Baseball Bet Drops The Cheesesteaks, Helps The Homeless

Mayor Nutter and John Hickenlooper, mayor of Denver, have dropped the traditional baseball playoff series bet that requires the mayor of the losing town's home team to send some sort of popular local delicacy -- cheesesteaks from Philly, something made of buffalo from Denver -- to the mayor of the winning team's town. Instead, programs that help the homeless in both cities will benefit.

Nutter said he and Hickenlooper anticipated a match-up -- the National League Divisional Series between the Phillies and the Rockies starts this afternoon -- during a meeting last week of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Seattle.  The two mayors decided to try something other than the "our food is better than your food" bet, he said.

So the winning city will get $2,000 while the losing city will get $500.  In Philadelphia, the cash will go to Project H.O.M.E.  In Denver, a similar homeless outreach organization will benefit.  The money is being put up by Citizens Bank and Comcast here and First Bank in Colorado.

"We decided that we have a great opportunity here not just for some great baseball but to support a great cause," Nutter said this morning.  "This is a situation where, at least on the homelessness side, no matter what happens in the game, both of us are going to win. Obviously I'm hoping for the larger amount."