Warm-Up Tosses: Did I mention something about bucket lists yesterday? Well there are bucket list items and then there are inner circle bucket list items. Like many country/suburban mice that move to the City That Never Sleeps, I arrived in Manhattan as a wide-eyed intern in 1995 and took the subway to work. I'd toss 25 cents on the newsstand counter for the New York Post ("Still Just a Quarter!") thumb through the doings of the city's famous and glamorous denizens and think, "someday I'm going to be in the Post." Like dreaming about what to do with lottery winnings, I know this was a common line of thinking because my friends and I had similar conversations at work and in bars.
During those discussions we'd take stabs at the catalyst for an appearance in the pages of the Post and, as I recall, a guess at the three most likely words to accompany my mention fell into two camps: "missing rogue trader" was the consensus from one group of friends while another camp, (population: me) felt sure the phrase "canoodling Winona Ryder" was a wise guess. As unlikely as either of those guesses may have been, if anyone would have suggested "a full page spread accompanied with a photo right out of a 1960's-era Topps card" it would have made the Winona Ryder guess look downright plausible. Ladies and gentlemen, and for all my beer-drinking friends from Moran's in the World Financial Center to Gramercy's Pete's Tavern, I present to you a copy of today's New York Post: http://newyorkpost.com/p/news/national/biz_whiz_bettor_up_IGPBmGurLETj3nJkO5GFDI
* * *
Final 2013 Projected Standings
On this, the morning of Houston's inaugural game as an American League team and on the eve of Opening Day, I give you a finalized look at the projected standings for MLB's 2013 season. Thanks to my friends at BeyondTheBets.com and Dave Tuley, a long-time chronicler of the sports betting scene in Las Vegas, the over/under column (below) reflects the current (and presumably final) market as posted at the LVH, the epicenter of baseball betting in Las Vegas. Those with a calculator might note that the sum of the LVH wins totals 2,435. That’s notable because there are only 2,430 games played in an MLB season. The difference is smaller than last year but still, as in the stock market, people are predisposed to be optimistic and they've collectively bid up certain teams.
In compiling the final projected standings below, I have ensured that total wins equal total losses and total runs scored equal total runs allowed. Any modifications to the original essays are the result of injuries suffered in Spring Training, roster changes, or any other developments which could affect playing time. For instance, a change to the Yankees runs scored due to an injury to Mark Teixeira, needs to flow through the rest of the league’s runs allowed calculation.
|
Projected 2013 Standings |
||||||||
|
AMERICAN LEAGUE |
||||||||
|
EAST |
W |
L |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Final o/u Line |
Pick |
|
|
Tampa Bay |
93 |
69 |
– |
713 |
605 |
87 |
Over |
|
|
New York |
87 |
75 |
6 |
749 |
686 |
84.5 |
||
|
Boston |
83 |
79 |
10 |
777 |
755 |
83 |
|
|
|
Toronto |
82 |
80 |
11 |
740 |
728 |
89 |
Under |
|
|
Baltimore |
76 |
86 |
17 |
703 |
748 |
78.5 |
||
|
CENTRAL |
W |
L |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Final o/u Line |
Pick |
|
|
Detroit |
95 |
67 |
– |
813 |
674 |
93 |
|
|
|
Cleveland |
85 |
77 |
10 |
737 |
700 |
78 |
Over |
|
|
Chicago |
78 |
84 |
17 |
699 |
731 |
80.5 |
|
|
|
Kansas City |
77 |
85 |
18 |
709 |
751 |
79.5 |
||
|
Minnesota |
66 |
96 |
29 |
677 |
830 |
68.5 |
|
|
|
WEST |
W |
L |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Final o/u Line |
Pick |
|
|
Los Angeles |
88 |
74 |
– |
763 |
694 |
92 |
Under |
|
|
Texas |
85 |
77 |
3 |
777 |
738 |
86.5 |
||
|
Oakland |
85 |
77 |
3 |
722 |
685 |
84.5 |
|
|
|
Seattle |
78 |
84 |
10 |
644 |
670 |
78 |
||
|
Houston |
66 |
96 |
22 |
635 |
779 |
59 |
Over |
|
|
NATIONAL LEAGUE |
||||||||
|
EAST |
W |
L |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Final o/u Line |
Pick |
|
|
Washington |
90 |
72 |
– |
740 |
659 |
92 |
||
|
Philadelphia |
86 |
76 |
4 |
701 |
653 |
83.5 |
||
|
Atlanta |
82 |
80 |
8 |
677 |
671 |
87.5 |
Under |
|
|
New York |
74 |
88 |
16 |
644 |
706 |
74 |
||
|
Miami |
64 |
98 |
26 |
598 |
752 |
63.5 |
||
|
CENTRAL |
W |
L |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Final o/u Line |
Pick |
|
|
St. Louis |
90 |
72 |
– |
770 |
686 |
86 |
Over |
|
|
Cincinnati |
84 |
78 |
6 |
736 |
704 |
90.5 |
Under |
|
|
Pittsburgh |
79 |
83 |
11 |
659 |
677 |
77.5 |
||
|
Milwaukee |
78 |
84 |
12 |
688 |
712 |
79.5 |
|
|
|
Chicago |
69 |
93 |
21 |
627 |
736 |
72.5 |
Under |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
WEST |
W |
L |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Final o/u Line |
Pick |
|
|
Los Angeles |
91 |
71 |
– |
730 |
632 |
91 |
||
|
San Francisco |
88 |
74 |
3 |
718 |
651 |
88 |
|
|
|
San Diego |
81 |
81 |
10 |
681 |
677 |
74 |
Over |
|
|
Arizona |
80 |
82 |
11 |
708 |
722 |
82.5 |
|
|
|
Colorado |
70 |
92 |
21 |
765 |
888 |
71.5 |
||
|
|
Mop Up Duty:
Joe Peta is the author of Trading Bases, A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball* (*) Not necessarily in that order, a Dutton Books/Penguin (U.S.A.) publication currently available wherever books are sold. Here are three on-line booksellers you can currently choose from:
http://www.amazon.com/Trading-Bases-Gambling-Baseball-Necessarily/dp/0525953647/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trading-bases-joe-peta/1111308063?ean=9780525953647
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525953647
He is also the author of Trading Bases, the Newsletter, a companion piece to the book. If you have been forwarded this issue and would like to be placed on the mailing list, please send an e-mail to tradingbases@gmail.com
All newsletter archives are located at http://tradingbases.squarespace.com
You can follow me on Twitter here: @MagicRatSF
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