2008 Baseball Article Archive
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Below is a listing of articles appearing on Doc’s site sorted by date.
College Basketball Betting: Weekly Cheat Sheet
by Trevor Whenham - 12/12/2008
A quick hit look at college basketball news and notes from the week that should interest sports bettors:
Read more about College Basketball Betting.
MLB Playoff Betting Tips
by Trevor Whenham - 10/01/2008
It's playoff time in baseball. The run to the World Series is one of sports' greatest months, and it can be very attractive for bettors. Even bettors who don't spend much time during the regular season wagering on baseball can find themselves throwing chinks of their payroll at it in October. If you are one of those fair weather baseball bettors, then there are a few tips you can follow to maximize your chances of making a few bucks. Here are five tips to keep your betting on track:
Read more about MLB Playoffs Betting Tips.
MLB Playoff Traps to Avoid
by Trevor Whenham - 10/01/2008
With the MLB playoffs underway it's very tempting for bettors to throw some action at the bases whether you normally bet baseball or not. The baseball playoffs are brilliantly compelling, so they can be hard to resist. There's nothing wrong with that. Actually, there is a lot right with betting on playoff baseball. If you are going to, though, you want to be sure to avoid a few costly traps that can make your bankroll disappear. Here are five of those traps:
Read more about MLB Playoff Traps.
Upsets Likely in World Series Chase
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 10/01/2008
With the Chicago White Sox win over the Minnesota Twins in a postseason play-in game, the eight-team field for the Major League Baseball postseason is set. Unfortunately for the White Sox they enter the playoffs with only the seventh best record in the field. Since baseball expanded the playoffs to eight teams for the 1995 season no team with the second worst record in the playoffs has won the World Series. But in the 13 years since the expansion, two teams with the worst record in the playoffs have won the fall classic, just as many times as the team with the best record has won it. That gives you a good idea that upsets in October, may not really be upsets.
Read more about World Series Longshots.
How to Prepare For Betting MLB Playoffs
by Trevor Whenham - 09/23/2008
The baseball playoffs are just around the corner. For a lot of people, the start of the playoffs mark the first time all year that they will actually bet on baseball. As you probably know, betting on baseball is a much different undertaking than betting on football. You have to be familiar with the money line, the sports move at a much different pace, and the general feel of the games and the bets is different. To make the transition from football to baseball a successful one, then, you need to spend a little time making sure you are prepared and ready to go. The road to the World Series isn't a short one, and with just a few steps you can make sure that it isn't a costly one, either.
Read more about MLB Playoffs Betting.
Astros Fans Don't Have Reason To Gripe
by Max Powers, Doc's Sports Senior Writer - 09/15/2008
With the unfortunate events of Hurricane Ike this last weekend the city of Houston has been flipped upside down. Reliant Stadium has been severely damaged and the Texans-Ravens game was postponed and moved to Nov. 9. On a much smaller scale, the Astros series against the Cubs had to be moved to Milwaukee where they will play two of the three games. The third game will be made up on Sept. 29 back in Houston if it has any playoff implications.
Read more about Astros Change of Venue.
Yankees Rally
by Matt Severance - 08/29/2008
One of the most amazing streaks in baseball history appears likely to end this year. The New York Yankees enter the weekend 10.5 games out of first place in the AL East, closer to last than first, and six games out of a wild-card spot as they attempt to reach the postseason for a 14th-consecutive season.
Read more about Yankees Rally.
Bookies Lower WS Odds For Dodgers After Ramirez Trade
by Trevor Whenham - 08/02/2008
It's too early to make a pronouncement on the impact of the Manny Ramirez trade on the future of the Dodgers. Or at least I would have thought so. The public seems not to share that opinion. Pretty much as soon as the deal was made official yesterday the books slashed their futures prices on the Dodgers. Before the deal, Bodog has the Dodgers at 15/2 to win the National League, and 20/1 for odds to win the World Series. With the addition of the strangest guy in the league the team dropped to 13/2 for the league and 15/1 for the whole enchilada. The original prices didn't hold much value, so it's hard to argue that the new price is even remotely attractive.
Read more about Dodgers World Series Odds.
The House That Built Baseball
by Jeremy "Fasttalker" Bjornberg - 07/31/2008
Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, the aura of Yankee Stadium was always something quite foreign to me. I spent my formative years in a state where football and baseball were played at the worst stadium in pro sports, the much-embattled Metrodome. I actually banned myself from The Dome after the Vikings blew their chance for the Super Bowl in 1998. That's when I angrily decided I wasn't ever again stepping foot in that stale-beer-smelling, diaper-topped excuse for a sports venue. I have only broken the ban once, for a Yankees-Twins playoff series.
Read more about Yankee Stadium.
Braves a Fade After Teixeira Trade
by Robert Ferringo - 07/30/2008
We now have a perfect example with the Braves trading Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday for Casey Kotchman and some scrub minor league arm. Now, the Angels are likely going to see a sizeable bump in their prices following the deal. (Incredibly enough, they are HUGE dogs today to the Red Sox. This is so unusual that I can't even describe it. Normally after making a blockbuster move like acquiring Big Tex that team would be a monster chalk for at least a week or so afterwards. Just ask the 2007 Braves.)
Read more about Fade the Braves.
Rockies Ready For Another Run?
by Trevor Whenham - 07/30/2008
As I was reading up on the baseball trade deadline the other day I was caught totally off guard by something - Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd emphatically stating that his team was not going to be a seller. Up to that point we'd heard that Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday were very much in play, and other players might be available for the right price. At first I though that O'Dowd had lost his mind, driven to insanity by the ridiculously bad performance of his team through the first 100 or so games. But then a sad realization struck - despite how bad this team is, their division is even more pathetic, so they aren't out of it. A team that is 48-60 should be so far out of it that they would trade the hot dog vendor if they got the right offer.
Read more about Colorado Rockies.
MLB's Most Overpriced Aces
by Trevor Whenham - 07/29/2008
There are few things in baseball with more potential to rob a bettor of a pile of money than an ace. When a team is decent and an ace has a good reputation then bettors will blindly follow them because they think that they can't lose. It's especially ugly when the opponent isn't very good, or when their starter isn't a big name. Some starters are doing their jobs - winning games and making money for their backers. Livan Hernandez, Cliff Lee, Chien-Ming Wang and Joe Saunders are at the top of their staffs, and they are all among the 10 most profitable pitchers in the league. Other starters haven't been nearly as responsible with the money spent on them, though. Here are five well-respected aces who have been burning money at an alarming rate:
Read more about Overpriced Aces.
MLB Trades Can Also Affect Teams' Psyche
by Robert Ferringo - 07/28/2008
I wonder which would be harder to get rid of right now: tickets to a Cleveland Indians or Pittsburgh Pirates game, or a three-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom house somewhere in the wild and wacky wilderness of Western Pennsylvania?
Read more about Baseball Trades.
Handicapping Baseball's Stretch Run
by Robert Ferringo - 07/24/2008
Baseball can be a very simple game: Throw the ball, hit the ball, and catch the ball. So by that rationale betting on baseball should be just as straightforward: Bet on the good teams and bet against the bad teams.
Read more about Baseball Stretch Run.
Making Sense of the Mess in the NL West
by Trevor Whenham - 07/23/2008
If I was part of the management team for either the Dodgers or the Diamondbacks I'd be looking for a way to forget that this season ever happened. The two teams are locked in an epic struggle for the lead in the National League West, with the Diamondbacks currently a game ahead. There's just one problem - Arizona is only at .500. That would be good for no better than fourth in any of the other five divisions, but the pathetic group of National League teams on the West Coast are so bad that .500 might be overachieving by the end of the year. Not only are the top two teams mired in intense mediocrity, but they are secure in their position - Colorado is in third place, but they are seven games back.
Read more about NL West Outlook.
Which MLB Dogs Have the Biggest Bite?
by Matt Foust - 07/23/2008
Since we have been covering MLB dogs for seven weeks now, it's probably time for a little summary report to help prepare you for the second half of the season. There have been some good and bad weeks, but we've had enough time to at least see some solid trends develop. And who doesn't love some good trends when it comes to teams that return at positive odds?
Read more about MLB Underdogs.
Weekly MLB Underdog Report
by Matt Foust - 07/18/2008
The all-star break reduced our sample size this week; however, there were still plenty of games to examine. Based on the way the early part of the week shaped up, it would have been interesting to see what kind of percentages a full slate of games would have returned. Suffice it to say that we are seeing a return to normalcy since the end of Interleague Play, and that means home dogs are usually a pretty solid play.
Read more about Weekly Underdog Report.
Season Home Run Props Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 07/16/2008
There is a rare break in the constant stream of action that makes up the baseball season, so it is a natural time to take a step back and evaluate where we are at. One thing that we can do now is consider who is likely to hit the most home runs on the season, and then to see if we can make some money from that belief. Bodog has odds listed for a dizzying number of players who have a shot at being the slugging king this year.
Read more about Home Run Props.
