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2008 Baseball Article Archive
(Jan - Current)
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Return to Doc's 2008 Article Archive home page
Previous Archive 2007 Baseball Archives
Below is a listing of articles appearing on Doc’s site sorted by date.
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MLB Trendspotting
by Josh Nagel - 05/15/2008
I'm here to make this early-season MLB betting resolution: I'm officially done betting against the Tampa Bay Rays. Not that I have the money to fire against them even if I wanted to; my wallet already is empty as a result of this unfortunate habit. What a devil of a team they have been thus far, especially if you had your cash on the opposition.
Read more about MLB Trendspotting.
Making Money Off MLB Streaks
by T.O. Whenham - 05/14/2008
Baseball is a game of long winning streaks. It only makes sense because teams play so many games each year. As I write this Tampa Bay has the longest active winning streak, and Florida just ended one that was quite a bit longer. (I had to read that sentence over several times because it seemed so bizarre, but I assure you that it's true) As a bettor it can be very difficult to figure out how to handle streaks. Optimists would believe that a streak is bound to continue and would look to continue to cash in on it until it ends.
Read more about MLB Streaks.
MLB Run Line Betting
by Matt Foust - 05/14/2008
We're almost a month and a half into the baseball season and now is a good time to examine MLB run line betting. In order to do that it might be best to explain exactly what that is for those of you who are not familiar with the idea.
Read more about MLB Run Line Betting.
Marlins Making Massive Profits for Backers
by T.O. Whenham - 05/14/2008
Here are two things that I never thought I would be writing this season - The Florida Marlins have the second best record in the league, and they have been the most profitable team in the league for bettors. On the profit front it isn't even close - they have made three units more than any other team on flat bets (the fact that the Rays are second is another thing that makes no sense at all). This was not a team that people were excited about in any way. They lost 91 games last year, and that was with Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in the lineup.
Read more about Florida Marlins.
10 Overrated MLB Pitchers
by Robert Ferringo - 05/09/2008
Every baseball season is different. Every baseball season is exactly the same. It's part of the allure of our former National Pastime. It's like comfort food. And one of my favorite annual rituals is watching what can best be described as the Woodification of baseball pitchers.
Read more about Overrated MLB Pitchers.
10 Underrated MLB Pitchers
by Robert Ferringo - 05/09/2008
They just made is so easy. Zach Grienke? Bet against the Royals. Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine? Bet huge against the Devil Rays. Aaron Cook? Automatic play against. This crop of awful arms was at the foundation of my record-breaking 2007 Major League Baseball season.
Read more about Underrated MLB Pitchers.
Bullpens One of Most Important Factors in MLB Handicapping
by T.O. Whenham - 05/08/2008
Everyone who handicaps baseball pays close attention to the starting pitchers. That only makes sense. Far fewer people pay more than passing attention to the bullpens. That makes far less sense. Starters typically are only good for about six innings, so the game is going to be in the hands of the bullpen when the game is on the line. I'm not going to go to the effort of proving this, but I would guess that the bullpen is responsible for more than a third of outcomes even if they are typically only in a third of each game, on average.
Read more about MLB Bullpens.
MLB Handicapping: Struggling Aces
by T.O. Whenham - 05/07/2008
When it comes to handicapping baseball, nothing can be as helpful, or as costly, as an ace. Even if you haven't been paying a lot of attention to a team you know who their ace is. That means that you know, or at least should know, what kind of effort can be expected from the pitcher. An ace is supposed to come out every game and give a decent effort. If an ace is matched up against a fourth or fifth starter than the team is in good shape. Or at least it should be. As is the case every year, some teams have an ace that isn't looking very ace-like. The season is only a month old, but some guys already aren't doing what is expected from them.
Read more about Struggling Aces.
2008 World Series Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 05/06/2008
We're only a month or so into the baseball season, and summer isn't even here yet, but that doesn't mean that we can't start looking towards October. Everyone makes World Series predictions before the season starts, so it only makes sense that you would revisit those predictions once you have seen 20 percent of the season. Things can change, even in a month - Detroit sure doesn't look like the lock out of the AL that they used to. Since the Tigers were certainly on my list, I'll pretend my last World Series predictions never happened and start over again now.
Read more about 2008 World Series Predictions.
Betting Baseball Alternate Run Lines
by T.O. Whenham - 05/02/2008
As summer starts to seem like more of a possibility more people are looking towards betting on baseball. Though most people use the money line to make their bets, the run line, and its cousin the alternate run line, are viable alternatives in a number of situations. The run line is a bet that assigns a spread of 1.5 runs to the game and then adjusts the odds accordingly. That means that the favorite has to win the game by at least two runs for a bet on them to pay off, whereas the underdog can lose by a run and still allow their bettors to cash in. The alternate run lines are just the opposite - the spread is still 1.5 points, but the underdog is now favored according to the spread and vice versa.
