Could we be destined to see the first all-Chicago World Series since 1906 when the White Sox beat the Cubs 4 games to 2?
It’s only one month of the regular season completed but the clubs in the north and south side of town each have the best records in their respective leagues with three game leads in their divisions through Sunday’s games.
The possibility to see something so rare is exciting enough for not only Chicago fans to dream about, but for bettors all over to ponder.
William Hill’s 105 sports books across Nevada are always looking to satisfy the curiosity of bettors and the all-Chicago World Series definitely has people talking, so they offered a prop:
Will there be an All-Chicago World Series? NO is a heavy favorite at -5000 (lay $50 to win $1) and YES will get you 20-to-1.
They’ve also got a prop on whether or not the Cubs win more than 116 games, which was the amount won in 1906 before losing to the south-siders. If betting YES, which would be crazy in this era of baseball, they’ll give you 15-to-1 odds. The NO is -4000.
It’s a crazy scene daily in the books with Cubs action. They’re almost getting the popular public support like we’ve seen with the Warriors this season in the NBA. That’s all everyone wants to talk and bet daily. They do a good job at cashing too, although three of their six losses have been when favored by -205 or more, including Sunday’s 4-3 loss to lowly Atlanta.
The Cubs are at the point now that the public has dictated a 20-to-25 percent increase on daily price from what it should be. You’re never going true value on them because the books know they will be bet and they need cash on the other side. When the Cubs win by two runs or more, it’s bad news for the house because of public run-line parlays.
But enough about the Cubbies; they get enough publicity. Let’s talk more about the White Sox who have posted the best return on investment this season at +11.3 units. They lead the AL Central at 18-8 with a three game margin over Detroit and four over the World Champion Royals.
Will it last? Based on what their strengths are and that they’re not even really hitting the ball yet, I think they can. CG Technology sports books opened them at 40-to-1 to win the World Series and they’ve been dropped to 20-1. There are 11 teams with lower odds posted.
The White Sox are only batting .244 on the season and averaging 3.9 runs a game, which is in the bottom third of baseball. Last season’s 76-86 team that finished fourth hit .250 for the season. The real strength for this team has been their pitching which has a 2.65 team ERA.
The starters led by Chris Sale and Jose Quintana have been awesome, but the difference maker has been baseball’s best bullpen with a 1.60 ERA. When the Sox get a small lead, they hang on for the win. It’s the same model of success the Royals used the past two seasons and the Pirates had the past three seasons.
That outstanding pitching has also helped them be the fourth best UNDER team for bettors going 16-8-2 (KC is No. 1 at 17-5-2). Twelve of its 18 wins have been a parlay combination to the UNDER. The Sox have won all six of Chris Sale’s starts – half stayed UNDER total, but Jose Quintana and Mat Latos have been cashing side to UNDER parlays all season going 8-2 in their starts.
That’s not just winning, which is 9-1, that’s a two team parlay going 8-2 when they’re either small favorites or underdogs the majority of the time. The formula seems good moving forward as long as their bats keep quiet. Keep betting it until it fails.
Hello Phillies!
Philadelphia only won 63 games last season and had a win total set at 66.5 in February, but early indications are that new manager Pete Mackanin has something clicking which will make them a thorn in the side of the favored NL East teams all season.
The Phillies might not present value at 500-to-1 odds to win the World Series, but they should be taken notice of daily getting jacked up prices as the sports books try to lure any money on a team that isn’t thought of too fondly by the public. That may change soon.
At 15-10 through Sunday’s games, bettors who had the gumption to bet them every game would be up +10.5 units. They were riding a six-game win streak through the weekend which included sweeps of Cleveland and Washington where they were the underdogs in all six.
Good pitching and fundamental baseball, along with light hitting, kept the UNDER in those games at 4-0-2. It’s something to consider daily especially when Vincent Velasquez takes the mound. They’ve won four of his five starts and he’s allowed only five earned runs total while striking out 39 in 31 innings.
Micah Roberts is a former Las Vegas race and sports book director, one of The Linemakers on SportingNews.com , and longtime motorsports columnist and sports analyst at GamingToday. Twitter: @MicahRoberts7 Email: [email protected].