Reunions: Torre and Yanks, Halladay and Jays

Baseball Betting Lines

06/26/2010 -

The Yankees practically lined up to greet Joe Torre in Los Angeles. Roy Halladay treated his first start against the Blue Jays like any other. Justin and B.J. Upton's mom didn't know who to cheer for when her sons faced each other for the first time.

It was reunion night in major league baseball Friday.

The fun continues Saturday, too, when New York Mets ace Johan Santana goes up against his old team, the Minnesota Twins.

``That's what makes kind of the interleague thing click and makes it fun is that, you know, you get guys like Halladay pitching against the Blue Jays and Johan pitching against the Twins,'' Mets third baseman David Wright said. ``You know, it makes for interesting story lines. So, I'm excited to go see it.''

Torre and the Yankees were together - if in different dugouts - again. The manager led New York to four World Series titles in 12 years but left after the 2007 season and was hired by the Dodgers.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter stretched at the same time he talked to Torre, who then hugged manager Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Torre hugged catcher Jorge Posada and kissed him on the cheek after chatting up reliever Mariano Rivera and Yankees fan Billy Crystal.

``The thing you realize being around him so much is how he treats people. He treats everyone fairly, he doesn't treat them all the same, but he treats them fairly,'' Jeter said. ``He takes the time to get to know people.''

One player who didn't talk to Torre was Alex Rodriguez, who was portrayed unfavorably in Torre's 2009 book ``The Yankee Years.''

Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, though, leading the Yankees to a 2-1 victory.

In Philadelphia, Halladay threw seven scoreless innings in his first start against his former team in a 9-0 win. He was wearing a road uniform but the series was moved from Toronto to Philly because of the G20 Summit.

``I did the best I could to take emotions out of it and go out and pitch,'' Halladay said. ``It's something you look back on down the road.''

Halladay is glad he got this start out of the way and can spend the next two days catching up with his old teammates.

Halladay won the 2003 AL Cy Young Award and went 148-76 with a 3.43 ERA in 12 seasons with the Blue Jays. The Phillies pursued him aggressively last July, but ended up getting Cliff Lee. They finally acquired Halladay last December in a blockbuster trade hours before sending Lee to Seattle.

Santana had to wait more than two seasons to face the Twins, for whom he pitched from 2000-07 and won two AL Cy Young Awards while helping the Twins capture four division titles.

He had some fun Friday, getting reacquainted with his former teammates at Citi Field. He'll be much more serious Saturday, though, when he starts for the Mets in the middle game of the interleague series against the Twins.

Edwin Jackson's no-hitter overshadowed the first meeting between the Upton brothers, Tampa Bay's B.J. and Arizona's Justin, who despite being relatively close in age had never competed with or against each other at any level before Friday.

The Uptons have about 65 relatives and friends in town for the series, and their mother, Yvonne, wore a jersey bearing the names and numbers of both above the notation: ``my sons.''

Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch joked with Justin before the game that he was tempted to post a mock lineup that didn't include the right fielder.

``I said, 'Would you have been in here (to protest)?''' Hinch said. ``And he said, `My mother would have been in here.'''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.