Sports Betting Tips and Game Handicapping Picks » World Baseball Classic

Betting on the 2009 MLB All-Star Game

Jeffdstuff — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:04:22 +0000

The Midsummer Classic is here.

That’s right, the 2009 MLB All-Star Game is set this Tuesday as the players fans voted in to play will hope they can make an even bigger name for themselves and increase their dollars.

So who made the cut? Let’s start with the 2009 MLB National League All-Star starters. The NL team consists of catcher Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, and top vote-getter Albert Pujols at first base.

And since Pujols was the leading vote-getter in balloting for the Midsummer Classic, he became the very first Cardinal to start an All-Star game in his home ballpark. ‘’It feels great to be there and represent the organization and the city you play in,'’ Albert Pujols said.

Albert Pujols is well on his way to another amazing year, leading the majors with 31 homers and 82 RBIs. He collected 5,397,374 votes to finish with the second-highest total in Major League history, trailing only Ken Griffey Jr.’s six million votes in 1994. Pujols has made the NL team eight times in nine seasons and will be making his sixth start.

The rest of the National League all star infield consists of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, and Mets third baseman David Wright. Manning the outfield would be Brewers Ryan Braun, Mets Carlos Beltran, and Phillie’s Raul Ibanez.

The injury-riddled Mets lead the NL with...

Home Runs kick off Midsummer Classic

Jeffdstuff — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:18:24 +0000

Albert Pujols kicks off the Midsummer Classic in front of his hometown fans in St. Louis.

THAT is the kind of pressure top vote-getter Albert Pujols is in coming to the 2009 MLB All-Star festivities in St. Louis. Imagine this, he was just voted in by baseball fans the most, getting majority of the votes to play in the All-Star game. But before he can get to play the actual game, he has the 2009 MLB Home Run Derby to worry about first. And did I mention he has the entire town of St. Louis watching his every move?

There is no doubt that Albert Pujols will go for broke once the Midsummer Classic gets to St. Louis. The top vote-getter for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game will compete in his third Home Run Derby and while the last two were already great, this one should be more special since this will be the first time Pujols will perform in front of the Cardinals fans in Missouri.

There’s this one problem though.

In the 23 previous Home Run Derby contests, only one hometown favorite has hoisted a trophy at the end of the night. That was Ryne Sandberg back in 1990. But if there’s one guy who can win the Derby for his hometown, it’s Albert Pujols.

Other guys who’ll be competing against Pujols include Prince Fielder. Fielder is the first second generation player to be a Home Run Derby contestant. His father, Cecil Fielder competed back in the early 90s. He never won, which gives estranged son Prince some motivation to show up his dad.

Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres is also in. The guy is quietly having an awesome season for the floundering Padres, looking like a young Sammy Sosa for at least the first half of the season. Don’t let those 24 home runs fool you though, Gonzalez plays in the spacious Petco Park, where he’s only cranked out 8 Home Runs at clip of 18.1 AB/HR. On the road, he’s a Pujolsesque 8.5 AB/HR with 16 Homers.

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies is...

2008 MLB All-Star Break is Set

Jeffdstuff — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:16:57 +0000

The stage is set for MLB baseball’s midsummer classic.

The 2008 MLB baseball season will be featuring their midseason All-Star break to showcase some of the best baseball players we have in the world today.

The 2008 MLB All-Star Weekend is always scheduled right in the middle of the baseball season to give back to the sports' fans supporting the sport since day one.

So who got the invite?

The 2008 MLB All-Stars were named last Sunday and it was no surprise that four of the defending champions Boston Red Sox were selected for the American League All-Stars led by team captain Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez will be joined by Red Sox teammates David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. However, as great as it would be seeing ‘Big Papi’ in action, Ortiz will be forced to miss the All-Star game with an injured wrist.

Red Sox rivals, the New York Yankees, also have their own stars selected to represent the American League. Yankees team captain Derek Jeter leads the Yankee All-Stars.

Joining Jeter in the American League All-Star team is slugger Alex Rodriguez and probably the best closer in baseball, Mariano Rivera.

For the National League All-Star team; Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome and Geovany Soto will look to represent the Chicago Cubs proudly. They will be joined by Cubs teammates Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster, Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano.

Also starting for the National League team...

How good will the National League be in the 2008 MLB Season?

Jeffdstuff — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:33:50 +0000

The National League has always played second fiddle to the stronger American League.