MLB Home Clubs Winning at Record Rate
by Robert Ferringo - 07/15/2008
It's no secret that Major League Baseball teams have experienced unprecedented success at home this year. Home teams in the MLB are winning nearly 58 percent of all games played this year. If that mark stood it would be one highest clips in the last 75 years. The record for home winning percentage was set in 1931, when clubs won .582 percent of their games at home. The lat time since then that the league has topped .570 was back in 1978, when clubs took a W in .573 percent of their contests.
Read more about MLB Home Teams.
2008 Home Run Derby Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 07/14/2008
You may love the Home Run Derby or you may hate it, but there is no doubting that it is a spectacle. It is also something to bet on, and anything that you can bet on can't be all bad. The balls will be flying through the muggy air of Yankee Stadium tonight, so we better not waste any time in getting ready for the event. There are, as usual, eight guys in the field. It's a bit of an odd group in one sense, though - neither the defending champion nor the current home run leader is in the field - Vladimir Guerrero won last year, and Ryan Howard is the best at going deep so far this year, but neither is an All-Star this year.
Read more about Home Run Derby Predictions.
2008 MLB All-Star Game Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 07/14/2008
I have a saying that I generally apply to All-Star games - I am more than happy to handicap them as long as I don't have to watch them. Tuesday's Midsummer Classic at Yankee Stadium is no exception to my rule. I don't get much of a thrill from watching pitchers who are used to pitching six innings at a time trying to get through one with the least effort possible, and I prefer to see guys at least a little disappointed when they strike out. There are odds, though, and that means that this mess of an institution is worth at least a little attention.
Read more about MLB All-Star Game Predictions.
My Thoughts on the Sabathia Trade
by Trevor Whenham - 07/09/2008
By now the trade of CC Sabathia to the Brewers for three prospects and a player to be named later is old news. Heck, Sabathia has already made his first start. He pitched okay on Tuesday night, and he won, but it was only against the Rockies and he walked as many as he struck out (five), so it is too early to make a judgment based on direct evidence. If you are a committed baseball bettor, though, then I am sure you have run over this thing every which way in your mind. Now that a couple of days have passed, it's time for me to collect my thoughts about the deal from a betting perspective together.
Read more about Brewers Trade.
Sabathia Trade May Offer Fade Opportunities
by Robert Ferringo - 07/08/2008
Obviously everyone knows that C.C. Sabathia was traded from Cleveland to Milwaukee on Monday for prospects. And, obviously, this means that the Brewers are set for Total World Domination. Obviously.
Read more about Sabathia Trade.
MLB Mid-Season Awards
by Robert Ferringo - 07/04/2008
We are at the statistical mid-point for just about every team in Major League Baseball. I thought it was time to hand out some hardware. Here are my MLB Mid-Season Awards:
Read more about MLB Mid-Season Awards.
Top 10 MLB Trades That Have Worked
by Robert Ferringo - 07/04/2008
During the Major League's offseason there are hundreds of hours spent by baseball folk - that's fans, teams, agents, players, and other suits - obsessing and opining over each and every trade that is suggested, attempted or completed. The Hype Machine works overtime during the winter months as America's Ex-National Pastime desperately tries to stay relevant alongside the vicious onslaught of the National Football League. However, it seems like every year, with few exceptions, once we get elbow-deep into the actual season not many people take a look back and accurately assess how these trades worked out and who really got the better of the deal.
Read more about MLB Trades.
NL West Historically Bad in 2008
by Trevor Whenham - 07/03/2008
There have been worse divisions than the NL West over the years. I just can't think of too many off the top of my head. With a win on Monday the Diamondbacks moved to the dizzying heights of one game above .500. That would be good enough for fourth in four divisions, and third in the other. In the National League West their .506 mark is good for a 3.5-game lead. That is, in a word, pathetic.
Read more about NL West.
Detroit Will Win the AL Central
by Trevor Whenham - 07/02/2008
Try to think back to March for a second. In those days just before the baseball season began the Central Division of the American League seemed very straightforward. The Tigers had an impressive, expensive payroll without a serious hole, and the Indians had incredible pitching and solid bats. It seemed clear to almost everyone that it was a two-team race. Some liked Detroit and others liked Cleveland, but pretty much everyone liked one or the other. It hasn't quite worked out that way.
Read more about AL Central.
Twins Do Well Under the Radar
by Robert Ferringo - 06/30/2008
Minnesota was one of the three teams that I had pegged at the start of the year as one of my "Teams To Follow", meaning that I was confident that those three clubs would turn a profit and far exceed expectations on the season. I saw it. I knew. I felt the vibe of those wacky Minnesotans. So their recent run at the top spot in the American League Central really isn't the least bit surprising.
