Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays gun for their third consecutive three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles as the teams wrap up their series today at Camden Yards.
On Saturday, Jose Bautista hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning, lifting the Blue Jays over the Orioles, 3-2, in the second test of a three-game set at Camden Yards.
Fred Lewis hit a solo homer for the Blue Jays, who won 4-2 in the opener of this series and have taken all eight matchups with Baltimore this season.
Brandon Morrow (6-6) went seven innings in the start, allowing two runs on five hits. He also fanned eight batters and walked two to improve to 1-5 in 10 starts on the road this year. Shawn Camp recorded his first save of the season.
Cesar Izturis knocked in two runs for the Orioles, who have dropped two in a row since a four-game winning streak.
Jeremy Guthrie gave up one run on seven hits in a 6 2/3-inning start. He also struck out six and walked one. Jason Berken (2-2) worked two frames of relief and allowed Bautista's homer to take the loss.
Brian Matusz will get the start today and he is in charge of helping Baltimore avoid being swept at home. The rookie left-hander, who is receiving some of the lowest run support in the AL at 3.4, made it only three innings in his last start on July 9th. In that game, he gave up four earned runs and six hits in the team's eventual 7-6 win over Texas.
In his lone career start against Toronto, Matusz was tagged for five runs in just 2 2/3 innings of a 7-3 loss last August. He gave up a career-high three home runs in the bout.
Countering for the Blue Jays is Shaun Marcum, who is expected to be activated from the disabled list prior to the contest. Marcum has some inflammation in his surgically repaired right elbow and that caused him to miss his last start.
The right-hander last pitched on July 1st, when he gave up six runs - five earned - in four innings of a 6-1 loss to Cleveland.
Marcum has made 12 lifetime appearances - 10 starts - versus the Orioles, going 2-2 with a 5.08 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts versus them this season.
<< Boston's Lester takes mound vs. Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester goes for his seventh straight home win today, as
he leads the Boston Red Sox into the finale of a four-game series with the
Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.
Lester, who tossed a perfect inning in the All-Star
<< A's, Royals close out set in KC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics shoot for their first five-game
winning streak of the 2010 campaign, as they close up a three-game series with
the Kansas City Royals today at Kauffman Stadium.
On Saturday, Adam Rosales drove
<< Twins seek another victory over White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will try to make things even tighter in
the AL Central, as they wrap up a four-game set with the division-leading
Chicago White Sox today at Target Field.
After losing the opener of this series,
<< Angels vie to continue mastery of Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim set their sights on a
ninth straight victory over the Seattle Mariners as the two ballclubs wrap up
a four-game set today at Angel Stadium.
On Saturday, Juan Rivera went 3-for-4 an
Almagro denies Soderling in Sweden >>
Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Nicolas Almagro denied Robin
Soderling a second straight title in his native country with a three-set win
in Sunday's final of the Swedish Open.
Almagro earned a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory ove
Oosthuizen four ahead at the turn >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South African Louis Oosthuizen rolled
in an eagle putt on the ninth hole Sunday to take a four-stroke lead to the
back nine in the final round of the British Open Championship.
Oosthuizen, who is
Marlins designate Lamb, recall OF Petersen >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins designated veteran infielder
Mike Lamb for assignment on Sunday.
The team will have 10 days to trade, waive or release Lamb. If he clears
waivers, he can be outrighted to the minor leag
Indians recall Gomez to make ML debut on Sunday >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians recalled pitcher
Jeanmar Gomez from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday to make his major league debut
in a spot start against the Detroit Tigers.
Gomez, who pitched a perfect game l
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting