All-Star Game MVPs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/13/2010 -

2010 - Brian McCann, Atlanta, NL

2009 - Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay, AL

2008 - J.D. Drew, Boston, AL

2007 - Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle, AL

2006 - Michael Young, Texas, AL

2005 - Miguel Tejada, Baltimore, AL

2004 - Alfonso Soriano, Texas, AL

2003 - Garret Anderson, Anaheim, AL

2002 - None

2001 - Cal Ripken Jr., Baltimore, AL

2000 - Derek Jeter, New York, AL

1999 - Pedro Martinez, Boston, AL

1998 - Roberto Alomar, Baltimore, AL

1997 - Sandy Alomar Jr., Cleveland, AL

1996 - Mike Piazza, Los Angeles, NL

1995 - Jeff Conine, Florida, NL

1994 - Fred McGriff, Atlanta, NL

1993 - Kirby Puckett, Minnesota, AL

1992 - Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle, AL

1991 - Cal Ripken Jr., Baltimore, AL

1990 - Julio Franco, Texas, AL

1989 - Bo Jackson, Kansas City, AL

1988 - Terry Steinbach, Oakland, AL

1987 - Tim Raines, Montreal, NL

1986 - Roger Clemens, Boston, AL

1985 - LaMarr Hoyt, San Diego, NL

1984 - Gary Carter, Montreal, NL

1983 - Fred Lynn, California, AL

1982 - Dave Concepcion, Cincinnati, NL

1981 - Gary Carter, Montreal, NL

1980 - Ken Griffey Sr., Cincinnati, NL

1979 - Dave Parker, Pittsburgh, NL

1978 - Steve Garvey, Los Angeles, NL

1977 - Don Sutton, Los Angeles, NL

1976 - George Foster, Cincinnati, NL

1975 - Bill Madlock, Chicago, NL, and Jon Matlack, New York, NL

1974 - Steve Garvey, Los Angeles, NL

1973 - Bobby Bonds, San Francisco, NL

1972 - Joe Morgan, Cincinnati, NL

1971 - Frank Robinson, Baltimore, AL

1970 - Carl Yastrzemski, Boston, AL

1969 - Willie McCovey, San Francisco, NL

1968 - Willie Mays, San Francisco, NL

1967 - Tony Perez, Cincinnati, NL

1966 - Brooks Robinson, Baltimore, AL

1965 - Juan Marichal, San Francisco, NL

1964 - John Callison, Philadelphia, NL

1963 - Willie Mays, San Francisco, NL

1962 - x-Maury Wills, Los Angeles, NL

1962 - x-Leon Wagner, Los Angeles, AL

x-two gamesCopyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Wwwastronet Baseball Betting News

<< Oilers give Dubnyk two-year contract
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers have come to terms with goaltender Devan Dubnyk on a two-year contract. The team also agreed with defenseman Shawn Belle on a one-year deal. The 24-year-old Dubnyk appeared in 19

<< Jazz acquire Al Jefferson from Timberwolves
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz have acquired center/forward Al Jefferson from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for center Kosta Koufos, the Memphis Grizzlies' protected 2011 first-round pick (obtain

<< Rahal reunites with Newman/Haas Racing
Lincolnshire, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newman/Haas Racing announced Tuesday that Graham Rahal will rejoin the team and pilot the No. 02 Dallara/Honda/Firestone entry for six of the remaining series races. Five of those races will see Rahal s

<< Griffin ahead at Publinx in second stroke-play round
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John-Tyler Griffin of Georgia Tech holds a one-shot lead after playing two rounds of the U.S. Amateur Public Links. Griffin, who is from Wilson, North Carolina, about two hours west of Greensboro

<< Southern Nevada's Bryce Harper wins Golden Spikes Award
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southern Nevada slugger Bryce Harper, the top overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, has won the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, presented to the top amateur basebal

Twilight shadows hold down All-Star scoring >>
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Until the sun finally went down on Angel Stadium, the 81st All-Star game was just another boring chapter of the twilight saga.Sunlight slivers and shadows across the field made the first few innings of the midsummer classic pre

McCann makes up for near-miss, wins All-Star MVP >>
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Brian McCann came to the plate and the Angel Stadium scoreboard posted a curious piece of info: This was his fifth straight All-Star appearance.Five in a row? Really? Who knew?McCann atoned for his silent showings in the summer

Big bats mostly silenced in All-Star game >>
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -The biggest hitters in the All-Star game were the biggest zeros.Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Adrian Gonzalez, Vladimir Guerrero and Ichiro Suzuki couldn't muster any offense Tuesday night, when the National League snapped its 13

McCann comes up big, NL finally wins All-Star game >>
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -One key swing by Brian McCann pulled the National League out of the All-Star shadows.McCann's three-run double in the seventh inning provided the NL all the offense it needed to capture its first Midsummer Classic since 1996 wi

Hunter goes 0 for 2 as All-Star host >>
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Angels center fielder Torii Hunter caught the ceremonial first pitch from former Angels great Rod Carew before the 81st All-Star game on Tuesday night and autographed the ball for the 15-time All-Star.That turned out to be the

Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.