Read more about Minnesota Twins.
Angels Strong Bet on the Road
by Trevor Whenham - 06/25/2008
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim may not have the most straightforward name, and that causes confusion about where they actually play at home, but there is no doubting the team's ability to play when they leave their cozy confines of home. The team has 26 wins away from home. Only one other team, the Cardinals with 22, has more than 20. They have lost only 12 road games - four better than the second best Cards, and a ridiculous 15 better than league-worst Atlanta and Colorado. They have a better record on the road than they do at home (22-18). They are one of only four teams that can claim that, and the only one with a record better than .500. In short, it is a very good thing when they leave home.
Read more about LA Angels.
Value Could Be On Fish For Battle of Florida
by Robert Ferringo - 06/24/2008
It's tough to take Florida seriously. Jeb Bush, televangelists, and plastic lawns are just the tip of the iceberg for what is clearly our nation's most F-ed up state. So if I can't look The Sunshine State directly in the eye or give it any respect the next morning, how am I supposed to take the state's biggest regional Major League Baseball rivalry seriously?
Read more about Battle for Florida.
Be Wary of Backing These Pitchers
by Trevor Whenham - 06/24/2008
It goes without saying that the starting pitchers are a major part of the handicapping process for baseball. There are a number of ways that that can cause problems for handicappers. One of the real dangers to the bankroll is when a pitcher establishes a reputation with their play at the start of the year, but then fails to live up to that in later starts. Bettors can think that they are going to get a better performance than they are actually likely to get, and the public isn't likely to adjust to the changes, so the lines can be out of whack. Here are five pitchers who have fallen off of their early peaks:
Read more about Overvalued Pitchers.
Pitching Takes Center Stage Tonight
by Robert Ferringo - 06/23/2008
Aces abound on Monday as a light schedule in the Major Leagues still lends itself to some incredible pitching matchups. King Felix vs. The Johan. Dangerous Dan Haren against Josh Beckett. And mix in cameos by John Lackey, Jeff Francis, and Ben Sheets and you can have yourself a hell of a pitching clinic.
Read more about Monday Baseball.
Great Opportunity For MLB Chase Betting Payout
Robert Ferringo - 06/20/2008
OK, it's 4:15 a.m. and after just putting the little princess, my four-month-old daughter, back to sleep I just can't get back to bed. Why, you ask? Worried about rising energy costs or the upcoming elections? Nope. Worried about the cost of insurance, global warming and its effect on natural disasters, or our failing education system? Not so much. I'm worried about the Reds and the Astros. And here's what I've come up with:
Read more about Chase Betting Payout.
Battle for the Windy City: Cubs-White Sox Preview
Robert Ferringo - 06/19/2008
Let's see. We have several riveting series going this weekend: The Rangers-Nationals series is a can't miss. The Astros-Rays matchup is a crucial one. The Giants-Royals rivalry is one of the most underrated in the league. And let's not forget about the Orioles-Brewers or Tigers-Padres. Yup, I can feel the excitement bursting off my screen.
Read more about Cubs-White Sox Preview.
MLB Betting: How To Handicap Closers
by Trevor Whenham - 06/19/2008
There are few things as exciting as when a top closer enters a game. If it's a home game then the theme music blasts from the sound system, the crowd whips into a frenzy, and you know that there is going to be some raw power on display. It's one of the things that makes baseball the great sport it is.
Read more about Handicapping Closers.
How Injury To Yankee's Ace Will Affect Bettors
by Trevor Whenham - 06/18/2008
Chien-Ming Wang has been one of the best pitchers in the major leagues over the last few seasons (he has more wins than anyone since the start of the 2006 season), and he has been the frequent savior of his New York Yankees this year, but he's clearly not much of a runner. Playing in the American League he doesn't run the bases much, and when he did recently in Houston it ended in disaster. He hurt his leg rounding third trying to score on a Derek Jeter hit. At first it didn't seem too bad, but it turns out that he could be on crutches for six weeks and out of action for 10 or more. The cause of the woes is a partially torn tendon in his right foot.
Read more about Wang Injury.
Mets Managerial Woes
by Trevor Whenham - 06/18/2008
Teams in New York consistently remind us that being in the biggest and best city and having the most money is no guarantee of success. The Yankees are the team that people love to hate, but the Mets are usually the lovable losers. I don't know how lovable they are these days, but they certainly are losers. They have the second highest payroll in the league, they have serviceable players in every position and stars in most, they have sent their young prospects off around the league in the pursuit of current success, and yet they are currently two games below .500 70 games into the season. That's ridiculous.
Read more about Mets New Manager.
