Is it too early for baseball fever? Perhaps, although I will admit to suffering from some sinus issues and watery eyes Saturday. Sounds more like allergies or something other than fever. Anyway, the season does open Sunday (March 31) with the Texas Rangers facing the Houston Astros who are making their American League debut.
Chicago baseball begins Monday with the White Sox hosting the Kansas City Royals. Comcast SportsNet, which is scheduled to televise 99 games this season will have the game at 3 p.m. with pregame programming beginning at 2.
The Cubs open at Pittsburgh. Second baseman Darwin Barney, who injured his knee on Saturday, is expected to miss the opener. Gee, wonder if that hurts their championship chances. Probably not. Mainly because such a possibility pretty much falls in the fantasy category.
With all that in mind, here are some odds from the fine folks at Bovada, (www.Bovada.lv, Twitter: @BovadaLV) to ponder while waiting for the rest of the teams to start play:
Washington Nationals 7/1
Detroit Tigers 8/1
Toronto Blue Jays 8/1
Los Angeles Angels 9/1
Los Angeles Dodgers 9/1
Cincinnati Reds 12/1
San Francisco Giants 12/1
Atlanta Braves 16/1
Philadelphia Phillies 16/1
Tampa Bay Rays 16/1
Texas Rangers 16/1
New York Yankees 20/1
St. Louis Cardinals 20/1
Baltimore Orioles 30/1
Boston Red Sox 30/1
Oakland Athletics 30/1
Chicago White Sox 40/1
Kansas City Royals 50/1
Milwaukee Brewers 50/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 60/1
Cleveland Indians 66/1
Pittsburgh Pirates 66/1
Chicago Cubs 75/1
San Diego Padres 75/1
Minnesota Twins 100/1
New York Mets 100/1
Seattle Mariners 100/1
Colorado Rockies 150/1
Miami Marlins 200/1
Houston Astros 250/1
Toronto Blue Jays 15/4
Detroit Tigers 17/4
Los Angeles Angels 9/2
Texas Rangers 15/2
Tampa Bay Rays 8/1
New York Yankees 9/1
Boston Red Sox 14/1
Baltimore Orioles 16/1
Oakland Athletics 16/1
Chicago White Sox 20/1
Kansas City Royals 28/1
Cleveland Indians 30/1
Minnesota Twins 50/1
Seattle Mariners 50/1
Houston Astros 125/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 81.5
Atlanta Braves 87.5
Baltimore Orioles 78.5
Boston Red Sox 82.5
Chicago Cubs 73.5
Chicago White Sox 81.5
Cincinnati Reds 91.5
Cleveland Indians 78.5
Colorado Rockies 71.5
Detroit Tigers 92.5
Houston Astros 59.5
Kansas City Royals 78.5
Los Angeles Angels 91.5
Los Angeles Dodgers 90.5
Miami Marlins 63.5
Milwaukee Brewers 80.5
Minnesota Twins 68.5
New York Mets 74.5
New York Yankees 84.5
Oakland Athletics 84.5
Philadelphia Phillies 84.5
Pittsburgh Pirates 77.5
San Diego Padres 74.5
San Francisco Giants 87.5
Seattle Mariners 77.5
St. Louis Cardinals 86.5
Tampa Bay Rays 87.5
Texas Rangers 86.5
Toronto Blue Jays 88.5
Washington Nationals 92.5
Speaking of odds and such, anyone outside of Wichita State students and/or alums have the Shockers in the Final Four for the NCAA basketball tournament? Something says even those folks wagering actual money were reluctant to back the Shockers.
* As shocking as Wichita State may be in joining Syracuse (which defeated Marquette) in the Final Four, even more shocking has been the field-goal accuracy — actually the lack of it — during the tournament. Once upon a time teams would dazzle with offensive outbursts. Such is not the case this year.
* Speaking of shocking, how about Steve Alford becoming coach at UCLA. Aside from wondering why the Bruins found him a worthy successor to Ben Howland, you have to wonder how in the world Alford managed to land a seven-year deal to leave New Mexico, where his teams have done well in the regular season only to falter in the NCAA tournament.
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