Odds Say White Sox Will Be Better — Than Twins

First baseman Jose Abreu hit his first home run as a Chicago White Sox in a 6-6 tie Thursday with the Kansas City Royals. It won’t be his last. Well, if it is, the Sox will be in for a long season. Even longer than 2013 — if that’s possible.

For those who care (and even for those who don’t), video of Marloes Horst is below.

* Sox center fielder Adam Eaton went 3-for-3 as the leadoff hitter in a 7-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Optimism abounds among Sox fans. Well, for at least one day.

* Speaking of leadoff hitters, Emilio Bonifacio went 2-for-4 for the Cubs against the Cleveland Indians. Anthony Rizzo also had two hits. Meaning the two players had as many hits combined as the Indians managed. Cubs left-hander Travis Wood started and pitched three scoreless innings. It doesn’t get much better than that. Well, if you ignore the 1-0 outcome with the Indians scoring on a bases-loaded walk.

* Now that there is supreme optimism in Cubs and Sox camp (if not entirely among the teams’ fans), here are some baseball odds from the fine folks at Bovada, (www.Bovada.lv, Twitter: @BovadaLV):

Odds to win the 2014 World Series

The Dodgers look good to the folks at Bovada.

Odds to win the 2014 AL Pennant
Detroit Tigers 17/4
Boston Red Sox 6/1
Tampa Bay Rays 6/1
New York Yankees 13/2
Texas Rangers 8/1
Oakland Athletics 9/1
Los Angeles Angels 11/1
Seattle Mariners 14/1
Baltimore Orioles 16/1
Kansas City Royals 16/1
Toronto Blue Jays 16/1
Cleveland Indians 20/1
Chicago White Sox 25/1
Minnesota Twins 50/1
Houston Astros 100/1

Odds to win the 2014 NL Pennant
Los Angeles Dodgers 11/4
St. Louis Cardinals 19/4
Washington Nationals 11/2
San Francisco Giants 15/2
Atlanta Braves 9/1
Cincinnati Reds 10/1
Pittsburgh Pirates 14/1
Philadelphia Phillies 16/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 22/1
San Diego Padres 25/1
Chicago Cubs 28/1
Milwaukee Brewers 28/1
New York Mets 33/1
Colorado Rockies 40/1
Miami Marlins 50/1

As some consolation to Lakers fans (their team lost 142-94 to the L.A. Clippers Thursday), there’s this photo.

Odds to win the 2014 AL EAST
New York Yankees 12/5
Boston Red Sox 11/5
Tampa Bay Rays 11/5
Toronto Blue Jays 7/1
Baltimore Orioles 7/1

Odds to win the 2014 AL CENTRAL
Detroit Tigers 4/9
Kansas City Royals 4/1
Cleveland Indians 7/1
Chicago White Sox 8/1
Minnesota Twins 33/1

Odds to win the 2014 AL WEST
Texas Rangers 7/4
Oakland Athletics 2/1
Los Angeles Angels 9/4
Seattle Mariners 7/1
Houston Astros 50/1

Odds to win the 2014 NL EAST
Washington Nationals 1/1
Atlanta Braves 5/4
Philadelphia Phillies 15/2
New York Mets 18/1
Miami Marlins 25/1

Odds to win the 2014 NL CENTRAL
St. Louis Cardinals 4/7
Cincinnati Reds 15/4
Pittsburgh Pirates 15/4
Milwaukee Brewers 14/1
Chicago Cubs 25/1

Odds to win the 2014 NL WEST
Los Angeles Dodgers 1/2
San Francisco Giants 13/4
Arizona Diamondbacks 8/1
San Diego Padres 10/1
Colorado Rockies 16/1

Thank you to April Rose for once again being a great guest on “Sports & Torts” with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris. Her “Chicago Faceoff With April Rose” debuts Friday on Comcast SportsNet and sounds like a lot of fun. Also appearing on “Sports & Torts” on Talkzone.com was Pro Football Hall of Famer John Stallworth. For those who missed the program (and/or those who would like an encore), you can click here.

Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):

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