Here is how the plan broke down. For 5 days at the start of August I would use the website and its point spreads to make bets on baseball games. All bets were in the amount of $5, placed on 5 games with a possible payout of $75 per day (need to win all 5 games to collect). I wanted to see how much money I could possibly make over the course of those 5 days. This is what happened...
Monday, August 4 (my picks in bold)
Oakland at Toronto (-1.5) Smith vs. Halladay Win
Cleveland at Tampa Bay (-0.5) Lee vs. Garza Loss
Houston at Chicago Cubs (-1.5) Moehler vs. Dempster Loss
Washington at Colorado (-1.5) Redding vs. Cook Loss
Baltimore at LA Angels (-1.5) Sarfate vs. Saunders Win
Results: Not a great start to the week.
The good-
1) As expected, Halladay was brilliant at home and easily handled Oakland.
2)The Angels at home are usually a pretty safe bet, and with the Orioles spot starting a middle reliever I was right to take this one as a gimme pick as well.
The bad-
1) I don't know what has gotten into Cliff Lee this year but apparently you don't bet against him. Even in Tampa against the division leading Rays. Even against Garza who was coming off of a complete game 5 hitter. Good for Lee, but his outing signalled curtains for me on this night.
2) I hate Colorado. They can make Tim Redding look like Cy Young and Nolan Ryan rolled into one. Also, living a mile above sea level is just a fact...not something that you openly brag about.
3) The Cubs game featured multiple rain delays, a tornado warning, and a game called after 8 innings. I did not factor tornadoes into my reasoning. So I think I am off the hook on this one.
Tuesday, August 5
Houston at Chicago Cubs (-1.5) Rodriguez vs. Harden Win
Cleveland at Tampa Bay (-0.5) Carmona vs. Jackson Win
San Diego at NY Mets (-1.5) Young vs. Pelfrey Loss
Baltimore at LA Angels (-1.5) Waters vs.Garland Loss
Pittsburgh at Arizona (-1.5) Duke vs. Webb Win
Results: Two days. Two whiffs.
The good-
1) Rich Harden in a Cubs jersey has been pretty special so far. On this day he actually got hit and had to get bailed out by the offense late. But it did the trick.
2) Tampa hits 3 hrs in the 7th to seal the win. Where was that power last night?
3) Brandon Webb is going to win the NL Cy Young award so I thought he was going to do the trick at home. The offense didn't help much, but still a 3-1 win.
The badder-
1) The Mets win, but not by 2. This is the beauty of point spread. Even when your team pick wins, you still don't win. Its like when you pursue the girl of your dreams for 10 years and she finally consents to go out with you...and the dating goes well and you ask her to marry you...and she says yes...and you get married...and go on the honeymoon of your dreams...where you find out that she has a furry tail and a 2 foot high tattoo on her back of Mussolini. So in the grand scheme of things you won, but did you really?
2) The other loss of the night features the Angels losing at home to the Orioles, who bring up Chris Waters from triple A to pitch his first MLB game in LA. Against the AL best Angels. Oh and he wasn't even supposed to be the call-up. The guy they were going to bring up (Hayden Penn) sprained his knee spooning a hobo or something of that nature. Sick.
Wednesday, August 6
Milwaukee (-0.5) at Cincinnati Suppan vs. Bailey Win
Cleveland at Tampa Bay (-1.5) Sowers vs. Kazmir Win
Oakland at Toronto (-0.5) Gonzalez vs. Marcum Win
Baltimore at LA Angels (-1.5) Olson vs. Santana Win
Pittsburgh at Arizona (-1.5) Karstens vs. Johnson Loss
Results: Close, but shot by a sniper a few yards from the finish line.
The good-
1) Homer Bailey sucks. Touted as the next big pitching prospect in MLB, Bailey had an era over 6 coming into this game. The Brewers can hit. This was an easy pick.
2) Kazmir is the ace of the Rays. But he struggles and is chased. No big deal though as the Rays score 6 in the ninth inning to win 10-7. Sometimes you need to be lucky.
3) Thought right on Marcum handling the A's as well.
4) There are the Orioles I know and love again. 9-4 losers.
The $%@*&# disheartening-
1) Jeff Karstens comes over in a trade to the Pirates...and pitches a 2 hit shutout in Arizona opposing Randy Johnson. Johnson had not given up a run in 24 innings. Final score: 2-0. What? The fact that Karstens looks like a 13 year old boy doesn't help matters any. Ruined the night and my fictional $75 payout.
Thursday, August 7
NY Yankees at Texas (+1.5) Mussina vs. Feldman Loss
San Diego at NY Mets (-1.5) Banks vs. Santana Win
Oakland at Toronto (-0.5) Duchscherer vs. Burnett Win
Los Angeles at St Louis (-0.5) Kershaw vs. Lohse Loss
Tampa Bay at Seattle (-0.5) Sonnanstine vs. Hernandez Win
Results: Mixed bag of steaming garbage again.
The good-
1) Johan Santana at home against the Padres should always be worth a look. This one needed a David Wright walkoff to seal it though.
2) Come from behind win for the Jays as well.
3) And yes my third win of the night was also on a Raul Ibanez walk off in Seattle. Its all about the result, not how you get it.
The tiresome-
1) The mighty Rangers don't score a run and all of the sudden Mike Mussina is good again. A month ago this was harder to hit than Mike Mussina:
2) The Cardinals just sucked and got blown out and by this time I felt they deserved it.
Friday, August 8
Washington at Milwaukee (-1.5) Balester vs. Sabathia Win
Oakland at Detroit (-1.5) Braden vs. Rogers Loss
San Diego at Colorado (+0.5) Peavy vs. Rusch Win
Minnesota at Kansas City (+0.5) Slowey vs. Davies Loss
Tampa Bay at Seattle (+1.5) Shields vs. Silva Loss
Results: And the week comes to a miserable end.
The good-
1) Sabathia CG shutout again...and...aah who cares?
The bad-
1) More choking and gagging by pitchers, batters, catchers, managers, bat boys, parking lot attendants, cab drivers etc. A stream of crap leading to and fro the stadium.
So I played 5 days. I bet a total of $25. I won nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment