Friday's List of 13 (+3)

outlaw420 · Posted: Jul 09 2010 04:31 pm Post subject: Friday's List of 13 (+3)

Our weekly look at NL teams........

I'm a little braindead; vacation is one day away, Vegas awaits next week, so the comments with this week's rankings will serve to clear a cluttered mind. It was certainly a very unusual Thursday, especially for July........

16) Pirates-- Check out the letter Cavaliers' owner Dan Gilbert posted on the team's website; he doesn't pull any punches. The quote up above was only the tip of the iceberg of his rant. Am guessing Miami-Cleveland tilts will all be on national TV next season, maybe even Opening Night.

15) Arizona-- Miami sent Michael Beasley to Minnesota, to clear salary cap room for Lebron; I'm sure Beasley is thrilled to be leaving Miami for the frozen north. Timberwolves get a guy with potential pretty much for free, but not really sure how much he'll help.

14) Brewers-- Giants came to Miller Park on a 2-10 skid, then outscored the Brew Crew 36-7 in four games. Its time for Ken Macha to go away.

13) Astros-- Total of 7,319 entrants in this year's World Series of Poker Main Event, so first place will be a hefty $8,944,138. Everyone who gets to the November Nine will become a millionaire. Will be fun to see all this activity in person next week.

12) Cubs-- Are umpires graded on how they call check swings from first or third base? This is like the block/charge in basketball; every umpire has his own interpretation of what is/isn't a swing. In my humble opinion, too many checkswings are called swings. I look at the hands, not the bat, but I'm thinking the rule is to look at how far the bat goes. Go figure.

11) Nationals-- Won Livan Hernandez' last eight home starts. Forgot that Reggie Jackson once made All-Star Game 13 times in 14-year span (1971-84) with only year he missed the only year he played for Orioles ('76).

10) Marlins-- Pitcher named Mike Kilkenny pitched for four teams in '72 season; both Tigers/A's traded him after he pitched one inning for both, he then pitched four innings for San Diego, got traded to Cleveland, where he threw 58 innings, then he was out of baseball the next year, at age 28. One of the strangest career lines in history. Why was he traded so much?

9) Cardinals-- St Louis media isn't happy with the Redbirds after a brutal week in Denver; blowing 9-3 lead in 9th inning Tuesday was bad enough, then they lost game Wednesday after they led 5-0. Holliday killed ball in his old home park, but they're still looking up at the Red Legs.

8) Phillies-- Am writing this while trying to decide what I thought of the whole Lebron thing. I like Lebron, he seems like a good guy, but this era seems to be one where celebrities are becoming attention junkies. Would it have been too much trouble just to send out a press release announcing he was signing with Miami? Lebron is being advised by amateurs.

7) Giants-- The hotel I'm staying at next week had a concert tonight; lot of the spectators were in the pool, listening to music. Many of them had a beverage in their hand. I'm thinking next week is going to be fun.

6) Dodgers-- One thing I'm looking for next week is umpire Miller; in last 18 games he umpired, under is 14-4. Lot of strikes, lot of batters behind in count, lot of low-scoring games. He umpired in Chicago Thursday, so he probably has first game of a series next week, which will make it harder to identify which game he has. I'll be on the case, though.

5) Mets-- 1,125 poker players started in World Series of Poker Monday, the first day of Main Event; it took nine hours to get down to 766, which is a long day of playing cards. One of many reasons I don't play poker is that I could never sit there for nine hours. Lot of people love it, though.

4) Rockies-- There is a basketball player at Erie CC in western PA named God's Gift Achiuwa; thats right, kid's first name is God's Gift. He's pretty good player too, with Kansas-Pitt-St John's-Tennessee interested.

3) Reds-- Just heard Mike Miller got $30M for five years from Miami, as the Beasley money they freed up gets used quickly. When Heat wins the NBA title, does Minnesota GM Kahn get a championship ring?

2) Padres-- Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .250 with 34 walks at home, .340 with 13 walks on the road. You'd think pitchers would challenge him lot more in the bigger ballpark, but apparently not. Mat Latos missing out on All-Star Game is another reason Bud Selig has to pick these teams, not a manager who has other agendas. Latos is a definite All-Star.

1) Braves-- Atlanta is 10-1 in Medlen starts; return of Jurrjens makes the pitching staff even stronger. Am wondering what kind of prop bets there are for All-Star Game; will have to report back to you on that next week.

outlaw420 · Posted: Jul 09 2010 04:32 pm Post subject:

Friday's six-pack

-- Paul Goydos shot 59 Thursday, the 4th-ever 59 on Pro Tour, first one ever in the first round of a tourney. He was -8 on the back nine.

