at work today reading Dodger articles. Just don’t tell your boss that I pointed them out to you.

Speaking of things to do at work (ok, I’m probably over the line now), today at 2 p.m. Dodger Vice Chairman and President Jamie McCourt will chat with Dodger fans for half an hour.

Supposedly, the All-Star Break is the only time during the entire year when there isn’t a major professional sporting event going on in America (MLB, NBA, NHL or NFL). But, you wouldn’t know it from the abundance of Dodger coverage around the country.

As for me, I’m going to use the All-Star Break to clean off my desk and get organized for the second half. We leave for St. Louis tomorrow at noon and there are plenty of things to do before Brad throws the first pitch tonight.

Andre Ethier was just named NL Player of the Week. He hit .500 (11-for-22) with five walks and 10 RBI and is quickly making a case for Rookie of the Year honors along with some of his teammates, Russell Martin and Takashi Saito.

Congrats to Andre, Brad, Nomar, Stan Johnston, Jaime Jarrin and everyone that’s representing the Dodgers well this week, including the 250 or so fans who spent the night at the stadium last night.

Finally, I’ve heard that Peter Gammons is recovering well from the brain aneurysm from which he was afflicted. I’ve gotten to know Peter of the past few years and I think we all know that he has been a tireless worker and a well-deserved inductee into the Hall of Fame and all of us in the Dodger organization wish him well both in his health and in the record sales for his new album, "Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old." The proceeds from the album go to the Foundation to be Named Later, a charitable organization started by Theo Epstein and his brother, Paul. Apparently, Theo plays on the album, too.

This is very exciting for Brad and the entire Dodger organization.

Congrats to him on being named as the starter for tomorrow’s All-Star Game.

In my 10-plus years with the team, I’ve seen a lot of things at Dodger Stadium but sunrise has never been one of them…until today. We were up at 4:30 to check in with the local news crews from KCAL and FOX that were on site and right about now, the fans are starting to stir on the field.

People are waking up, getting ready to have their breakfasts, and Crystal and I just spent the last 45 minutes having donuts and coffee from the club level while overlooking the entire event.

Though it’s not my department’s call, I think this event has been a great success and could very well become a tradition here at the Stadium. Whether or not I’ll take part in it next year is another thing, but it was certainly an experience I won’t soon forget.

It’s 11:30 and we’re getting ready to turn in for the night shortly. So far, it’s safe to say that the inaugural event has been a real success. The tail end of the movie, Duma, is playing on the Dodgervision board compliments of Warner Bros.

A lot of the families got the late night munchies, so we ordered about 50 pizzas to keep everyone full. Plus, there was even a guy who proposed to his girlfriend on the field earlier tonight.

In case you can’t be here, be sure to check out KCAL, NBC, ABC, CBS or FOX, which have all come out for either live shots or to tape segments tonight. We’ve got some of the local morning shows coming in a few hours, so we’re off to get some rest.

If I can’t sleep, I’ll post again in the middle of the night but until then…good night.

It’s still a little while before the sun goes down, but I’ve been out at the Loge Terrace, the new area that was built before the season and the headquarters for dinner during the inaugural Dodger sleepover. It seems like everyone is having a good time so far. There was a raffle where lots of prizes were won, a silent auction with signed memorabilia and even a visit from Frank McCourt, who stopped by to say hi to the group.

Former Dodgers Willie Davis and Bobby Castillo were also at the BBQ dinner, which was compliments of Outback Steakhouse.

I just headed back to the office for a bit while everyone went to get their sleeping gear from their cars. The fans are now heading out to the field to set up camp for the night, where there will be games, contests and other fun things to do before it gets dark and we start showing the movies on Dodgervision.

And serious props go out to Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News, who is out here covering the event and plans to sleep under the stars with the fans. You’ll be able to read about it sometime soon in the paper.

The first half comes to a close today and a win would be nice to send us into the All-Star Break. For those who just can’t stand to let the first-half go away, we’ll be sleeping over at Dodger Stadium tonight for the first time ever.  By "we" I mean 250 or so die-hard Dodger fans and myself, as well as Crystal Fukumoto from the PR Department. There will be media covering the event, which means that part of our job is to help them out at all hours of the day, even if it means bringing my sleeping bag to the office.

I’ll probably post a blog around midnight tonight with an update from the stadium, but for now, here’s today’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Izzy, 3B

Nomar, 1B

Ethier, LF

Kemp, CF

Cruz, RF

Martinez, 2B

Martin, C

Sele, P

To answer the question posed, no, there isn’t a belief right now that Jeff has to go on the DL. Grady just got done telling the reporters that Jeff is still possibly available for today or tomorrow but that they just don’t want to risk injuring it further. With the All-Star Break around the corner, I don’t think anyone is contemplating DLing Jeff until we see how he is on Thursday.

Also, there was a question about the bugs on the field at Dodger Stadium that you always see players waving their hands at. I spoke with Eric Hansen, our head groundskeeper and basically what he was able to tell me was that these have been here for years and that they’re small, black flies that we’ve tried to help get rid of, to no avail. Some days they’re worse than others and there doesn’t appear to be much of a pattern. But, I can attest to the fact that they’ve been at the stadium since at least 1994, which is when I first recall seeing them.