Read more about Betting Baseball Alternate Run Lines.
MLB Handicapping: Righties and Lefties
by T.O. Whenham - 04/24/2008
For baseball handicappers there are so many things to consider when capping a game that it's really easy to overlook a small but crucial detail and make a costly mistake. One of the areas that this can come up is with batting. People will often look at how a team is batting, and they will obviously look at the pitcher who is pitching, but they often don't break down the team batting to look at how the team performs as a whole against right-handed pitchers versus left-handers.
Read more about Righties vs. Lefties.
Tigers Could Be Great Value Pick In Coming Weeks
by T.O. Whenham - 04/09/2008
It was only a week ago that the Detroit Tigers were opening the season as heavy favorites in the minds of many, but it's already like that was just a dream. The new-look Tigers with their fancy rotation and stable full of massive bats is playing much more like we would have expected from the team a decade ago than like a real contender. You can't judge anything from the first week of a long, drawn out season, but this week has been as bad as it could possibly be. They have played seven games, and they have lost them all. The only game they lost by one run was the first one. Since then things have gotten worse - they have lost their last two games by a combined score of 18-2. The team that was supposed to give pitchers fits is scoring just a hair over two runs per game, and their staff is giving up closer to 6.5 a game.
Read more about Detroit Tigers.
Baseball Betting Systems
by Doc's Sports Services
Here at Doc's Sports we have a unique grading system that is both simple to follow and an effective measure of success and failure for each particular handicapper. Over more than 35 years in the business, Doc has determined that this baseball betting system is truly the easiest and most efficient way to track and rate all of our baseball handicappers' selections.
Read more about Baseball Betting Systems.
MLB Season Preview: NL East
by Robert Ferringo - 03/29/2008
Here are some picks and predictions for the National League East:
Read more about NL East Preview.
MLB Season Preview: A.L. East
by Robert Ferringo - 03/28/2008
The American League East really doesn't need an introduction. Either the Yankees or the Red Sox are going to win the division, while the other will likely stave off some up-and-comer to secure the Wild Card. Then one of them will lose in the first round, while the other wins, preventing a potential Yanks-Sox ALCS and deflating the boner of ESPN and Fox executives across the country.
Read more about A.L. East Preview.
Five Value MLB Teams for 2008
by T.O. Whenham - 03/28/2008
Baseball starts with a game on Sunday and a full slate on Monday to kick of the long, glorious regular season. I know that Oakland and Boston have already played two games, but I am not counting that Japanese dalliance as anything more than a lame joke. As we stand on the brink of the season, it's time for bettors to assess what has happened since last season - free agency, trades, payers moving up or moving on, spring training - and identify which teams might treat bettors well this season. Last year there were 11 teams that were profitable if you were, for some strange reason, to have bet on every game they played last year. Here are four teams that stand a good chance in my eyes of could earn that distinction this season:
Read more about Value MLB Teams.
MLB Season Preview: A.L. Central
by Robert Ferringo - 03/26/2008
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will get all of the hype as Major League Baseball's biggest and best rivalries. But for my money, for one season, I think the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians will be staging the league's best 19-part drama.
Read more about A.L. Central Preview.
Should Baseball Have a Salary Cap?
by T.O. Whenham - 03/26/2008
It's a debate that won't go away. Should baseball have a salary cap? In a word, no. You want more than that? Fine, here are four reasons:
Read more about Should Baseball Have a Salary Cap?.
MLB Rule Changes
by T.O. Whenham - 03/26/2008
It seems like college football and the NFL make big changes to their rules every year, and those rule changes often have a big impact on the outcome of games, so it is important for bettors to keep up to avoid making mistakes. Thankfully, baseball doesn't change its rules that often, and the changes are mostly cosmetic or minor instead of significant, so it isn't as important to keep up with the changes from year to year. That hasn't always been the case, though. There have been some MLB rule changes through the years that must have really messed with the sports bettors of the time. Here are five of the MLB rule changes that, I can only imagine, must have messed with the minds of bettors at the time:
Read more about MLB Rule Changes.
MLB Season Preview: A.L. West
by Robert Ferringo - 03/25/2008
We all know that the West Coast is filled with nothing but communists and Ralph Nadar sympathizers. This is obvious. But yet another example of the total disrespect that the West has for Dominance and Order is the way that its American League division rotates and shares the crown of This Year's Surprise Money Team.
