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07/22/2007 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kason Gabbard tossed a three-hitter over seven innings, as the Boston Red Sox pounded the Chicago White Sox, 11-2, in the third game of a four-game set from Fenway Park.
Gabbard (4-0) struck out one batter and walked another, allowing just a run in the win.
Coco Crisp went 3-for-4 with five RBI and scored a run for the Red Sox, who also put up double digits in a 10-3 victory on Friday. Pinch-hitter Eric Hinske added a pair of hits, two RBI and scored once.
Josh Fields ended 2-for-4 with an RBI for the White Sox, who lost their second straight. John Danks (6-7) allowed four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks over six innings.
Leading 4-1, the Red Sox blew the game open with seven runs in the seventh. Boone Logan entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs, but walked in a run. Dewon Day came in next, but walked in two more runs before Crisp's two- run single and pinch-hitter Hinske's two-run triple.
Chicago got a run in the ninth on Rob Mackowiak's RBI double.
Chicago opened the scoring in the second when Fields doubled home a run. Boston answered with two runs in the bottom half, as Crisp singled in a pair of runs.
The Red Sox scored two more in the sixth. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis both singled and J.D. Drew doubled in a run. Mike Lowell was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Crisp singled home Drew, but Lowell got thrown out at home to end the inning.
Game Notes
This is the first series of the season between these teams, but Boston is 14-8 in the matchup since the start of the 2004 campaign. The White Sox have also struggled in Beantown, where they have won just three times in their last nine visits.
<< Henry set to make Barca debut in Scotland
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Striker Thierry Henry successfully completed
his first full practice with Barcelona on Saturday, and is now scheduled to
travel with his new team to Scotland for his Spanish debut.
Henry, who came to Ba
<< Penny struggles, still leads Dodgers past Mets
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Kemp crushed a three-run home run in a
five-run fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers recovered from a shaky
outing by Brad Penny to beat the New York Mets, 8-6, at Dodger Stadium.
Penny (12-
<< Bonds goes 0-for-2; Lincecum, leads Giants past Brewers
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Bonds went 0-for-2, failing to move any
closer to Hank Aaron's all-time home run record, but his teammates provided
enough offense to power San Francisco past the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-0, in the
second
<< Bacsik, Nats shutout Rockies
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Bacsik combined with three
Washington relievers on a three-hitter as the Nationals blanked the Colorado
Rockies, 3-0, in the third of a four-game series at RFK Stadium.
Bacsik (3-6) went
Cards agree with top pick Kozma >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals agreed to terms with
their top draft pick, shortstop Pete Kozma, on Saturday.
Kozma, who was the 18th pick overall in the first-year player draft on June 7,
will report to the club'
Marlins sink Reds with eight-run eighth >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez hit a three-run home run as part
of an eight-run eighth inning as the Florida Marlins crushed the Cincinnati
Reds, 11-1, in the third of a four-game set at Dolphin Stadium.
The big news for Fl
Chakvetadze, Morigami reach Cincinnati final >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze and
seventh-seed Akiko Morigami of Japan will battle in the final of the $175,000
Western & Southern Financial Open after both completed hard-fought victories
on Satu
Mauer's inside-the-park HR lifts Twins past Angels >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Mauer's inside-the-park three-run
home run in the eighth inning lifted the Minnesota Twins over the LA Angels of
Anaheim, 5-2, in the second game of a three-game set at the Metrodome.
Jason Bartl
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting