Hot summer nights

These are the best nights of the summer ...

And I'm not talking about sweating it out because our air-conditioner is on the fritz again ...

Heading into tonight, Barry Bonds was sitting on homerun No. 754, Alex Rodriguez was sitting on homerun No. 499, and Tom Glavine was sitting on win No. 299 ...

And thanks to the revolution of cable television and DVR technology, I've had the chance to watch all three games -- and see none of the milestones being reached ...

I caught most of the Yankess-White Sox game and got to see everyone but Alex Rodriguez hit a homerun -- talk about a slugfest -- and then flipped over to watch Glavine take a 2-1 lead on the Brewers, only to have the Brewers tie the game at 2 ...

... And just now! as I'm writing this! Geoff Jenkins won it in the 13th inning with a two-run homerun to right. Imagine, I'm sitting here at the kitchen table and I looked up at the TV just in time to see Jenkins swing the bat. Seeing he caked it and there was no doubt about where it was heading, I shot up from my seat and walked into the living room with my hands raised, joining Kates in celebration as the ball fell into the left field bleachers ... What a game!

Oh yeah, and in between innings of the Brewers game, I was catching parts of the Dodgers-Giants game, seeing Bonds walk twice, strike out and then get a single on a botched fly ball in the seventh inning before promptly being pulled for a pinch runner.

Sigh.

When it comes to Barry Bonds, there's not a lot more I can think of saying other than the whole situation just makes me sad. I'm not sure how I'll react when and if he breaks the record, but I'm sad for Hank Aaron and the lack of respect he's recieved over the years. For all the fans and players that have been cheated by Bonds. And for the game of baseball, that the people who should've known better let it get to this point ...

I hate talking about it as much as Bond himself ... but for different reasons.

And yet, I still watch, with a deep interest in all of it. When you factor all the pending accomplishments, along with Frank Thomas's 500th homerun earlier this season, Craig Biggio's 3,000 hit, Justin Verlander's and Mark Buerhle's no-hitters -- not to mention the excitement of the Brewers and the pennant races that are simmering -- I can't help but compare this season to that glorious '98 season when we had McGwire and Sosa (for better or worse) trading homeruns, Kerry Wood tearing up the National League, Cal Ripken breaking his streak, the Yankees winning 114 games and all the other feats of that season ...

It has all the makings to be quite a ride the rest of the way ...

So what are my predictions?

For one, I'm rooting for the Brewers to to take the NL Central. The Cubs have been there over the years, and they bought their team. The Brewers haven't tasted it since '82, they've developed their team, and they're a bunch of kids that still play the game like they did in high school ...The Cubs can have the NL Wild Card.

I'm rooting for the Dodgers, of course, in the NL west. And the Braves to get back atop the NL East.

In the American League, I'll take the Angels in the West, the Tigers in the Central and the Red Sox in the East. If you know me, you're not seeing any surprises there either. Give the Indians the AL Wild Card.

How about a Tigers-Brewers Great Lakes series?