MLB Gambling -- MLB FanHouse

Selig Reportedly Considering Reinstating Pete Rose, Which Would Be a Mistake

Posted: Jul 27th 2009 10:59 AM ET by Ed Price (RSS feed)
Filed Under: MLB Gambling, MLB Hall of Fame

So Bud Selig is reportedly "seriously considering lifting Pete Rose's lifetime suspension from baseball," according to the New York Daily News.

According to the report, some Hall of Famers have been lobbying Selig to reinstate Rose, which would make him eligible for the Hall. And the report claims that Hank Aaron's statement that Rose belongs signals Selig's chage of heart.

He would thus have to be elected by his peers, the 65 living members in the Hall of Fame, not all of whom agree with Aaron, [Joe] Morgan and [Frank] Robinson that Rose has done his time. It's hard to say if he would get the necessary 75 percent for election. "I know there are still guys who feel strongly against him," said one Hall of Famer, "and I don't know if that would change even if Selig clears him."

Why You Should Never Bet on the Kansas City Royals

Posted: Jun 17th 2009 1:03 PM ET by Tom Fornelli (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Indians, Royals, AL Central, MLB Gambling

1 COMMENT

Remember last week when the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals on a walk-off single by Shin-Soo Choo when Royals centerfielder Coco Crisp lost the ball amidst a flock of seagulls (video here)? No, Coco didn't have headphones on and he was not singing along to "I Ran" when this occurred.

There was literally a flock of seagulls in the Progressive Field outfield, no doubt there searching for all of those bugs that still haunt Joba Chamberlain's dreams. Well if you are a Royals player or fan you were probably pretty upset to be losing a game because of avian invasion, but you'll just have to trust me when I say that it could have been a lot worse.

Hey Pete Rose Apologists, Save It

Posted: Jun 17th 2009 12:14 PM ET by Jeff Fletcher (RSS feed)
Filed Under: MLB Gambling, MLB Hall of Fame

15 COMMENTS

People, people, people. How many times do we need to go over this? It seems that every time we have another steroids revelation and talk turns to how that affects the player's Hall of Fame qualifications, all of the Pete Rose people come out of the woodwork to say that Pete should get in if the Steroids Guys are in.

A whole batch of them came out in the comments for this post about Sammy Sosa's Hall of Fame chances.

What many people fail to realize is that the rule Rose broke is more important to baseball than any rule about steroid use.

Madoff Client List Includes Sandy Koufax

Posted: Feb 5th 2009 10:00 AM ET by Will Brinson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Dodgers, MLB Biz, MLB Gambling, MLB Media Watch, MLB Police Blotter

16 COMMENTS

Sandy Koufax, three time Cy Young winner and Dodgers great, is on a distinguished list of clients that Bernie Madoff conned out of millions with his Ponzi scheme, according to documents that were made public in a U.S. Bankruptcy court yesterday.

Koufax was a friend of former Mets owner Mike Wilpon, and as a result ran in the same circles as the man who allegedly pulled off "the biggest financial fraud in history."

The Dugout: Meet Your 2009 Hall of Fame Candidates, Part Two

Posted: Dec 28th 2008 11:25 PM ET by Jon Bois (RSS feed)
Filed Under: MLB Gambling, MLB Hall of Fame, The Dugout

12 COMMENTS

This coming Hall of Fame ballot only features one Hall of Fame lock. Beyond that is a rabble of jerks who will be laughed out of future consideration, and beyond that is a selection of Tommy John-caliber guys. These guys shouldn't be forgotten, but there's the creeping feeling that if we let them in, we risk lowering the bar a little. We must all remain pragmatic and cynical. If we don't, the 2022 induction ceremony will feature David Eckstein and, like, Joe Crede.

In this installment, The Dugout applies this sort of cynicism toward Jay Bell, Don Mattingly, Ron Gant, and Mo Vaughn. For further reading, check out Part One of this series.

Cecil Fielder Is Your Latest Athlete to Land in IRS/Tax-Related Trouble

Posted: Nov 28th 2008 6:15 PM ET by Will Brinson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Brewers, Tigers, MLB Biz, MLB Gambling, MLB Media Watch, MLB Rumors

28 COMMENTS

Prince Fielder has talked extensively about his distaste for his own father, the former home run slugging Cecil Fielder. Some of this stems around Big C's behavior as Cecil was a young child, and some of it revolves around the older tater king's inability to successfully manage a budget.

