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07/11/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have named Jeff Bagwell their new hitting coach, replacing the fired Sean Berry.
Bagwell had been serving as a special assistant to the general manager since his retirement in 2006. He will begin his new duties after the All-Star break.
Berry had been the club's hitting coach for the past five seasons and has been offered another position in the organization.
Bagwell played for the Astros from 1991-2005 and set franchise records with 449 home runs and 1,529 runs batted in. A four-time All-Star, he was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 1991 and was the league's MVP in 1994.
In 2,150 games, Bagwell hit .297 with 488 doubles, 32 triples, 202 stolen bases and 1,517 runs scored. He also had 2,314 career hits, 969 of which went for extra bases.
Bagwell has spent time working with minor league and major league hitters in spring training and has visited several of the organization's minor league clubs during the season to provide additional instruction. He has also assisted the baseball operations staff with player evaluations and minor league player development programs.
<< Hudson will make start for White Sox
CHICAGO (AP) -The Chicago White Sox have called up right-hander Daniel Hudson from Triple-A Charlotte for Sunday's start against the Kansas City Royals in place of injured Jake Peavy.Hudson was 1-1 in six games, including two starts, last season for
<< White Sox strive for eighth straight win, sweep of Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Cellular Field is the site of today's finale of a
three-game set between the Kansas City Royals and hometown Chicago White Sox,
who'll be taking aim at an eighth consecutive victory.
The White Sox kept up their red-ho
<< Longtime Yankees' PA announcer Bob Sheppard dies
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Longtime New York Yankees public address
announcer Bob Sheppard died Sunday. He was 99 years old.
According to the New York Daily News, Sheppard died at his home on Long Island
with his wife, Mary, at hi
<< Orioles have chance for surprising sweep of West-leading Texas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers, who continue to lead the American League
West, will close out a four-game weekend series with the lowly Baltimore
Orioles today in Arlington.
The Orioles may have the worst record in baseball at 28-59, b
Kuo to replace Heyward at All-Star game >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo has been selected to replace injured Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward at the All-Star game.Heyward is on the 15-day disabled list because of a deep bone bruise in his left thumb. He wi
Czechs complete Davis Cup quarterfinal win over Chile >>
Coquimbo, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivo Minar won the second reverse singles
match for the Czech Republic on Sunday to complete a 4-1 rout of host Chile in
the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
Minar posted a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 victory over Cristobal
Edoardo Molinari gets first European Tour title >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edoardo Molinari only managed a three-
over 74 on Sunday, but it was still enough to earn his first European Tour
title at the Scottish Open.
Molinari finished off his maiden tour victory at 12-und
Bagwell taking over as Astros hitting coach >>
HOUSTON (AP) -Former Astros All-Star Jeff Bagwell is taking over as Houston's hitting coach after the team fired Sean Berry on Sunday.Berry became ``a victim of circumstances'' as the Astros' offense has sputtered this season, general manager Ed Wad
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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