Wrigley Field Profile
Vitals:
Location: 1060 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Date Opened: April 23, 1914
Owner: Chicago Cubs
Architect: Zachary Taylor Davis
Capacity: 41,160
Cost: $250,000
MLB Betting fans have seen plenty of heartbreak at the Friendly Confines, which is one of the oldest, most memorable and allegedly cursed ball parks of all time. Cub’s fans betting on the team to win a World Series have been waiting for over a century. The team last one a world series in 1908 when they called the West Side Ball Park their home field.
Since moving to Wrigley in 1916, the Cubs have played host to the World Series four times. The Cubs last appearance in a meaningful baseball game at Wrigley was in October of 1945 in a losing effort. Over the last 65 years, the Cubs have struggled mightily at Wrigley, and many have pondered why the club has not considered switching to a new stadium.
Wrigley Field was nicknamed the Friendly Confines by hall of famer and Mr. Cub Ernie Banks. It is the second oldest ball park in all of baseball, to Fenway Park home of the Boston Red Sox since 1912.
Wrigley is famous for its Ivory walls located in the outfield. As the season progresses, the Ivory further grows in and many baseball have been lost in the Ivy patches. This has resulted in many hits being ruled as ground rule doubles. The Ivy is from Boston and was first planted by then Cubs general manager Bill Veeck in 1937.
Further, Wrigley along with Fenway are the only two ball parks in which the scoreboard is turned by hand rather than via computer. Also, the Cubs ownership refused to put in night lights until the 1988 season, making it rather difficult to have night games.
Umpire Effect On Totals
A narrow strike zone is one which benefits the hitter, as the margin for error is so little, that one bad pitch could lead to a walk or a hit. On the other hand a wide strike zone is one that benefits the pitcher, because a ball that hits the outside corner and would otherwise be considered a ball is now a strike. Basically, a narrow strike zone would cause the totals to go over while the wider strike zone would cause the totals to go under. For example in 2006, 24 umpires led by veteran Mike Everett saw 60 percent of the games they called go over the total. Everett alone had 22 of a possible 34 games behind home plate go over the total. Yet in 2007, when Everett worked behind home plate, only 13 of his games went over the total while 18 went under. Also in 2007, 14 of the 23 other umpires who saw their totals go over in 2006 saw games go under same as Everett in 2007. Nevertheless, the other nine umpires in that 23 total, saw the results from 2007 remain the same as 2006. When factoring in the umpires effect on totals prior to making a wager, many bettors would have won over 280 wagers in 2007 while losing 284. It appears that the influence of umpires was rather insignificant in 2007. This can be credited too batters and pitchers making adjustments to get the results they want when the specific umpire is behind the plate. First Inning Bets
One important factor to take into account when wagering on the first inning is who the starting pitchers are. As well you should also consider which teams are playing. For instance, if a pitcher with a high earned run average is pitching against a team that ranks higher up in the offensive categories, then you may feel safer betting on a run being scored. Conversely, if a team with a middle of the pack offense is facing the ace of a rotation you may feel better wagering on a run not being given up. Although first inning bets are similar to totals, sportsbooks require bettors to wager in a similar fashion to that of the money line. For the bettor who believes a run will be scored, they are asked to risk a higher amount then that of a bettor who believes no runs will be scored. Here is how it looks: Will a run be scored in the first inning? Yes – 120 No – 110 As portrayed in the example, fans are required to wager on a 30 cent line, which provides two positives for them. Firstly, by betting on a 30 cent line, bettors have the ability to choose games in which they have the best value odds. Secondly, because we are betting on the start of the game, if we bet a run to not be scored we have an advantage, because the sportsbook slants the odds to benefit the no side as a result of having confidence in the starting pitcher. |
Good Luck / Bad Luck Pitchers
Sometimes luck can be so cruel. For instance, on the Kansas City Royals, last year’s CY Young winner Zach Greinke, known as one of the best pitchers in baseball is sporting a five and 11 record with a 3.94 ERA while teammate Brian Bannister is sporting a 10 – eight record with an ERA around six. For all intents and purposes, good luck pitchers are those defined as giving up at least five runs a game, while still managing to pick up a victory. Conversely a bad luck pitcher is one that continuously shows strong efforts but ends up on the wrong end of the stick. In the example above Bannister would be a good luck pitcher while Greinke would be a bad luck pitcher. Here is how to bet on both forms of pitchers. As a fan and a bettor you want to see good luck pitchers get what is coming to them. By betting against a good luck pitcher you are expecting them to lose. In order for this type of bet to work, you need to look at a minimum of three of the pitcher’s next starts. From there you would wager on him to lose each game or up until he does lose. Then you would move on to a different good luck pitcher. Conversely, when betting with a bad luck pitcher, you are wagering on that pitcher to win their next start. To cushion yourself, you would commit to wagering on this pitcher for up to three starts or until they win. After they finally win, you would then move on to another bad luck pitcher. Examining Starting Pitchers
Since baseball first became a professional sport 100 years ago, experts have created a wide array of statistical categories for each position. For pitchers this includes ERA, WHIP, and win loss and teams records in games started. For the bettor who wagers specifically on a team to win or lose, teams records in games started is all you are concerned with. Essentially this stat, credits the starting pitcher with the win or loss no matter if they factor into the outcome. ERA and win loss records affect the pitcher individually and are therefore useless for bettors to rely on. TRGS as we previously noted credits the pitcher with a win or a loss no matter if they factor into a decision. This takes away the concept of a no decision, in which, if the bullpen blows a lead and loses the game the bullpen takes the loss. We have found that TRGS is a more telling statistic when it comes to a team’s success. For instance, in a game in late September of 2007 when the Chicago Cubs sent starting pitcher Steve Traschel to face the Florida Marlins and their starter Scott Olsen, it was discovered that the Marlins were the better team even though they were the underdog. Basically, Traschel had a win loss record of seven and 10, but an overall record of 10- 18 after combining his TRGS with his win loss record. In the games that Traschel would have got a no decision, he had a record of three wins and eight losses. Conversely, Scott Olsen had a win loss record of nine wins and 15 losses, yet a TRGS of seven wins and one loss for an overall record of 16 wins 16 losses. Therefore the TRGS made the Marlins the better team to wager on. |
