How To Make $9,288.01

Back by popular demand is our How To series where we tell how to do things. Our first edition was directed to Jerry Jones, How To Fix the Cowboys, but this article is for everyone. It has come to my attention that there are places in the United States and on the web where people can wager money on the outcomes of sporting events, shock! Keeping in mind that we do not condone sports betting, unless you're in a place where it is legal and in that case have at it! With that in mind, here for you're entertainment purposes only...

HOW TO MAKE $9288.01

Bodog released their baseball futures board recently where people can bet on who will be the World Series Champs, Division Champs but here I'm taking a closer look at how many games each team will win. I think their over/under for some teams are good, but here are 20 picks that if you follow WILL WIN. Going down the board alphabetically...


Arizona Diamondbacks: o/u 79 wins -- TAKE THE OVER One of the two or three easiest picks, Bodog may be off by 10 wins in this projection. The snakes should be the front-runners to win the NL West this year with a lineup full of young studs and the most underrated rotation in baseball. Maybe the youth makes Bodog think people will either be too ignorant or too scared to bet on Zona (30/1 to win it all, 14/1 to win the NL, and their the 4th pick win the NL West 4/1) but Steven Drew, Connor Jackson, Carlos Quinton, and Chris B Young are all under 25 and all ready to contribute in a big way this year. Brandon Webb, Doug Davis, and Livan Hernandez for a solid, if unspectacular, front 3 then sprinkle in even half a year of Randy Johnson and the rotation becomes even more deadly, especially to pigeions.

Boston Red Sox: o/u 91 wins -- TAKE THE OVER The Sox are one of the deepest and most talented teams in baseball. True they have to play the Yanks and Blue Jays 28 times a year, but they also get to play the D-Rays and O's that much. Manny, Papi and the addition of JD Drew gives the Sox the most potent middle of the order in the League, and add in The Greek God of Walks at the top of the lineup and that could be 4 guys with .400 OBP's. Moving Papelbon back to the closers role is good enough for a couple wins right there, and he'll have plenty of save oppurtunities with Dice-K, Schill, Beckett and Wakefield in the rotation. You can add Jon Lester, Julian Tavarez, Kyle Snider, or me at the 5th spot and still have a championship level starting 5.

Chicago White Sox: o/u 87.5 -- TAKE THE UNDER In a stacked AL Central someone has to lose. Chicago will finish under .500 and Ozzie will be out of a job after this disappointing year. The ChiSox have huge holes LF and CF, as Podsednik and Erstad both figure to be below replacement level this year. Thome, Konerko and Dye are all on the downside of their careers, not that anyone will be getting on base in front of them in the line up. The rotation has been the strength of this team in recent years, but that strength was built more on quantity than quality trading away Garcia and McCarthy will hurt. Bobby Jenks is fine until he get the shakes and, even though BoDog doesn't offer this bet, he still is 1/10 to be the most John Daily-esque player in MLB

Cincinnati Reds: o/u 77 -- TAKE THE UNDER The Big Red Machine will struggle to reach the 70 win platue this year. Edwin Encarnacion, former Ranger great, has a ton of upside and Adam Dunn may have the most raw power in the game and Homer Bailey is one of the two or three best pitching prospects in baseball, but beyond that there is very little to like about this seasons vintage of the Red Legs. Griff is on his last legs, and beyond Harang and Arroyo the rotation is really bad.

Cleveland Indians: o/u 85.5 -- TAKE THE OVER The Tribe should be a 90 win team. Cle is a bit weak offensively on the corners but Sizemore (the franchise's best CF since Willie Mays Hayes), Victor Martinez and Kronk more than make up for it. Bartfield, Peralta, and Marte give the Indians a young, talented infield with a ton of potential. Sabathia and Westbrook are a very good 1-2 combo. The bullpen was a weakness last year, but Borowski and Roberto Hernandez lend some veteran stability to a young talented corpse that includes Fernando Cabrera and Fausto Carmona (who may spend some time in the rotation this year).

Colorado Rockies: o/u 76 -- TAKE THE OVER The Mountains should be a .500 team with Atkins, Holliday, Helton and Hawpe knocking the humidor stored balls all over Coors. Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Iannetta give Colorado a SS and Catcher combo with as much upside as any in baseball. The steady Aaron Cook and Rodrigo Lopez team with homegrown Jeff Francis and recently aquired giant Jason Hirsh for a solid rotation. Brian Fuentes may be the best closer in baseball no one knows about.

