Camilo Doval And Pete Alonso Find Out About Being All Stars.

The first Sunday of July means two things within the context of major league teams.

The first is that often hovers around the halfway point where teams review what went wrong or what went right and how they keep the good things going or reverse course and make a run the rest of the way.

The second is the announcements of the remaining All-Stars which start trickling in around the middle of the afternoon to a select few people. Only players and media know at the time because the names are embargoed until getting officially released on an ESPN show leading into their weekly Sunday night baseball game.

Knowing means guarding the information like some kind of state secret but those who get to know find out how a player was delivered the news and it often is varied ways.

For someone who is making another appearance it can be a brief meeting with the manager which is what unfolded for Pete Alonso when he found out from Buck Showalter, who was a coach for the Yankees when they went 71-91 and had one All-Star (Scott Sanderson) in 1991.

Sorely in need of a feel good moment after constantly hitting hard outs and emotionally beating himself up after errors on consecutive days, Alonso got the good news about 10 minutes before he briefly discussed it with an upbeat tone.

It also is a nice change of pace for managers, whose conversations often involving telling players they may be demoted in the lineup, or they may be designated for assignment, optioned to the minor leagues or have a turn skipped in the rotation, or that their playing time will be reduced.

And leave it to Showalter to point it out.

“I don’t get to deliver much good news,” Showalter said about an hour after Alonso found out he was the lone player for the 38-46 Mets. “Billy [Eppler, the general manager] and I always kid. I go, ‘Hey, if there’s ever a good conversation — it’s like one out of 10 — can I be a part of those?’

“I think it’s good timing for him to be reminded of how good a player he is. We’re proud of him. He represents us well. I wish he was getting the return in the year that he’s putting into it. But I could say that about a lot of our guys.”

And the news was part of Alonso’s best day in a while. He scored three times and hit a 433-foot two-run homer and the Mets won a series for the first time in a month, doing so four days after owner Steve Cohen gave a 23-minute press conference about the disappointing state of the team.

“Super-proud,” Alonso said of his All-Star selection. “But also, as cool as it is, this game isn’t easy. It’s a really, really tough game and I’m just really happy that I’m able to perform at a high level.”

Also performing at a high level is San Francisco closer Camilo Doval, who got 92 votes among his peers to join Cincinnati’s Alexis Diaz and San Diego’s Josh Hader as the third closer elected by the players.

He is among 26 first-time All-Stars, a group that including Arizona rookie Corbin Carroll and Texas third baseman Josh Jung, who both won the fan vote.

Doval made the team after getting 24 saves to tie Cleveland’s hard-throwing Emmanuel Clase for the most in baseball. He finished with 27 saves in 30 chances last season in the first year in the role and then was named for doing things like posting a 1.89 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP while allowing opponents to hit .173 off him and throwing 133 pitches for triple-digits.

Doval found out when manager Gabe Kapler summoned him into a meeting in his office inside the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field. Kapler initially told Doval it was about trying to control the running game which would not necessarily be a far-fetched thing since he has allowed seven stolen bases in nine tries so far and the Mets 63 for 70 in stolen base tries so far.

“They played a prank on me. They told me that they were going to talk to me about the running game,” Doval said through a translator two days before turning 26. “I was like, ‘Really? But I’ve been doing good on the running game.’ After they talked for a little bit, they gave me the news of being selected to the All-Star game. I just felt like a little kid, really nervous, I didn’t know what to say.”

After Kapler’s prank and subsequent meeting, Doval was showered with his applause inside the clubhouse while those entrusted with guarding the state secret could hear the reaction from the hallway.

“It speaks to his development and how far he’s come in a very short period of time,” Kapler said. “He’s really excited. We were really excited for him. He was super gracious at receiving the information. He thanked a lot of people. You can tell how much it meant to him. It means a lot to us, too. He’s very deserving. He’s had a phenomenal year. He’s one of the premier closers in the game. I couldn’t be happier for him.”