Choosing a Baseball Sports Book
by Doc's Sports
There are a number of things to look for when choosing an online baseball sportsbook that you would like to use for baseball betting. From securing 10-cent lines to making sure you get the best rollover bonus, there are several things to consider as you try to find a book that's right for you. Don't be lazy! This isn't something you should put off, like your taxes or paying your child support. This is actually important and a little work on the front end will save you a whole lot of time, money, and trouble in the long run.
Read more about Baseball Sports Book.
College World Series Futures
by Trevor Whenham - 06/12/2008
After a long and convoluted path that started with 64 teams, the top eight college baseball teams in the country are heading to Omaha starting on Saturday for the College World Series. The tournament has been held at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha since 1950. A new deal should see it stay there, albeit in a new stadium, until at least 2035. That makes the tournament rich with tradition. It also makes it a great betting opportunity.
Read more about College World Series.
AL East Totals Going Against Public Perception
by Robert Ferringo - 06/05/2008
Totals betting in the American League East is a paradigm of how Actual vs. Expected results are as different as Democrats and Republicans. The general betting public looks at these teams and thinks they know what they're all about and how to play them. But they really have no idea.
Read more about AL East Totals.
Good Pitchers on Bad Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 06/05/2008
Here's a newsflash - there are some really bad teams in the major leagues. I'm not talking about the teams like the Tigers, the Indians, or the Yankees that are redefining the word underachieve. I'm talking about teams like the Royals, Nationals, Pirates and Giants that are lousy and which don't give us a lot of reasons to believe that they won't be lousy for years to come. These cellar dwellers can eventually turn things around, as the Rays have clearly proven, but nothing happens quickly.
Read more about Value Pitchers.
Value Has Peaked For Tampa Bay Rays
by Robert Ferringo - 06/04/2008
Baseball can be a pretty simple game sometimes. Unless, of course, you were the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, circa 1998-2007. In that that decade the Devil Rays made baseball look about as easy as a threesome with a Shetland pony, Pamela Anderson, and that robot from Short Circuit. Despite the availability of steroids, corked bats, and Wade Boggs, they were an absolute disaster through the Early Years, posting an overall record of 644-972 for a winning percentage of .399.
Read more about Tampa Bay Rays.
2008 Chicago Cubs Could Have Staying Power
by Trevor Whenham - 06/04/2008
The Cubs are pretty much as hot as a team can be. They have the best record in the league - something they haven't accomplished in June since 1908. That's the same year that they last won a World Series, but that slump will be in real jeopardy of ending if they keep playing like they are.They've won nine in a row as of Tuesday, and they seem to be the best team in the league right now in every sense of the word. Here's a look at how they are doing what they are doing it, and whether they can keep it up:
Read more about Chicago Cubs.
MLB Totals Betting
by Robert Ferringo - 06/02/2008
Maybe it's the fact that the Boys of Summer are off the juice. Maybe it's the maple bats. Maybe it's the weather. Or the pitching. Maybe chicks stopped digging the long ball and now they dig the double play. I'm not certain exactly why, but there it is clear that scoring in Major League Baseball is down this year and that we've seen the end of the Steroid Era.
Read more about MLB Totals Betting.
MLB Surprises
by Matt Foust - 06/02/2008
Fans, bettors, and prognosticators frequently go into each MLB season with preconceived notions about certain teams. The finish to the previous season, off-season maneuvers, and MLB futures odds seem to be enough to make just about anyone an armchair expert. Of course, there are always surprises - anomalies that make both expert and amateur look like dolts. That's what we are going to look at, the three biggest idiot makers of the early MLB season. Leading off…
Read more about MLB Surprises.
Value Teams for the MLB Run Line
by Trevor Whenham - 05/29/2008
Most bettors still play the money line when they are betting on baseball. However, the run line is increasing in popularity every year. A quick crash course for those of you who aren't familiar with the run line - it's basically the same as the money line, except it incorporates a fixed spread. In a standard run line (there are variations, but I will only be dealing with this variety, the most common, here) the spread is 1.5 runs. That means that the favorite has to win by two or more runs in order for a bet on them t pay off.
Read more about Value MLB Run Line.
MLB Trendspotting
by Josh Nagel - 05/29/2008
It felt like a week for sweeps, as the Philadelphia Phillies pummeled the pitching-deprived Colorado Rockies in a three-game mauling with scores that resembled rec-league softball tilts. The Chicago Cubs swept the punchless Los Angeles Dodgers in a different fashion, mustering just two or three runs per game, which proved more than enough to take each contest. The San Francisco Giants are one win away from a surprising sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and ditto for the Minnesota Twins, who can wrap up a sweep with one more win over the reeling Kansas City Royals.