So it should come as no huge surprise that Cecil finds himself on the wrong end of an IRS lien (like there's a right end). From the TaxWatchdog at Detroit News.

Former Detroit Tigers star Cecil Fielder owes $273,123.29 in federal taxes, the latest financial issue facing a slugger who has had a slew of money problems in recent years, records show.

The lien against Cecil, 45, comes five months after the Tax Watchdog first revealed that the IRS had filed a $409,149 tax lien against his estranged son, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder.

Well, at least it's genetic. What? If you don't find unfunny hereditary tax jokes at least kind of laughable, I don't want to know you anyway.

Sports Stars Money Woes

Former All-Star Cecil Fielder made almost $50 million during his 13-year career in the major leagues, but he's fallen on hard times since retiring. The slugger has squandered much of his fortune and is now being sued by the IRS for failure to pay taxes. Click through to see more sports stars who have struggled with financial woes.

Brian Bahr, Getty Images

Michael Vick was once the NFL's highest-paid player. Now the jailed former star is millions of dollars in debt, and is making 12 cents an hour in his job at the federal penitentiary.

Haraz N. Ghanbari, AP

Evander "Real Deal" Holyfield, shown here in 2002, is reportedly in financial trouble with multiple sources. In October, Holyfield was back in court, again facing the possibility of jail time in a child-support case before a settlement was reached.

W. A. Harewood, Getty Images

Former boxing champ Thomas Hearns reportedly owes the federal government thousands in unpaid income taxes. Hearns' attorney stated that the 49-year-old disputes the debt and is working to resolve it.

Bill Pugliano, Getty Images

Former MLB star Jose Canseco walked away from a $2.5 million home in California earlier this year, saying it "didn't make sense" to keep paying the mortgage. Not surprisingly, the bank started foreclosure proceedings.

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Last August, ex-NBA star Latrell Sprewell, who once turned down a $21 million contract offer because he had his "family to feed," had a yacht repossessed after falling behind in payments.

Kevork Djansezian, AP

Disgraced track champion Marion Jones admitted she was flat broke in 2007, despite numerous lucrative endorsements following the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After her $2.5 million North Carolina home was foreclosed upon in 2006, a court found her "total liquid assets" were worth less than $2,000.

Hiroko Masuike, Getty Images

Mike Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003, after losing in excess of $300 million earned from his lucrative boxing career. Tyson reportedly spent lavish sums on cars, jewelery and even Bengal tigers before going broke.

Wizards forward Andray Blatche reportedly is so bad with money, that even with an NBA contract, he would sleep some nights at the Verizon Center because he couldn't make rent.

Johnny Nunez, WireImage.com

Former track star Patrik Sjoberg was on top of the world as a high-jump champion, but he had a lavish lifestyle and eventually went broke in 2001.

Bud Symes, Allsport / Getty Images

But seriously, it's a sad thing to watch a guy that enthralled our country for at least a year of my childhood as he wailed away at the record books, launching bombs and making fat kids everywhere feel better about themselves.

But then again, it's not surprising that a guy who played like Cecil did (a "my performance ain't perfect but it's loud and it's fast" kind of way) finds himself in this sort of hot water, really. And given the economic times, I think we'll be less and less surprised to see who ends up in the same boat.

Junichi Tazawa Gets Another Big Offer, Expects to Decide Soon

Posted: Nov 24th 2008 2:40 PM ET by Pat Lackey (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Braves, Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox, AL East, AL West, NL East, MLB Gambling, MLB Rumors

2 COMMENTS

On the heels of the news that Red Sox had offered Junichi Tazawa a $6 million deal, word coming out of Tokyo today says that Tazawa has received another "lucrative" offer, this time from the Texas Rangers, and that the 22-year-old expects to decide on a Major League team soon.

It's also reported that he's leaning towards the Red Sox (who wouldn't be?), though he's spoken with the Rangers, Braves, and Mariners as well. Of course, it was also reported that Rangers' GM Jon Daniels said he wouldn't meet with Tazawa, so who knows?