That’s the way things have been the last couple of years, and in this 2008 MLB baseball season, nothing has changed. Why? Probably has something to do with the way this team from the AL East defeated the National League’s representative during last season’s World Series.

In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies lead the East, the Chicago Cubs lead the Central and the Arizona Diamondbacks lead the West. And although they may be regarded as the ‘’weaker conference'’ in baseball, don’t expect that to stop them from proving why people should start thinking otherwise.

The Philadelphia Phillies lead the Eastern division with a 41-29 record, also having the best road record in the National conference with 20-16. Against the St. Louis Cardinals, we all saw how impressive this Phillies team can be after the Phillies won with a whopping 20-2 blast. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and the Phillies added nine runs in the fourth to win the opener of a three-game series Friday at Busch Stadium.

In the Central, division leader Chicago Cubs got a slight bump to end their four game winning streak with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite that setback, the Cubs are still holding a record of 44-25 win-loss mark, still enough to hold the top spot of the group.

Lastly, the Arizona Diamondbacks won their third consecutive extra-inning game, earning a franchise record with a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals to further solidify their spot in the NL West. Chad Tracy hit his first career walk-of home run. His homer was his third of the season and made a winner of reliever...

MLB Star Roger Clemens accused of using Steroids

Jeffdstuff — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:54:24 +0000

Roger Clemens, the latest MLB player to be hit by steroids allegations.

With still more than a few months away from the 2008 MLB baseball season, we already have the latest controversy engineered by the use of steroids in professional baseball.

And the latest of which are these guys, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. In case you didn’t know, both Clemens and Pettitte are the best of friends, both moving together from the New York Yankees to the Houston Astros and then back to NYC. After this steroids issue, the friendship Clemens and Pettite have is falling apart..

You see, accusations of steroids use came in between Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Pettitte admitted that he did use the forbidden drug. Clemens, on the other hand, denied it. That’s when things got a little testy between the two MLB pitchers.

Roger Clemens claims that Pettitte ‘’misremembers'’ two conversations that they had about steroids. Clemens testified that in those conversations with Andy Pettitte, he was talking about his wife’s use of H.G.H. one time and on another occasion was referring to something he saw on a television show.

Clemens sought to rebut Pettitte’s sworn and damaging statements to the committee that Clemens told him point blank that he had used...

Should we be proud of Barry Bonds’ 756 homeruns?

Jeffdstuff — Sun, 20 May 2007 07:07:30 +0000

If you caught Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home run, would you keep it or would you throw it away? Some people are saying that if they catch Bonds’ 756th home run ball, they’d throw it back. They think that by throwing the 756 Bonds ball back, it’ll be in protest to everything MLB Baseball allowed [...]

New pitching rules will speed up MLB games

Jeffdstuff — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 06:24:30 +0000

Think you had a bad day on Friday? At least you’re not Kenny Rogers. Unless you are. Major League Baseball has updated the rulebook for the first time since 1996. The most substantial changes target slow-working, resourceful moundsmen like the Tigers’ 42-year-old lefty. Starting this season, any pitcher caught scuffing the ball is immediately ejected [...]

With Dice-K, Red Sox bullpen to dominate MLB season and another World Series win?

Jeffdstuff — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 02:55:30 +0000

Daisuke Matsuzaka arrived in Fort Meyers, Fla. a few days early for his first spring training with the Boston Red Sox. There is plenty of time to speculate on just how well Matsuzaka can be expected to perform. For now, let’s ponder the Boston starting rotation: Dice-K, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon, Tim Wakefield. [...]

Red Sox, Yankees take storied rivalry to Asia

Jeffdstuff — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:08:36 +0000

After shelling out a combined $77.1 million (9.3 billion yen) for the rights to simply negotiate with two Japanese pitchers this offseason, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have brought their heated rivalry to Asia. Daisuke Matsuzaka signed a US$52 million, six-year contract with the Red Sox in December after they bid US$51 [...]

Manny Ramirez stays with the Red Sox

Jeffdstuff — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:04:48 +0000

For the Boston Red Sox faithful, at least they can now breathe a sigh of relief. Manny Ramirez, the very same guy who almost bolted out of the Boston Red Sox, has signed a deal with Boston, letting the Red Sox upgrade their offense. Now, if signing J.D. Drew was made to replace Ramirez, something [...]