Alright! Let me hear you! A-one, a-two, a-three! Take me out to the ball game…

You know what that means. It’s baseball season. Starting this Sunday, the major leaguers gear up again and start their long, 162-game swing which will eventually tell us who will be the best team in the world.

However, with all the politicking in the game today, there is so much to follow and concentrate on besides the game itself. What will happen? Well, let’s see what this season may hold for us.

With the umpires apparently clamping down really hard this season on any bad behavior by players and managers on the field, as evidenced by this year’s spring training, it seems that they’re getting back at the players union for going soft on Baltimore second baseman Roberto Alomar for spitting in an umpire’s face back in September. With all this infighting happening, there’s only one thing left that could possibly. Yep. Fans at Camden Yards, as well as other parks in the majors, will get sick of it all and spit on the players and umps from a few feet out. All 54,000 or so fans that show up to Camden Yards could cause quite a commotion with this, to say the least.

In another ill-fated bet, newly acquired White Sox slugger Albert Belle loses another bet, this time to Bulls forward/movie star Dennis Rodman and is forced to dye his hair pink and pierce his nose. Belle reacts by actually following through on the bet and staying quiet about it for a month.

As if God Himself weren’t as crazy about it as I am, a series of storms rips through the United States and Canada, ripping off the roofs of domes and forcing the teams to (gasp!) play outdoors in the summer. This means a few more wins for the Seattle Mariners, the Minnesota Twins suck even more, and stock in Off! Insect repellent skyrockets thanks to the Houston Astros and their fans.

The Atlanta Braves and the city of Atlanta come to a compromise regarding the Olympic torch at the former Olympic Stadium and newly named Ted Turner Stadium. In a bold move, the Braves agree to ship the torch to Cleveland for a utility infielder and a landmark to be named later.

The newly renamed Anaheim Angels, going through yet another losing season, announce in July that they’re renaming the team the California Bad News Bears, sponsored by Chico’s Bail Bonds of Los Angeles and Orange County. With the new sponsor money and new look, they proceed to rip through the American League and win the pennant and a trip to the World Series.

Speaking of the World Series, this brings us to who will win the World Series this year. Our winners: the long-overdue Chicago Cubs. With some decent power hitting from Sammy Sosa and Ryne Sandberg, a good closer in Mel Rojas, and a good setup man in Turk Wendell, the Cubs will break their 90-year slumber and finally win it all. This will also mean a World Series that will finally be won in Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914 (the Cubs last won the Series in 1908).

Enough talk for now. Let’s play ball!

ROBDANIEL is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Zion, Ill.