If you've been following this whole saga, you already know it's an incredibly sticky situation. Tazawa is supposed to be eligible for the Japanese draft, after which he'd have to play long enough in Japan to qualify for free agency or ask for his team to post him and make him available to Major League suitors. Instead, by avoiding the draft, he's creating a loophole in which any major league team can sign him without the posting process.

The Red Sox Are Early Favorites To Win It All Next Year

Posted: Oct 30th 2008 3:50 PM ET by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Red Sox, AL East, MLB Gambling

1 COMMENT

Ahead of the curve as usual, Vegas has already released odds to win the 2009 World Series. Here they are, from BetOnline, via Extra Bases:

Free agency starts in 15 days? Winter meetings still more than a month away? No matter. The Red Sox, at 3 to 1, are your early favorites to win the World Series.
Here is the full list [...]:
Boston Red Sox 3/1
Chicago Cubs 5/1
LA Angels 5/1
Philadelphia Phillies 6/1
New York Yankees 6/1
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10/1
Chicago White Sox 10/1

I'm not sure why they still have the "Devil" in there for Tampa Bay.

There's a reason the linesmakers want to get these out as quickly as possible--these odds are very profitable for them. Not only is the vig on these extremely high (the odds for all thirty teams add up to a total of 173%; it would be 100% of there was no juice), but the payout is a full year away. So not only are the sportsbooks getting people to bet at terrible odds, they can also earn interest in your money for 52 weeks.

As for the actual odds, it makes sense that the Red Sox are the favorites. They had the best run differential in the AL, which is impressive since they play in such a tough division and had to deal with a significant number of injuries. They're also generally one of the best-run franchises in the league, and have no shortage of money to spend, which means they're likely to improve over the offseason. That's not to say they have a 25% chance of winning it all in '09; it's unlikely any of these are worth betting on, because of the aforementioned factors.

If You Bet on the Phillies to Win Last Night, Las Vegas Is Paying You Money Today

Posted: Oct 28th 2008 11:30 AM ET by Will Brinson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Phillies, Rays, MLB Biz, MLB Fans, MLB Gambling

6 COMMENTS

If you took a large sum of money to Las Vegas and placed it on the Phillies to win last night, well, life is looking pretty good for you. Actually, it's looking pretty good no matter what the sum you bet, because Las Vegas is paying out all of the bets that were placed on Philadelphia (most of them at -170).

Confused? Of course you are. Fortunately, we have a sports book director to explain.

Las Vegas sports books are paying off Game 5 side bets on Philadelphia, which was about a minus-170 favorite. Wagers on totals and run-line bets are being refunded because rules stipulate that at least 8 1/2 innings must be played.

"We're just following the regular baseball rules. This is a very common rule," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "We can't make exceptions.

And, as Kornegay said, if the Rays come back and win and you put money on them, well, it's one of the "worst bad beats" in the history of sports.

And he's dead on, too. The reality is that the Rays could win the game (although the entire series has already been tainted by Bud Selig's stink) and whatever money various gamblers put on them to cover simply won't pay off.

From the Windup: An Idiot's Guide to Gambling on the MLB Playoffs

Posted: Oct 1st 2008 9:00 AM ET by Will Brinson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Angels, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Rays, Red Sox, White Sox, MLB Biz, MLB Gambling, MLB Playoffs

3 COMMENTS

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime. Will Brinson may check in from time to time to mock his own gambling "prowess". He will tag these posts "Gamble On". He is doing that because he's bitter he didn't think of the Zeppelin play on words when he named his NFL picks column.

This is our last chance to gamble on baseball until *shudder* April 2009. So what follows is me pretending that I have $10,000.00 and how I'm going to ~~waste~~ invest it all on MLB playoff bets. (Please be advised that this is by no means intelligent wagering advice like you might find elsewhere; this is the somewhat belligerent advice of an addicted lunatic flailing to get to .500 on the NFL season.)

For starters -- all lines courtesy of BoDog by the way -- we need to pick our World Series winner. Personally, I don't like the Cubs. Something or another about not winning for a few hundred years just scares me off, and that's creepy, because I love a good loser.