Reds' Cabrera comes off DL

Baseball Betting Lines

09/03/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds have activated shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the 15-day disabled list.

Cabrera hasn't played since August 2 because of a strained left oblique.

The 35-year-old was batting .260 with three home runs, 37 runs batted in and 51 runs scored in 102 games prior to the DL stint.

Also, pitchers Matt Maloney and Jordan Smith were recalled from Triple-A Louisville.

Maloney started two games for the Reds this season, losing both despite posting a 3.09 earned run average. Smith has made 27 relief appearances for the big league club, going 2-2 with one save and a 3.67 ERA.

Hamkooki Baseball Betting News

<< Murray cruises into third round in New York
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Andy Murray was an easy straight-set winner on Friday in second round action at the 2010 U.S. Open. Murray needed under 1 1/2 hours to dispatch Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0, i

<< Giants activate P Ray
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have activated reliever Chris Ray off the disabled list. Ray, who missed 14 games with a right intercostal strain, has gone 3-0 with a 5.40 earned run average in 20 appearances

<< Georgia's Ogletree suspended one game following arrest
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia freshman safety Alec Ogletree has been suspended for one game following an arrest last Friday on a theft charge. "Certainly it's an unfortunate sequence of events," said Georgia head coach Mark Ric

<< Browns place Hardesty on IR, waive six
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns placed rookie running back Montario Hardesty on injured reserve Friday in addition to waiving six players. Hardesty, a second-round pick out of Tennessee, left the Browns' prese

<< Rams reduce roster by four players
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams announced Friday the release of four players, putting the active roster at 71 players. St. Louis must release 18 more players before Saturday's 6 p.m. (et) deadline. The four rele

Johnson, Day share Deutsche Bank lead >>
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Johnson and Jason Day both fired eight- under 63s to share the lead after the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. With Hurricane Earl bearing down on the Northeast coast, players wer

Strasburg has successful surgery >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg underwent successful season-ending ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery on Friday. The procedure, more commonly known as Tommy Jo

Royals activate Bannister, Hochevar; Kendall has surgery >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals activated pitchers Brian Bannister and Luke Hochevar from the disabled list, and catcher Jason Kendall underwent successful surgery to repair his right shoulder. Bannister was o

Dodgers activate Furcal from DL >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have activated shortstop Rafael Furcal from the 15-day disabled list. The 32-year-old switch hitter is penciled into the leadoff spot for the Dodgers Friday night as the

Bucks sign Hobson >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks signed second-round draft choice guard Darington Hobson to an undisclosed contract on Friday. Hobson, the 37th overall pick in this year's draft, averaged 16.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.