Detroit Tigers: o/u 88.5 -- TAKE THE UNDER El Tigres were the suprise team in baseball last year but we should expect some regression to the mean this year. Their 2 thru 6 hitters, Polanco, Pudge, Sheff, Maggs, and Guillen, are all injury risks. They get very little production from 1B and LF and don't have one single high OBP guy in their everyday lineup. Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones will still be counted on for big roles despite being their 40's. However, they still have a stable of young arms. Jeremy Bonderman is my darkhorse for Cy Young this year, but I really don't think Verlander and Nate Robertson will match their performances of a year ago. Both guys periferial numbers suggest their ERA's should progress to the mean. Zumaya is appointment viewing anytime he's on the mound, but if Jimmy Leland doesn't give the closer role over to him soon the team will suffer.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Orange County California an hour and half north of San Diego: o/u 90 -- TAKE THE UNDER I have written about the Angels previously in my Hope and Faith article. They are too weak offensively, and have big injury risks on the pitching staff. Any team that counts on major production from Shea Hillenbrand, Casey Kotchman, Chone Figgins, and Gary Matthews Jr can't win 90 games without Kofax, Clemens, Pedro, Maddux, and Walter Johnson in the rotation. The Halos have a good staff, but not that good. Better bet -- Wins (+8.5) v Number of Letters in that Name.

Los Angeles Dodgers: o/u 88.5 -- TAKE THE UNDER Bodog is, again, too optimistic on a LA team here with good arms and no bats. Nomar, Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez make a terrific 3-4-5 of the order... in the year 2000. The Dodgers do have good pitching Schmidt, Lowe, and Penny are a real nice top of the rotation and Jonathon Broxton will take over the closer role proir to the All-Star break, but that offense is just too bad. Wilson Betemit and Raffy Furcal form a very good right side of the infield, and Russ Martin is a very nice catcher (when he's not hosting his radio show) but the Dodgers get very little from everywhere else on the field. But hey, the just traded for Brady Clark!!! I'm sure Matt Kemp loves that deal.

Milwaukee Brewers: o/u 81.5 -- TAKE THE OVER Team that reminds me alot of the Diamondbacks, lots of young guys ready to step up. Rickie Weeks, Bill Hall, Prince Fielder, JJ Hardy can all rake. If Ben Sheets is healthy (which, granted, he rarely is) the rotation looks nice. Chris Capuano, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, and Cladio Vargas aren't the sexiest names but their all decent to above average pitchers. Coco and Turnbow really bring the heat at the end of the ballgame, and always keep it close. This is a team to really watch out for this year, and for the next 5 with guys like Yovani Gallardo and Ryan Braun in the pipeline.

Minnesota Twins: o/u 84.5 -- TAKE THE OVER Mauer, Morneau and Santana are worth 80 wins by themselves. Throw in Joe Nathan for an easy 5 extra and the Twins cover this number. Random Rant: Has there EVER been a better trade than Pierzynski for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser, and Liriano? The Giants got tired of AJ after one year!!! While Minnesota will reap the benefits of this trade for at least the next 5. AND the trade was made so the Twins could make room for Joe Mauer! The trade really is a crappy catcher for the best catcher in baseball, the best closer in baseball, the best pitching prospect in baseball, and a good pitching prospect.

New York Mets: o/u 89.5 -- TAKE THE UNDER Pedro is the youngest of their top three starters. I'm going to repeat that, because it bears repeating. Pedro Martinez is the youngest of their top three starters. Pedro's "birth certificate" may only say that he's 35 but his arm's equivolent age would be somewhere in the Keith Richards neighboorhood. 41 year old Tom Glavie and 53 year old Orlando Hernandez will be counted on for 30-35 starts each, at least they can look to Julio Franco for veteran leadership. How is a team with Jose Reyes and David Wright so old??? Shawn Green, Delgado, Jose Valentin, Moises Alou, Julio Franco, Paul LoDuca, Chan Ho Park, Pedro, Glavin, El Duke, and Billy Wagner's average age is dead.

New York Yankees: o/u 97 -- TAKE THE UNDER The Yankees will be good, but 97 wins is great, and I don't think these Yanks are truely great. Offensively the Bronx Bombers should expect years from Jeter, Cano and Posada worse than last year. Doug Mientkiewicz shouldn't be a big league player they would be better moving Matsui to first and starting Melky, but it doesn't appear as if that will happen. Carl Pavano could be their opening day starter, that says alot right there. Pettitte is really on the downside, I love Moose but he's 38, Igawa is an unknown commodity ( I think he'll be decent though), that leaves you with an Ace who's got a K rate of just 3 per 9. Wang, also currently hurt, is an extreme ground ball pitcher but the Yankees aren't very good defensively in the infield. Rivera will spend some time on the DL and when he does you're counting on Kyle Farnsworth and Ron Villone?