Read more about MLB Trendspotting.
MLB Overrated Pitchers
by Trevor Whenham - 05/28/2008
One of the hardest but most important tasks baseball handicappers face is deciding which pitchers are good value, and which one aren't worth risking your money on. The best and most obvious way to do that is by looking at statistics. Win-loss record and earned run average are the tools that most bettors rely on most heavily, but they can sometimes be misleading. Here's a look at three pitchers with fancy-looking numbers who aren't as reliably as unbeatable as their numbers indicate.
Read more about MLB Overrated Pitchers.
MLB Interleague Trends
by Matt Foust - 05/23/2008
Last weekend marked the first cycle of 2008 MLB Interleague Play, did anybody notice? Well, we did, and now that we have a little information to work with, we're going to get you ready for the next round of interleague jostling.
Read more about MLB Interleague Trends.
MLB Trendspotting
by Josh Nagel - 05/15/2008
I'm here to make this early-season MLB betting resolution: I'm officially done betting against the Tampa Bay Rays. Not that I have the money to fire against them even if I wanted to; my wallet already is empty as a result of this unfortunate habit. What a devil of a team they have been thus far, especially if you had your cash on the opposition.
Read more about MLB Trendspotting.
Making Money Off MLB Streaks
by Trevor Whenham - 05/14/2008
Baseball is a game of long winning streaks. It only makes sense because teams play so many games each year. As I write this Tampa Bay has the longest active winning streak, and Florida just ended one that was quite a bit longer. (I had to read that sentence over several times because it seemed so bizarre, but I assure you that it's true) As a bettor it can be very difficult to figure out how to handle streaks. Optimists would believe that a streak is bound to continue and would look to continue to cash in on it until it ends.
Read more about MLB Streaks.
MLB Run Line Betting
by Matt Foust - 05/14/2008
We're almost a month and a half into the baseball season and now is a good time to examine MLB run line betting. In order to do that it might be best to explain exactly what that is for those of you who are not familiar with the idea.
Read more about MLB Run Line Betting.
Marlins Making Massive Profits for Backers
by Trevor Whenham - 05/14/2008
Here are two things that I never thought I would be writing this season - The Florida Marlins have the second best record in the league, and they have been the most profitable team in the league for bettors. On the profit front it isn't even close - they have made three units more than any other team on flat bets (the fact that the Rays are second is another thing that makes no sense at all). This was not a team that people were excited about in any way. They lost 91 games last year, and that was with Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in the lineup.
Read more about Florida Marlins.
10 Overrated MLB Pitchers
by Robert Ferringo - 05/09/2008
Every baseball season is different. Every baseball season is exactly the same. It's part of the allure of our former National Pastime. It's like comfort food. And one of my favorite annual rituals is watching what can best be described as the Woodification of baseball pitchers.
Read more about Overrated MLB Pitchers.
10 Underrated MLB Pitchers
by Robert Ferringo - 05/09/2008
They just made is so easy. Zach Grienke? Bet against the Royals. Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine? Bet huge against the Devil Rays. Aaron Cook? Automatic play against. This crop of awful arms was at the foundation of my record-breaking 2007 Major League Baseball season.
Read more about Underrated MLB Pitchers.
Bullpens One of Most Important Factors in MLB Handicapping
by Trevor Whenham - 05/08/2008
Everyone who handicaps baseball pays close attention to the starting pitchers. That only makes sense. Far fewer people pay more than passing attention to the bullpens. That makes far less sense. Starters typically are only good for about six innings, so the game is going to be in the hands of the bullpen when the game is on the line. I'm not going to go to the effort of proving this, but I would guess that the bullpen is responsible for more than a third of outcomes even if they are typically only in a third of each game, on average.
Read more about MLB Bullpens.
MLB Handicapping: Struggling Aces
by Trevor Whenham - 05/07/2008
When it comes to handicapping baseball, nothing can be as helpful, or as costly, as an ace. Even if you haven't been paying a lot of attention to a team you know who their ace is. That means that you know, or at least should know, what kind of effort can be expected from the pitcher. An ace is supposed to come out every game and give a decent effort. If an ace is matched up against a fourth or fifth starter than the team is in good shape. Or at least it should be. As is the case every year, some teams have an ace that isn't looking very ace-like. The season is only a month old, but some guys already aren't doing what is expected from them.
Read more about Struggling Aces.
