thesportsfag | my gay sports blog

Preseason odds to win the 2010 World Series via Bodog

American League East
New York Yankees 11/4
Boston Red Sox 11/2
Tampa Bay Rays 27/1
Toronto Blue Jays 100/1
Baltimore Orioles 100/1

American League Central
Minnesota Twins 25/1
Detroit Tigers 27/1
Chicago White Sox 30/1
Cleveland Indians 60/1
Kansas City Royals 75/1

American League West
Los Angeles Angels 14/1
Seattle Mariners 18/1
Texas Rangers 20/1
Oakland Athletics 70/1

National League East
Philadelphia Phillies 11/2
New York Mets 15/1
Atlanta Braves 18/1
Florida Marlins 25/1
Washington Nationals 125/1

National League Central
St. Louis Cardinals 13/1
Chicago Cubs 18/1
Milwaukee Brewers 40/1
Cincinnati Reds 45/1
Houston Astros 75/1
Pittsburgh Pirates 125/1

National League West
Los Angeles Dodgers 12/1
San Francisco Giants 16/1
Colorado Rockies 18/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 50/1
San Diego Padres 75/1

After further review not even replay can save humans from making mistakes so I think it’s time we end our aversion to technology and embed pucks, footballs and baseballs with Radio Frequency Id’s (RFIDs).

This way, in football, we can eliminate an umpire’s judgement as to where the ball should be marked and save some money on payroll by eliminating the two guys who hold the chains on the sidelines and measure for first downs. This technology is already used in tennis and it surely would’ve corrected this mistake from the Penguins game the other night.

Foul ball mishaps, like what happened twice in last year’s baseball playoffs, would be eliminated as well.

The National League champion Philadelphia Phillies are swapping aces in a three team deal that would land Cliff Lee in Seattle and Roy Halladay in the city of brotherly love.

The Blue Jays would receive Phillies outfielder Michael Taylor, catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud and pitcher Kyle Drabek. The Mariners would get Cliff Lee which is great for the short term but it appears that the Mariners are giving up their two highest rated pitching prospects to Philly as well.

Phillies outlook
Cole Hamles, Roy Halladay, JA Happ, Jamie Moyer and Pedro Martinez make for a solid rotation which will surely take a lot of pressure off a bullpen which struggled to close out games in 2009. Anyone wanna bet against these guys next year?

Mariners outlook
The M’s wanted John Lackey but getting Cliff Lee who performed well down the stretch to pair up with Felix Hernandez is a pretty damn good consolation prize. With John Lackey’s move from the Angels to Boston and Chone Figgins defection from the Angels to Seattle, the AL West just got a lot more competitive.

Blue Jays outlook
A team that was really strong two years ago is in the midst of a major rebuilding program.

Something extremely rare will happen today. Before today, only 8 times in the 100+ year history of MLB has there been a need to play a tiebreaker game to determine a slot in baseball’s post season. The winner of this afternoon’s game between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins will win the AL Central title and will move on to face the Yankees in the ALDS.

As far as the hotness factor is concerned there’s a big difference in the makeup of these two teams. Detroit’s hotties are more of the cute, young and slender variety. While the Twins are manly, beefy and brawny. Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Detroit’s starting pitcher Rick Porcello are possibly the hottest two jocks in all of baseball. Coming into the game the two biggest story lines are, how will Porcello, a 20-year-old rookie, handle the pressure of pitching in the game of his life and will 6-5 225 lb catcher Joe Mauer extend his MVP season.

The game takes place this afternoon @ 5 EST/4 CST on TBS.

Tiger Hotties

Ryan Raburn is my pick to click for the Tigers. If he gets to Baker early he could be the difference maker for Detroit. All hands are on deck but don’t expect to see Verlander in action today.

Twins Hotties

Morneau struggled down the stretch with only 3 hits in his last 36 at bats and hasn’t played since mid September. Span has been in and out of the lineup all year with injuries but is one of the best outfielders in the game.

Prediction

From a baseball perspective I think the Twins have the advantage. After all Minnesota forced the tie breaker by going 10-3 down the stretch while the Tigers failed to put the Twins away and closed at 7-6. The Metrodome is a shit hole for baseball but it’s one of the best home-field advantages in all of baseball.

Twins starter Scott Baker just beat the Tigers last Thursday but has had only one quality start in his past four. Tigers starter Rick Porcello had 3 straight quality starts to end the season. For this reason I believe Detroit may grab the lead early but look for the Twins to win this one late. I just got a feeling Michael Cuddyer and Joe Nathan will come up big in this game.

I also think the Twins win the hotness battle but that’s a really close call. Your thoughts?

Why do I feel a little off this year? I can’t quite put my finger on it. Usually when summer succumbs to fall and the mornings bring a chill that has been missing for too long, I can count on two things. Football is fast approaching and baseball’s division races are heating up. But something feels a little out of sync this year.

College football starts tomorrow night. And I know the NFL is close because ESPN is no longer devoting 16 hours of its programming day to Brett Favre practicing with adolescents in Mississippi. No, they’re actually showing highlights of Favre in the NFL. Sweet, I can rest easy and turn my attention to baseball again. Awesome!

Time to revisit the Yankees / Red Sox race in the East. Oh, it’s not close. Yanks up by 6.5 games. OK, what about the AL West? The Rangers were close a few weeks back. Geez, the Angels are up by 4.5 now. OMG! It’s even worse in the National League. The NL’s closest race is out West where the Dodgers lead the Rockies by 5.5 games. What happened to the white knuckle, edge of your couch excitement that is September baseball? Did the Grinch steal my division races?

The closest division race is the AL Central where the Twins are 3.5 games back of the Tigers. Well, why don’t you just take my wild card races as well Mr. Grinch. Shit! He already did in the American League. With the Rangers 3.5 back of Boston and no games left between the two that race is just about over.

The Rockies, Giants and Braves battle for the last spot in the NL is all we got. This might be the worst September baseball fans will ever see. Bring on October. It seems like the Grinch came early this year.