5 things we'll miss from the first half of the season and 5 things we're looking forward to

The first half of the season is over. Go on, wave it farewell from this side of the Midsummer Classic. It's part of the past now, along with the Battle of Hastings, the word "prithee," and seeing the Power Rangers on TV. Well, that last one isn't as far in the past as it seems. Did you see the catcher's gear from the All-Star Game?

What We'll Miss: Firsts!

Opening Day was just over 100 days ago, and all of the firsts we look forward to every year have already happened. There will be no more wondering who will hit the first home run of the season (it was J.D. Martinez) or who will throw the first no-hitter (Chris Heston). Those anything-can-happen, milestone moments are unfortunately gone until the beginning of next season.

What We're Looking Forward To: Anything can happen! (Just with more specificity)

So … maybe we misled you just a tiny bit. Sure, some of the firsts have already been claimed, but not all of them. Last season, only one player made it to 40 home runs. Going into the second half of this season, 12 guys have 20 or more. While that's no guarantee that anyone will double that total, it provides plenty of basis for speculation. There's some great anecdotal evidence too:

And there's still a pitching first to be claimed this year. We don't want to jinx it, so we'll just tell you it rhymes with schmerfect schame. Again, there's no guarantee that it'll happen but with Chris Sale looking like a late-'90s Pedro Martinez and Max Scherzer looking like, well, Max Scherzer, there's also no guarantee that it won't.

What We'll Miss: Bartolo's quest for three hits

During Spring Training, Bartolo Colon told Mets hitting coach Kevin Long that his hit goal for the season was three. His incredible double from the year before only whetted our appetites, and we couldn't wait to see him attempt it. Remember, in 2014, Colon had a grand total of two hits.

Well, guess what? He made it to three before June even began:

What We're Looking Forward To: More Bartolo

What, you thought he got his three hits and we were just going to stop paying attention? Absolutely not. Mets pitchers have taught us to expect a lot of production at the plate -- Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard have both homered once this year -- who's to say Bartolo won't join them?

But we're watching the veteran righty for a few more reasons, too. He has the fewest walks per nine innings of any starter in the National League (a minuscule .94) and, at 42 years old, is taking as much joy in the game as a Little Leaguer:

What We'll Miss: Waiting for MLB's best prospects to get called up

Before the All-Star Game, we saw the debuts of Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Carlos Correa, Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Miguel Sano and MLB.com's top-rated prospect, Byron Buxton. We've spent so long salivating over the potential of this passel of prospects, and now we can finally see it in action. Our little baseball players are all grown up.

What We're Looking Forward To: The Rookie of the Year race

When you've got such an exciting group of prospects making their debuts, you've also got an extremely tight Rookie of the Year race. Not all of the potential candidates made their debut in 2015 (we're looking at you, Joc Pederson), but Bryant, Correa and Syndergaard are among those in this year's ROY conversation.

And what a conversation it is. We're talking speed:

Power:

And plenty of dad-scolding:

What We'll Miss: This penguin

Paula the Penguin delivered the game ball to the mound at Great American Ball Park on April 12 of this year and it was fantastic. Paula has not made any more game ball deliveries this season, and we miss this moment every day.

What We're Looking Forward To: More bird-related shenanigans

On April 10, a bird interrupted the action at Progressive Field. It was the first animal-related delay of the season. And they kept coming. Just seven days later, another bird left a snack on the pitcher's mound:

Birds are just going to keep trying to be our friends. Carlos Martinez knows:

What We'll Miss: Preseason food announcements

At the beginning of the season, we were inundated with culinary innovations. The D-backs gave us the churro dog, the Astros the chicken-and-waffle cone and the Rangers the s'moreo. But now we can't look forward to, say, the Mariners' introduction of a salmon sandwich wrapped in a second salmon sandwich served in bowl made of fried oysters. 

What We're Looking Forward To: Just food

Well, we still have the rest of the season to eat, right?