2008 World Series Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 05/06/2008
We're only a month or so into the baseball season, and summer isn't even here yet, but that doesn't mean that we can't start looking towards October. Everyone makes World Series predictions before the season starts, so it only makes sense that you would revisit those predictions once you have seen 20 percent of the season. Things can change, even in a month - Detroit sure doesn't look like the lock out of the AL that they used to. Since the Tigers were certainly on my list, I'll pretend my last World Series predictions never happened and start over again now.
Read more about 2008 World Series Predictions.
Betting Baseball Alternate Run Lines
by Trevor Whenham - 05/02/2008
As summer starts to seem like more of a possibility more people are looking towards betting on baseball. Though most people use the money line to make their bets, the run line, and its cousin the alternate run line, are viable alternatives in a number of situations. The run line is a bet that assigns a spread of 1.5 runs to the game and then adjusts the odds accordingly. That means that the favorite has to win the game by at least two runs for a bet on them to pay off, whereas the underdog can lose by a run and still allow their bettors to cash in. The alternate run lines are just the opposite - the spread is still 1.5 points, but the underdog is now favored according to the spread and vice versa.
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MLB Handicapping: Righties and Lefties
by Trevor Whenham - 04/24/2008
For baseball handicappers there are so many things to consider when capping a game that it's really easy to overlook a small but crucial detail and make a costly mistake. One of the areas that this can come up is with batting. People will often look at how a team is batting, and they will obviously look at the pitcher who is pitching, but they often don't break down the team batting to look at how the team performs as a whole against right-handed pitchers versus left-handers.
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Tigers Could Be Great Value Pick In Coming Weeks
by Trevor Whenham - 04/09/2008
It was only a week ago that the Detroit Tigers were opening the season as heavy favorites in the minds of many, but it's already like that was just a dream. The new-look Tigers with their fancy rotation and stable full of massive bats is playing much more like we would have expected from the team a decade ago than like a real contender. You can't judge anything from the first week of a long, drawn out season, but this week has been as bad as it could possibly be. They have played seven games, and they have lost them all. The only game they lost by one run was the first one. Since then things have gotten worse - they have lost their last two games by a combined score of 18-2. The team that was supposed to give pitchers fits is scoring just a hair over two runs per game, and their staff is giving up closer to 6.5 a game.
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Baseball Betting Systems
by Doc's Sports Services
Here at Doc's Sports we have a unique grading system that is both simple to follow and an effective measure of success and failure for each particular handicapper. Over more than 35 years in the business, Doc has determined that this baseball betting system is truly the easiest and most efficient way to track and rate all of our baseball handicappers' selections.
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MLB Season Preview: NL East
by Robert Ferringo - 03/29/2008
Here are some picks and predictions for the National League East:
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MLB Season Preview: A.L. East
by Robert Ferringo - 03/28/2008
The American League East really doesn't need an introduction. Either the Yankees or the Red Sox are going to win the division, while the other will likely stave off some up-and-comer to secure the Wild Card. Then one of them will lose in the first round, while the other wins, preventing a potential Yanks-Sox ALCS and deflating the boner of ESPN and Fox executives across the country.
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Five Value MLB Teams for 2008
by Trevor Whenham - 03/28/2008
Baseball starts with a game on Sunday and a full slate on Monday to kick of the long, glorious regular season. I know that Oakland and Boston have already played two games, but I am not counting that Japanese dalliance as anything more than a lame joke. As we stand on the brink of the season, it's time for bettors to assess what has happened since last season - free agency, trades, payers moving up or moving on, spring training - and identify which teams might treat bettors well this season. Last year there were 11 teams that were profitable if you were, for some strange reason, to have bet on every game they played last year. Here are four teams that stand a good chance in my eyes of could earn that distinction this season:
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MLB Season Preview: A.L. Central
by Robert Ferringo - 03/26/2008
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will get all of the hype as Major League Baseball's biggest and best rivalries. But for my money, for one season, I think the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians will be staging the league's best 19-part drama.
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Should Baseball Have a Salary Cap?
by Trevor Whenham - 03/26/2008
It's a debate that won't go away. Should baseball have a salary cap? In a word, no. You want more than that? Fine, here are four reasons:
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MLB Rule Changes
by Trevor Whenham - 03/26/2008
It seems like college football and the NFL make big changes to their rules every year, and those rule changes often have a big impact on the outcome of games, so it is important for bettors to keep up to avoid making mistakes. Thankfully, baseball doesn't change its rules that often, and the changes are mostly cosmetic or minor instead of significant, so it isn't as important to keep up with the changes from year to year. That hasn't always been the case, though. There have been some MLB rule changes through the years that must have really messed with the sports bettors of the time. Here are five of the MLB rule changes that, I can only imagine, must have messed with the minds of bettors at the time:
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MLB Season Preview: A.L. West
by Robert Ferringo - 03/25/2008
We all know that the West Coast is filled with nothing but communists and Ralph Nadar sympathizers. This is obvious. But yet another example of the total disrespect that the West has for Dominance and Order is the way that its American League division rotates and shares the crown of This Year's Surprise Money Team.