-- Costs $85 to play at TPC Deere Run, where the Quad Cities Open is played; would be fun to see if you could go there and shoot 59. I know I could, but I'd have to skip the back nine.

-- Tennessee turned down chance to play USC next season in Kickoff Classic in Atlanta. Am guessing Vols want their program to be back on full upswing before they tackle Coach Kiffin's Trojans. It'll take awhile.

-- Florida Gators are only SEC hoop team with all five starters back this fall; Gators, therefore, are going to be preseason SEC favorites.

-- Looks like Jake Peavy is out for year, since there is no precedent for someone needing surgery for this type of injury. Too bad.

-- David Lee got shipped off to Golden State in sign-and-trade; not the news Knick fans wanted to hear, but they're building their team, and by the end of the process, in a year or two, they'll be pretty good, just not as good as they hoped to be.

outlaw420 · Posted: Jul 09 2010 04:32 pm Post subject:

Daily Sports Roundup: July 9

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Canadian Football League kicks off its second week of action, while the Nats get a visit from the Giants, and the Twins take on Detroit.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

The National League slate for Friday has Cincinnati at Philadelphia, Atlanta at the Mets, St. Louis at Houston, Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, San Diego at Colorado, Florida at Arizona, the Cubs at the Dodgers, and San Francisco at Washington. Matt Cain (6-7, 2.98 ERA) will go up against Stephen Strasburg (2-2, 2.45 ERA) in that last matchup. Righthander Cain had to settle for a no-decision last time out, allowing three runs over seven innings of work against the Rockies; San Francisco is 0-4 in Cain's last four starts. Righthander Strasburg will be looking for his first victory since June 13; Strasburg picked up a no-decision against the Mets last time out, giving up two runs in five innings.

Meanwhile, the American League offers up Boston at Toronto, Cleveland at Tampa Bay, Baltimore at Texas, Kansas City at the White Sox, the Angels at Oakland, the Yankees at Seattle, and Minnesota at Detroit. Fernando Liriano (6-6, 3.32 ERA) will take on Justin Verlander (10-5, 3.85 ERA) in that battle between AL Central clubs. Lefthander Liriano took a no-decision against the Rays in his last start (one run over seven innings), and he was beaten by the Tigers in his June 28 outing (six runs over six innings). Righthander Verlander is coming off back-to-back wins over the Mariners and Braves, surrendering five earned runs on 13 hits over 14 innings of work in the victories.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

Finally, the second week of the Canadian Football League season gets underway on Friday night, with Toronto at Winnipeg. The Argonauts were pounded 30-16 on the road by the Stampeders in their first game of the season last week, while the Blue Bombers are coming off a 49-29 home win over the Tiger-Cats. Oddsmakers have pegged Winnipeg as the big 11.5-point home favorite for Friday night, with the total listed at 46.5.

outlaw420 · Posted: Jul 09 2010 04:32 pm Post subject:

Bettor's best friend: Friday's wagering tips

Lines to keep an eye on

Marlins at Diamondbacks – The total for this game has dropped to 9 on most boards after opening at 9.5.

Orioles at Rangers – Texas opened as a -230 favorite but a few markets have moved that moneyline down to -215.

Alabama Vipers at Orlando Predators – The home team surfaced as 3-point favorites but that number has jumped to 6. The total in the game has also moved from an opener of 104 down to 101.5.

Weather report
(Forecasts are extracted from Weather.com the night before the game.)

Orioles at Rangers – The forecast calls for a 60-70 percent chance of rain throughout the game.

Padres at Rockies – A 30 percent chance of rain is in the forecast

Who’s hot

Houston has won four of its last five home games.

Ten of the Giants’ last 13 road games went over the total.

Winnipeg (CFL) is 4-1 ATS in its last five games versus Toronto.

Who’s not

The Brewers have lost five in a row.

Anaheim has dropped six of its last seven games and is 3-7 over a 10-game stretch.

Alabama (AFL) is 0-3 ATS in its last three games.

Key stat

47 – Number of home runs hit by MLB players on Wednesday, the over/under went 8-6-1. They say this is the year of the pitcher but hitters are starting to heat up, having blasted 42 bombs on Tuesday.

Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked

Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is day-to-day with an ailing back. He was not in New York’s lineup Wednesday or Thursday and the team may end up resting him through the All-Star break. The Yanks’ brass already informed Cano that he could not participate in the Home Run Derby. Cano is batting .337 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs.

Game of the day

Alabama Vipers at Orlando Predators

Notable quotable

“Honestly, [LeBron] would make the Timberwolves contenders. He only needs a couple players around him. Whether they mesh or not is out of my hands as an oddsmaker.

