Report: Harden to miss 2012 season
Baseball Betting Lines
02/09/2012 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free agent pitcher Rich Harden will reportedly miss the entire 2012 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Harden had a torn capsule in his right shoulder repaired last week by noted sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews.
The 30-year-old right-hander first had shoulder problems back in 2007 with Oakland when he appeared in just seven games. He told the Chronicle that the injury dates back to an April 15, 2007 game against the Yankees when he was hurt trying to field a comebacker with his bare hand.
Harden returned to Oakland in 2011 after stints with the Cubs and Rangers, and posted a record of 4-4 with a 5.12 earned run average in 15 starts.
In 170 games, all but 10 of which have been starts, Harden owns a career mark of 59-38 with a 3.76 ERA.
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Brad Bergesen lost his arbitration case and will earn a salary of $800,000 for the 2012 season. Bergesen had sought $1.2 million. The right-hander was 2-7 with a 5.70 earned run a
<< High-ankle sprain shelves Pens' Kennedy
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma
revealed Thursday that forward Tyler Kennedy has a high-ankle sprain and will
possibly be sidelined at least a month.
"After a week we'll have a better idea
<< Koivu back in Wild lineup Thursday
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will have captain Mikko
Koivu in the lineup when they host the Northwest Division-leading Vancouver
Canucks on Thursday.
Koivu missed eight games with a shoulder injury suffered
<< Real Madrid's Altintop sustains calf injury
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid's Hamit Altintop has sustained a
muscle tear in his left calf and will likely be sidelined for a few weeks, the
La Liga club announced Thursday.
Although Real Madrid gave no exact timetable for
<< England names Pearce interim coach
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England named Stuart Pearce interim coach
Thursday, one day after Fabio Capello resigned.
Pearce will manage England against Netherlands in a friendly later this month,
while the English FA searches for a
Staten Island, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Fordham head football coach Tom Masella has been named associate head coach at Wagner College, veteran Seahawks head coach Walt Hameline announced Thursday. Masella, a native of Staten Island who p
San Jose signs Wondolowski to new contract >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes signed two-time MLS
leading scorer Chris Wondolowski to a new deal Thursday, although per league
and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wondolowski has led MLS in
Breen prepares Pants On Fire for return >>
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday marks a big day for trainer
Kelly Breen with the return of his 2011 Belmont Stakes champion Ruler On Ice.
The four-year-old gelding is one of the favorites for the $500,000 Donn
Handica
Houston acquires Kandji from Colorado >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo have acquired forward
Macoumba Kandji from the Colorado Rapids in exchange for a conditional draft
pick.
Kandji, 26, has played 57 regular season matches over five seasons in MLS. H
Lafayette-Lehigh to play 150 in NYC? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As if the 150th meeting between the
Lafayette and Lehigh football teams wasn't special enough ...
How about an extra special venue?
The Express-Times of Easton, Pa., reported Thursday about the concept o
Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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