Read more about AL West Preview.
2008 MLB Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 03/18/2008
I will start this article about 2008 MLB predictions the same way that I start every article about MLB predictions: The Cubs are not going to win the World Series.
Read more about 2008 MLB Predictions.
Will the Brewers Fall Prey to the Sophomore Jinx?
by Matt Foust - 03/18/2008
Everybody in Milwaukee probably has their fingers crossed in hopes that their beloved Brewers don't fall victim to that invisible but deadly foe - the "sophomore slump". Nobody expected the Brewers to contend for the NL Central crown last year, but for much of the 2007 season they looked like the team to beat. However, the Brewers faded down the stretch and the Cubs eventually ended Milwaukee's improbable run to the playoffs. So, after a breakout year the baseball world is now wondering if the Brewers can build off last year's success or if they will fall victim to baseball's most notorious phantom. We're asking the same question, but to answer it properly we'll have to turn to more than sorcery and superstitious thinking.
Read more about Brewers Sophomore Jinx.
Yankees Always Struggle To Match Public Expectations
by Matt Foust - 03/11/2008
Boston fans can start screaming now, but everybody knows that the New York Yankees are the flagship of professional baseball. It's hard to argue with the Yankees history, both recent and past (26 World Championships, 39 AL Pennants, and a current 13-season playoff streak). However, all of the pageantry and lore of the franchise hasn't necessarily made the Yankees a great bet, especially in recent seasons. In fact, it has been much the opposite. Last year the Yankees were a negative money line bet at home, on the road, against right hand pitchers, and against lefties.
Read more about New York Yankees.
Mets Will Be a Great Fade This Season
by Robert Ferringo - 03/10/2008
As a die-hard New York Mets fan, September of 2007 should have been one of the darkest months of my life. It wasn't a choke. It wasn't a fold. It wasn't a collapse. What happened to the Mets in that Black September was something much darker, much more diabolical.
Read more about New York Mets.
Early Spring Training Betting Tips
by T.O. Whenham - 03/07/2008
March is probably my favorite month as a sports fan (or at least it is tied with a couple of others). College basketball is a big reason for that, but there is more. The NBA is finally getting interesting, hockey heads into the stretch drive, free agency creates a frenzy in the NFL. The most romantic and tradition filled part of March, though, is spring training.
Read more about Spring Training Betting.
10 Spring Training Questions
by Matt Foust - 03/05/2008
Baseball is already upon us, despite what it may look or feel like outside. Spring Training has forced its way onto winter and the Boys of Summer are already catching fungos. So go ahead, put your coats and long underwear away and try to pretend that you're sitting in your favorite stadium on opening day eating a hot dog and enjoying your favorite beverage. Or just ponder these 10 questions (in no particular order of importance) while roasting a hot dog by the fireplace.
Read more about Spring Training Questions.
MLB Season Win Totals Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 02/27/2008
Baseball season is just around the corner. Players are in camp, and the preseason starts soon. That means it is time to start thinking about the season and getting a sense on how you feel things are going to turn out. With college basketball and the NBA in full force, hockey getting interesting, and draft and college signing action in full force I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the boys of summer yet. Instead of worrying about that, though, I like to turn it into a positive. I like to look at the MLB season win totals for every team before I have studied the minutiae of teams. I have found, over the years, that the first gut instinct look at those totals usually aren't too bad, and that they provide some good insights into the coming season.
Read more about MLB Season Win Totals.
MLB Umpires and Totals Betting
by T.O. Whenham - 02/16/2008
As you get tuned up for the start of the baseball season you are probably thinking a lot about playing totals. If you're not, you should be - totals are a very profitable aspect of MLB betting. Of all the factors that go into a total - starting pitchers, likely relievers, ballpark weather, bats, fielding, etc. - the most ignored is the umpire. The connection between MLB umpires and totals betting is a strong one. The umpire in baseball, more so than a referee in any sport, has direct control over how a game turns out. How he calls the strike zone, and how tolerant he is of managers and players, has a direct impact on the outcome of the game.
Read more about MLB Umpires and Totals Betting.
World Series Futures Odds and Analysis
by T.O. Whenham - 02/12/2008
It seems almost impossible to believe, but baseball season is here again. Pitchers and catchers will start reporting to major league camps this week, and by the end of the month spring training will be going in full force in Arizona and Florida. Soon enough we'll be able to take looks at how rosters are shaping up, and see if the superstars around the league look like they are ready to play and win. Before we get there, though, we can use this time to look for value in the World Series futures odds that are available.
Read more about World Series Futures Odds.
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