First check the calendar for the year. It’s not 1957 or 1982, it’s 2008.

Then check it for the month. It’s still July, not September or October.

But with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs running a tight 1-2 at the top of the National League Central, its begging to look a lot like the playoffs.

Benders Restaurant & Sports Pub in West Bend has already experiencing the onset of Brewers fever, according to owner Bryan Schmidt, and the temperature is rising as the rivals come to town.

"We’re pretty much expecting big crowds," Schmidt said.

Bar business has shown devotion to the Beermakers throughout the season, he said, even during the noon lunchtime rush.

"Absolutely. I probably got 25 people in here right now and about 15 of them have Brewers shirts on, including some employees," Schmidt said.

The excitement has been seeping into other summertime obsessions, according to David "Mouse" Meidle, bartender at the West Bend Lakes Golf Club.

"We have the Brewers on whenever we can," Meidle said. "If they’re on and they come in from golfing they’ll stay and watch it."

Meidle said he wore his Brewers cap the other day, and thought offering a shuttle bus to the next Brewers-Cubs series could be a good idea.

The teams are guaranteed to meet at least twice more - once in Milwaukee and once in Chicago - in the final two weeks of the regular season, including the last three games in Milwaukee.

West Bend West baseball coach Bill Albrecht said his team is focused on its state tournament game Wednesday in Stevens Point, but some considerations were made. The Spartans will hold practice a little early Tuesday, have dinner as a team and retire to their rooms to relax, he said.

"I think we’re going to miss a lot of how much we would get into the Brewers-Cubs series because we have so much of our stuff on our minds but I think it will be a nice release for the guys," Albrecht said. "We actually planned when we’re going to have our team meal (Tuesday) night so the guys can get back to their hotel to watch the game."

Joseph Billmann of West Bend said he follows the team closely and goes to five or six games in Milwaukee each year. Billmann said the team seems to be following a management plan of developing young talent and bringing in big-time veterans when the time is right, a method that has yielded the Flordia Marlins two World Series championships (1997, 2003).

Billmann said the team was fortunate to have an owner an a front office which can broker big trades. The Brewers traded for 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia earlier this month, which the Cubs followed the next day by trading for right-handed pitcher Rich Harden.

"I think this probably the best Brewers team that has come along in a while, including last year," Billmann said. "Ultimately it gets down to pitching, and I think the Brewers and the Cubs are pretty level, at this point anyway."

And fans are mirroring the "one game at a time" attitude espoused by professional athletes such as last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun.

"I don’t think it’s a do-or-die series," Billmann said. "There’s still August or September to go. I don’t think it’s a real turning point in the season."