11/20/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The worst-kept secret in baseball started to leak out on Wednesday, when it was revealed that right-hander Mike Mussina was indeed going to hang up his spikes after 18 seasons.
The news certainly comes as no shock, as the Yankees have been operating under the assumption that Mussina would not be returning since the season ended. It was never about coming back this season for him, it would have been about coming back for at least three more seasons to make a run at 300 wins.
If he had returned next year and had another good year, he would have owed it to himself to go after 300. In the end, he wasn't ready for that kind of commitment.
Now the question becomes, is Mike Mussina a Hall of Famer?
He will end his career at 270-153 with an earned run average of 3.68 and 2,813 strikeouts. However, he led the league in wins just once, and finished in the top-3 of AL Cy Young voting one time.
Mussina, who turns 40 next month, also won 20 games just one time in his career - this past season - but won 19 games twice and 18 on three other occasions.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is just the fifth pitcher since 1900 to win 20 games or more in the final season of his career - and the first since Sandy Koufax in 1967.
Also, keep in mind that of the 25 pitchers to have won 270 games since 1900, only five - Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander - have a higher winning percentage than Mussina's .638.
All are either in the Hall of Fame or will be there soon enough.
Mussina also spent his entire career in the AL East, during the steroid era, and something should be said for that. But then again, he also played on teams that made the playoffs nine times in his 18-year career and only played on four clubs that finished below .500.
He's very comparable to a guy like Tom Glavine, who, of course, has won over 300 games, but played four more seasons and, like Mussina, pitched on great teams throughout his career.
Glavine, though, is a two-time Cy Young Award winner and finished in the top-3 four other times. He is a lock for the Hall, but is he that much better than Mussina, if at all?
Sure he had five seasons with at least 20 wins, but had far more mediocre campaigns than Mussina, who, if anything, was remarkably consistent throughout his 18-year career.
Actually if Glavine had retired the season before he turned 40, like Mussina is doing, he would have ended with 270 wins and probably would have found himself outside looking in his quest for the Hall.
So Glavine, like countless others, gets rewarded for hanging on just to compile some stats, and Mussina gets punished because he knew when enough was enough. Is there any doubt that Mussina would get to 300 wins if he hung around for another three or four years with the Yankees?
Granted, I don't think either one of them are Hall of Famers, but if Glavine gets in, you have to put Mussina in. By the way, should that happen and they both get in, someone owes Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris a huge apology.
Debates like this are what separates the Baseball Hall of Fame from the others. Normally, though, I work under the assumption that if it is as much of a debate as this seems to be, then he probably shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.
<< Steelers Look to Knock Out Last-Place Bengals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to remain above the fray
in the AFC North on Thursday night, when Mike Tomlin's team welcomes the
struggling Cincinnati Bengals to Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh opens Week 12 with a one-game adv
<< Trying to match season-high win streak, Wild host Canucks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will try to match their longest winning
streak of the season tonight, when they host the Vancouver Canucks in a
Northwest Division showdown at Xcel Energy Center.
Vancouver and the Wild will battle for f
<< Sens hope to end skid versus slumping Habs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will try for their first win in two
weeks when they invite the struggling Montreal Canadiens for tonight's
Northeast Division matchup at Scotiabank Place.
The Senators have lost five straight contests s
<< Thrashers, Pens both try to get back in win column
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams who recently had long winning streaks
snapped will meet tonight in Atlanta, as the Thrashers welcome the Pittsburgh
Penguins to Philips Arena.
The Penguins had won six straight before being dealt a shootout
Golf Tidbits: Why golf is a gentleman's sport >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Every sport has its rules. How often
people break them depends on the sport. How frequently people call themselves
for breaking said rules is a different story.
Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwir
Mussina hangs up spikes after first 20-win season >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees right-hander Mike Mussina, as
expected, retired on Thursday after 18 seasons in the major leagues.
Reports circulated on Wednesday that Mussina had decided to call it quits
after the fi
Phils' Utley, Feliz need surgery >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies announced
Thursday that half of its starting infield -- All- Star second baseman Chase
Utley and third baseman Pedro Feliz -- will undergo surgery.
Utley will have surg
Browns QB Quinn to play despite broken finger >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn has
a broken right index finger, but it apparently won't sideline him for Sunday's
game against Houston.
Quinn, who has started the last two games for the Browns, has
MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds
According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.
Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet. The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.
MySportsbook.com has also posted gambling odds on the conference championships for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. In the ACC – it could be anyone’s title, particularly for the two schools from the Sunshine State. Florida State and Miami, both listed at 2-1, are favored to win the ACC Championship Game odds, with the ‘Noles hoping to finish in the nation’s top 10 for the first time in five years, and the ‘Canes looking to avenge their 10-7 loss against FSU in last year’s ACC Championship betting.
Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL. In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
| Notre Dame Ohio State West Virginia Texas USC Florida California Auburn Oklahoma Iowa Louisville Florida State Michigan Miami (FL) LSU Penn State Virginia Tech Nebraska Tennessee Georgia Arizona State Oregon Clemson Texas A&M Texas Tech Alabama Arkansas Boston College Michigan State Maryland South Carolina Colorado Purdue Georgia Tech TCU UCLA Arizona Pittsburgh Iowa State Wisconsin North Carolina State Virginia North Carolina Fresno State Hawaii Northwestern BYU Oregon State UNLV Field (Any Other Team) |
5-1 7-1 8-1 8-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 18-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 25-1 40-1 40-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 70-1 70-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 150-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 250-1 250-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 400-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 1000-1 1000-1 40-1 |
| Miami (FL) Florida State Virginia Tech Clemson Georgia Tech Boston College Maryland Virginia North Carolina State North Carolina Wake Forest Duke |
2-1 2-1 3-1 7-1 15-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 500-1 |
| Texas Oklahoma Nebraska Texas Tech Colorado Iowa State Texas A&M Kansas State Missouri Kansas Baylor Oklahoma State |
7-5 9-5 9-2 12-1 14-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 35-1 100-1 100-1 |
| Auburn Florida LSU Georgia Tennessee Arkansas Alabama Mississippi South Carolina Mississippi State Kentucky Vanderbilt |
5-2 11-4 4-1 6-1 7-1 7-1 9-1 20-1 28-1 75-1 100-1 300-1 |
For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.
Is 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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