Down the stretch they come…
 
Two months are left in the season, and many baseball fans and media are claiming this is one of the best seasons in recent memory. Here is what the Cheap Seats believes will unfold in the final two months:
 
Yankees and Cardinals take it easy
Their divisions are already wrapped up, so the Red Birds and Bombers need to take the last two months of the season to figure out their pitching rotations and get healthy. Will Randy Johnson join one of them? The deadline was yesterday.
 
Twins, Sox, and Tribe go to the wire
Who would have thought that the Cleveland Indians would be in the middle of the division race? The re-building process is still in full swing, but these guys are gaining confidence. Neither the Sox nor Twinkies will find a way to pull away, leaving the Tribe a return to the playoffs.
 
Rangers slug there way in
The Rangers of old are back. Gone are Juan Gonzalez, Pudge Rodriguez and Rafael Palmerio. In are Alfonso Soriano, Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira. They followed the simple formula that if you trade Alex Rodriguez, your pitching improves and you go to the playoffs, right Seattle?
 
Sox, A’s, Halos do battle
The AL Wildcard is up for grabs. Boston, Oakland and Anaheim are the prime candidates, and should go down the stretch in a tight race, but..
 
Another 12 game win streak puts the Rays in contention
The Devil Rays stun the world of major league baseball and sneak into the Wild Card race and win it! Multi-gazillionaires in Boston and Anaheim collectively drink the red Kool-Aid.
 
NL East is the race to watch
This will be the most exciting race of them all, but really, no one will care. The over-hyped Phillies will find a way to blow it in the end. The Mets will realize that they shouldn’t be this close as Mike Piazza leaves the team to shoot "Teen Wolf 3." Defending champ Marlins will lose the last game of the season to Philadelphia thus letting the Braves, written off for dead early in the season will emerge from the ashes of the NL East for the 58th consecutive year.
 
Who are the Padres?
They have played great ball all season long, and are not ready to ride off. Allowing the Giants to shoot themselves in the foot, San Diego jumps on a late season hitting slump by the Dodgers to claim the NL west.
 
NL Wild-ness
Don’t count out the Dodgers just yet for the post-season. Their strong pitching staff will find a way to compete with the Cubbies, and move past the Giants, Reds, Astros, and Brewers. My heart tells me that the Cubs find a way to win it, though my wallet would lay claim to the Dodgers .
 
So what?
I will stick with my Yankees over Cubs World Series prediction from the beginning of the season, though it will be hard to ignore the game’s best player, Albert Pujols and the Cardinals. How much would the world enjoy a Devil Rays-Padres World Series?

The Weiner Watch:
We are hungry in the Cheap Seats, so why not add a sub-column for the official food of the Cheap Seats….
 
A great time in the world of wieners is at Cooper Stadium, home of our beloved Columbus Clippers. On two evenings during the season, one can buy a whole hot dog for the great price of 10 cents. What a deal! You may have to miss half of the game waiting in line, and usually the hot dogs are not fully cooked, but what a bargain.

The best bet is to head over to the Coop and try a doggie on a non-promo night. Clipper dogs are great when cooked. Plump and juicy. Usually the bun is soft and they just melt in your mouth. Yummy minor league ballpark doggies!

~~~~~

Cousy is bonafide "sports enthusiast," as one may learn by reading his work. His affection for hot dogs is merely a happy coincidence.