-- Director of race and sports operations at Wynn Las Vegas John Avello said of the LeBron James’ free agency saga.

Tips and notes

- With the All-Star Break just around the corner, bettors really need to start monitoring lineups before placing a wager. Overnight betting lines are precarious at this point in the season because key players can be absent from a lineup card for no reason the next day. Pitching rotations are being shuffled around and search MLB news and you will see a handful big name hitting being rested on different teams every night. With the three-day break from Monday to Wednesday coming up, managers are parlaying off days with that to maximize recuperation time for their players heading into the second half of the 2010 campaign.

- Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice and offensive coordinator Jamie Barresi vowed to open up the offensive playbook this season. The Bombers had traditionally been a run-heavy offense in the past but installed a five-receiver system going into 2010. Tailback Fred Reid said the “offense has opened up now” where he is in motion out of the backfield a lot. Winnipeg throttled Hamilton, 49-29, in Week 1 while posting 502 yards of offense and the game easily sailed over the total of 50.5. The Bombers face Toronto on Friday with a total of 46.5.

- In case you hadn’t heard, Cliff Lee is being courted by just about every contending MLB team. And with every quality outing Lee puts together, the asking price for the southpaw elevates another million. Lee is well aware that he is being scouted during every start and is pitching like he’s in a final audition for American Idol. The lefty has won four straight starts and is 7-1 over his last eight outings. He has four complete games in his last six starts. Roy Oswalt, who is also on the trading block, tossed a complete game, one-hitter so these guys are definitely doling out their best stuff to land on a contender and get paid. Lee and the Mariners are priced at -110 at home versus the Yankees Friday.

outlaw420 · Posted: Jul 09 2010 04:32 pm Post subject:

On July 9 in Baseball History...

1946 - With seven Red Sox teammates on the A.L. squad, Ted Williams stages a power show with two home runs, two singles, a walk, four runs scored, and four RBI to lead the A.L. to a 12-0 laugher over the N.L. at Fenway Park. The highlight of the All-Star Game is Williams's homer off a Rip Sewell blooper pitch.

1957 - At Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, the A.L. nips the N.L. 6-5 in the 24th All-Star Game. Both teams score three in the ninth inning, but Minnie Minoso's running catch with the bases loaded chokes off the N.L.'s last rally.

1962 - At a meeting held in conjunction with the All-Star Game, the major league players request a reduced schedule for the 1963 season. They also vote unanimously to continue playing two All-Star Games each year.

1963 - Willie Mays is held to a single, but dominates a 5-3 N.L. win in the All-Star Game. He also walks, steals twice, scores twice, bats in a pair, and makes a great catch. It is Stan Musial's 24th All-Star appearance, a record.

1965 - Senators left fielder Frank Howard ties a major-league record with seven strikeouts in Washington's twin-bill split with the Red Sox.

1968 - Appropriately for 1968, pitching dominates the All-Star Game. Willie Mays, playing in place of injured Pete Rose, tallies an unearned run in the first inning against A.L. starter Luis Tiant to complete the scoring for the day. It is the first All-Star effort to end 1-0. Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Ron Reed, and Jerry Koosman hold the A.L. to three hits.

1976 - Astros pitcher Larry Dierker no-hits the Expos 6-0 and evens his record at 8-8. Houston is fourth in the West.

1986 - Atlanta's Dale Murphy does not play in the Braves 7-3 win over the Phillies, ending his consecutive-game streak at 740. Murphy hadn't missed a game since September 1981.

1988 - Chris Speier hits for the cycle and Ernest Riles hits the 10,000th home run in Giants history to lead San Francisco to a 21-2 rout of the Cardinals. The 21 runs are a San Francisco record.

1988 - Nolan Ryan wins his 100th game as an Astro 6-3 over the Mets, becoming the seventh pitcher in Major League history to win 100 for two different clubs. Ryan won 138 games for the Angels in the 1970s.

1991 - At Toronto's SkyDome, the A.L. wins the All-Star Game 4-2 on Cal Ripken, Jr.'s three-run home run off Montreal's Dennis Martinez. The Baltimore shortstop earns MVP honors.

1996 - The N.L. blanks the AL 6-0 in the All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium. Pennsylvania native Mike Piazza is MVP in his hometown return, Cal Ripken, Jr. plays despite having his nose accidentally broken prior to the game, and the N.L. blanks the powerful A.L. bats. However, the TV ratings are the worst since Nielson began tracking the All-Star Game in 1967.

1997 - Kansas City's Bob Boone becomes the first managerial casualty of the year when he is fired during the All-Star break. The Royals, losers of eight straight games, hire Tony Muser as their new skipper and lose four more in a row before finally ending the skid.

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