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All-Star young guns making it Year of the PitcherBaseball Betting Lines07/13/2010 - ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Tim Hudson remembers when throwing fastballs registering in the upper 80s and low 90s was considered impressive. Now, in baseball's Year of the Pitcher, that kind of speed is almost laughable. Youngsters like Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Johnson are routinely blasting the strike zone with severe heat, reaching near 100 mph. ``I do know the caliber of arms coming up these days are better than the '90s and early 2000s,'' said Hudson, a three-time All-Star with Atlanta who made the majors 11 years ago. ``You kind of scratch your head and you wonder what's changed? Are the pitchers better or are the hitters worse? Now a 91, 92 fastball is bottom of the barrel. Guys just have better stuff nowadays.'' Indeed, pitchers dominated the first half of the season. Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden threw perfect games three weeks apart in May. Armando Galarraga came within a blown call of matching their feats. Edwin Jackson tossed a no-hitter. Rookie Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in his major league debut. Heck, even a Cubs pitcher got into the act, with Ted Lilly taking a no-no into the ninth a month ago. ``Right now the influx of young pitching in baseball is incredible, and not just guys with stuff - guys that know how to pitch in tough division series at a young age,'' said New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who will guide the American League team in Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Angel Stadium. Jimenez will start for the National League, which will try to end a 13-year drought in the Midsummer Classic. He is 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 18 starts for Colorado. NL manager Charlie Manuel figures to get Florida ace Johnson into the game, too. He is 9-3 with a 1.70 ERA - tops in the major leagues. He's also got Halladay and two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum in the bullpen. ``You're seeing some of the better arms in the history of the game,'' Hudson said. The AL counters with Tampa Bay lefty David Price, who is 12-4 with a 2.42 ERA. ``There's a lot of young guys like Josh Johnson, Lincecum, me,'' Jimenez said. ``We're learning how to pitch. Every year we get better and better.'' Those young guns were a big part of why offense was down in the first half, while shutouts and strikeouts were at their high point, making for a lot of close contests. ``If you're a true baseball fan, you embrace and you enjoy pitchers' duels,'' Hudson said. ``The 1-0 games, the 2-1 games, the well-pitched games that are played without physical errors.'' So what's led to the current arms race? Lincecum said pitchers are making improvements like never before, including throwing four types of pitches. ``Guys are just becoming perfectionists with their art,'' he said. ``That plate is our canvas and we want to hit the spots that we want to.'' Hudson believes the game's younger arms put more time into year-round preparation, whether it's working out or fine-tuning their command. ``You got guys with great stuff. You're talking about guys who are smart and guys who aren't scared,'' St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter said. Halladay, traded from the AL's Toronto Blue Jays to the NL's Philadelphia Phillies in the offseason, believes the current trend is cyclical. ``Those things can easily turn around. It always seems like things end up being even at the end of the season,'' he said. ``To be able to see guys succeeding and pitching well, it's fun as other pitchers to watch. It's definitely more fun than seeing all the runs scored every night.'' Hudson can envision offense improving as the summer goes by. ``It may sway a little bit more toward the hitter because pitchers are going to wear down once you start getting innings under your belt,'' he said.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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Betting FootballNFL Football Betting OnlineIs there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL? I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants. Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said. There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans. Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal. For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though. A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup. The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games. Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff. So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action. Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns. “I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said. Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season. “Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said. It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties. Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples. The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left. “The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits. “These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.” Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough. The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday. “Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.” Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach? “It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.” Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines. |
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