Home dogs

[Valuist]

Historically they've done quite well, although last year was a down year. I expect a rebound for this angle this season. 3 home dogs today; I won't advocate betting all of them but they are always worth a look:

CIN +131--The obvious negative here is Lieber has pitched great in recent starts vs the Reds. Hamilton's lone start in 2001 vs the Cubs was not good.

BALT +178--Maybe the long layoff will do Erickson some good. I'd like to see him have at least 1 good start first. On the positive side, how much longer can Clemens still be effective?

KC +110--Think this is the most solid of the 3 home dogs. I believe the Royals led the majors in 1 run losses last year; a number which could easily be improved upon. Minnesota is the home turf team playing on grass, an underrated angle. I know Minny was great early last year but I still don't trust their offense enough to be favored on the road.

 

[superbook]

Valuist -- do you play totals in bases?

I made on a small play on the under Mega Runs of 84 figuring that the pitchers are usually out in front of the batters early in the season.

An average of 8.4 rpg sounds high for an opening day game where the teams start their aces. Any thoughts?

- Jon

 

[Valuist]

I play totals on baseball but I usually don't play any the first couple weeks.

As for the other question, did you hear last night that Colon's shutout was the first shutout on Opening day in something like 9 years? I think Dwight Gooden was the last to do it. You'd think with the aces pitching, the bullpens rested and cold weather in many games, it would play into low scoring, but apparently that hasn't been the case. The only thing I can think of is that the hitters are all jacked up; nobody is in a slump yet; those goals of .300 BA or 30 HRs look attainable with a clean slate.