Bowl Games Over; Baseball Just Around the Corner
College football is my favorite sport. So you’d think I might be a bit blue with the season being over now. As usual, it went by way too fast. And the older I get the faster it seems to fly by. But actually, this is an exciting time of year for me. Why? Probably because I live in Daytona Beach, FL. In other parts of the country, the end of football might be a bit more depressing, but not here. I can go outside and there is a good chance I will hear race cars in the distance. That excites me. While the NFL Playoffs are still going on, my attention is turning away from football and towards the Daytona 500. But also, along with a new NASCAR season, it is also the time to start looking forward to baseball season.
I love baseball season. It starts early here in Florida. Why? Because here, college baseball is a big deal. Some of the nation’s best college baseball teams play here in Florida. And early in the season, most of the schools from the north have to come down here to play because it’s still freezing where they are from. So baseball season here starts in February. Then, in late February, Major League Baseball starts their Grapefruit League spring games. This year, they start playing games on Feb 23rd. From then until the end of March, there are about half of MLB teams within driving distance any day of the week from my house. If I wake up one day and decide I want to go see the New York Yankees, that is a little over two hours away. I can hop in the car and be there well before the game starts. The Detroit Tigers are even closer than the Yankees. The Atlanta Braves are closer still. The Houston Astros? From my driveway to their parking lot is one hour and 20 minutes. The Washington Nationals are about the same. How can you beat that?
So it is almost time for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training. And with that, it is time for baseball fans everywhere to start their favorite pastime for this time of year, planning their baseball trips for the summertime. When you plan your trips, you want to see the best match-ups. So you want to check and see who the favorites are to make it to the World Series.
TopBet has your 2013 MLB futures for winning the World Series, the American League Pennant and the National League Pennant.
It looks like they are expecting some short travel between World Series games, because the two favorites are the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers at +600. With Josh Hamilton joining the already potent Angles I can see why, but they did lose Zach Grienke to the Dodgers, which explains the Dodgers being a favorite, but should that not lessen the likelihood of the Angles making it that far? The Washington Nationals are next at +800. Be careful about betting on them too soon. Teams that suffer heart-breaking post season losses like they did a year ago, often start the following year slowly. Those defeats tend to linger a bit. So if you wait, the odds on the Nats could rise in your favor.
Teams to stay away from in my opinion, the New York Yankees at +1500 and the Boston Red Sox at +2000. The Yanks are going to start the season without Alex Rodriguez. He could miss significant time. And the Red Sox were so bad last season, they would have to improve an awful to to get back into contention this year. Why would I bet on them at +2000, when I can get the Tampa Bay Rays with that pitching staff at +2200 or the Oakland A’s at +2500?
Yes people, it is time to talk baseball. Isn’t it great?
