I can't imagine anyone wagering serious money on this game, but I have been giving it a lot of thought and here is what keeps popping into my mind. Call it the "Suzuki Factor".
AL and over.
This All Star game will have the largest Japanese audience in history watching it live. All year long Ichiro Suzuki has been doing incredible things at opportune times and the home folks have already made him a legend. With the Mariners having eight members on the American League team and playing at home I must respect the American League and it wouldn't surprise me to see something happen that would make two inch headlines in every newspaper in Japan . . . like a game winning Suzuki grand slam.
In Japan Suzuki is as big as the Babe, and with millions of overseas television sets on watching this game live I just have a hunch something could happen that will make this day live forever in Japanese history.
That said, where will all the Japanese money be bet? The American League . . . which will mean the real value is on the National League.
I'm going to put my 50 cents on the AL just because I don't want to miss out if Ichiro makes history, but I wouldn't go a dollar. Interleague was tough enough the last few days and this game borders on being impossible to handicap. Just going with my gut.
NCU