Oakland Athletics: o/u 84.5 -- TAKE THE UNDER Nick Swisher may be the only guy in the starting line up for the A's this year who isn't a lock to miss a month at some point this year. If everyone stays healthy, and productive the A's could surpass the 84.5 win mark, but the odds of that happening aren't good. Beyond Swisher and Chavez, even when healthy the lineup is pretty weak. Their bullpen is good, but may become over worked especailly if/when Harden/Haren miss big chunks of time.

Pittsburg Pirates: o/u 72 -- TAKE THE OVER That's right Pirate fans, you won't lose 90 games this year! Only 85!! Pitt is really a solid team. Freddy Sanchez, Jason Bay, and Adam LaRoche are a nice 3-4-5 in the order. Chris Duffy, Xavier Nady, and Ronnie Paulino are nice players. The thing that most people don't know about the Pirates is that they have a bunch of young arms that should produce some for this year; Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Paul Maholm, and Tom Gorzelanny.

Seattle Mariners: o/u 78.5 -- TAKE THE UNDER Jose Vidro is going to DH. That really should tell you all you need to know. Jose Guillen is going to start in RF, Jose Lopez at 2B. Beyond King Felix the M's have a bunch of 4 and 5 starters. This is not a good team.

St. Louis Cardinals: o/u 85 -- TAKE THE UNDER I hate picking against any team that has Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter, but that is all the Cards have. Rolen still can play, but can't be counted on for the same kind of year he had last year, Edmonds is in a sharp decline, Juan Encarnacion has never been a very good player, Molina is really bad offensively. Eckstien and Kennedy up the middle and at the top of the order mean that Pujols will rarely have anyone on base when he comes up. He should break Bond's IBB record this year. Wainwright is good, and Reyes has a chance to be good, but after that they have Kip Wells in the rotation. They may ask Bradon Looper to start in the 5 spot in the rotation. Looper, 32, has not started a game in his 9 year big league career. Once Izzy goes down, there's not alot in the bullpen. The reigning champs may not have a winning record this year.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays: o/u 67.5 -- TAKE THE OVER That's right. The Over for the D-Rays. All those years of selecting in the top 5 of the draft are finally starting to pay off, Tampa has as much young talent as any team in baseball. Most of it is on the offensive side of the ball, Baldelli, Crawford, Delomn Young, Elijah Dukes, BJ Upton, and Jorge Cantu can all hit and are, almost, all really athletic. The D-Rays would def win the most basketball games of any baseball team...not that that helps then a ton playing baseball. Scott Kazmir would be a Cy Young contender if he was on a better team, James Shields has a lot of upside that people don't talk about, Casey Fossum may have the best left handed curveball in the AL now that Zito is in San Fran. Their bullpen is deep, headed by flamethrowing Seth McClung. Aki Iwamura, the Japanese import, will suprise many at 3B and Dioneer Navarro may have the most upside of any catcher in baseball who's surname doesn't start with an M.

Texas Rangers: o/u 81 -- TAKE THE OVER I covered the Rangers in my Hope and Faith article earlier. Tex, Wilk, and Blalock are primed to have much better years, Gagne + Aki means it's a 7 inning game. Rotation is deep and as talented as it's ever been. Good chance to win the division.

Toronto Blue Jays: o/u 87.5 -- TAKE THE UNDER Every year people talk about how the Blue Jays are going to make a run at the BoSox and Yankees, and every year they wind up 14 games back in third place. Wells and Glaus are big time players, and Overbay is very underrated but the Jays are praying for another TWO big years from the Big Hurt, and will start Reed Johnson everyday who might be the worst regular outfielder in baseball -- assuming Darin Erstad isn't playing everyday. I'm not as high on Alex Rios as some people, I think he'll be good, not great. After you get by Halliday the rotation is pretty bad, especailly if/when AJ Burnett gets hurt. Did I mention that Royce Clayton will be starting at short for this team?


If you bet the max, $600, on all the above wagers you should net $9288.01. Glad I can use my knowledge of the great game to make others happy and richer, in a purely emotional sense.