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2008 MLB Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 03/18/2008
I will start this article about 2008 MLB predictions the same way that I start every article about MLB predictions: The Cubs are not going to win the World Series.
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Will the Brewers Fall Prey to the Sophomore Jinx?
by Matt Foust - 03/18/2008
Everybody in Milwaukee probably has their fingers crossed in hopes that their beloved Brewers don't fall victim to that invisible but deadly foe - the "sophomore slump". Nobody expected the Brewers to contend for the NL Central crown last year, but for much of the 2007 season they looked like the team to beat. However, the Brewers faded down the stretch and the Cubs eventually ended Milwaukee's improbable run to the playoffs. So, after a breakout year the baseball world is now wondering if the Brewers can build off last year's success or if they will fall victim to baseball's most notorious phantom. We're asking the same question, but to answer it properly we'll have to turn to more than sorcery and superstitious thinking.
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Yankees Always Struggle To Match Public Expectations
by Matt Foust - 03/11/2008
Boston fans can start screaming now, but everybody knows that the New York Yankees are the flagship of professional baseball. It's hard to argue with the Yankees history, both recent and past (26 World Championships, 39 AL Pennants, and a current 13-season playoff streak). However, all of the pageantry and lore of the franchise hasn't necessarily made the Yankees a great bet, especially in recent seasons. In fact, it has been much the opposite. Last year the Yankees were a negative money line bet at home, on the road, against right hand pitchers, and against lefties.
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Mets Will Be a Great Fade This Season
by Robert Ferringo - 03/10/2008
As a die-hard New York Mets fan, September of 2007 should have been one of the darkest months of my life. It wasn't a choke. It wasn't a fold. It wasn't a collapse. What happened to the Mets in that Black September was something much darker, much more diabolical.
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Early Spring Training Betting Tips
by Trevor Whenham - 03/07/2008
March is probably my favorite month as a sports fan (or at least it is tied with a couple of others). College basketball is a big reason for that, but there is more. The NBA is finally getting interesting, hockey heads into the stretch drive, free agency creates a frenzy in the NFL. The most romantic and tradition filled part of March, though, is spring training.
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10 Spring Training Questions
by Matt Foust - 03/05/2008
Baseball is already upon us, despite what it may look or feel like outside. Spring Training has forced its way onto winter and the Boys of Summer are already catching fungos. So go ahead, put your coats and long underwear away and try to pretend that you're sitting in your favorite stadium on opening day eating a hot dog and enjoying your favorite beverage. Or just ponder these 10 questions (in no particular order of importance) while roasting a hot dog by the fireplace.
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MLB Season Win Totals Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 02/27/2008
Baseball season is just around the corner. Players are in camp, and the preseason starts soon. That means it is time to start thinking about the season and getting a sense on how you feel things are going to turn out. With college basketball and the NBA in full force, hockey getting interesting, and draft and college signing action in full force I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the boys of summer yet. Instead of worrying about that, though, I like to turn it into a positive. I like to look at the MLB season win totals for every team before I have studied the minutiae of teams. I have found, over the years, that the first gut instinct look at those totals usually aren't too bad, and that they provide some good insights into the coming season.
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MLB Umpires and Totals Betting
by Trevor Whenham - 02/16/2008
As you get tuned up for the start of the baseball season you are probably thinking a lot about playing totals. If you're not, you should be - totals are a very profitable aspect of MLB betting. Of all the factors that go into a total - starting pitchers, likely relievers, ballpark weather, bats, fielding, etc. - the most ignored is the umpire. The connection between MLB umpires and totals betting is a strong one. The umpire in baseball, more so than a referee in any sport, has direct control over how a game turns out. How he calls the strike zone, and how tolerant he is of managers and players, has a direct impact on the outcome of the game.
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World Series Futures Odds and Analysis
by Trevor Whenham - 02/12/2008
It seems almost impossible to believe, but baseball season is here again. Pitchers and catchers will start reporting to major league camps this week, and by the end of the month spring training will be going in full force in Arizona and Florida. Soon enough we'll be able to take looks at how rosters are shaping up, and see if the superstars around the league look like they are ready to play and win. Before we get there, though, we can use this time to look for value in the World Series futures odds that are available.
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