As the Byrds sang and the Bible preaches, there is a season for everything; In the wider world of sports, soccer is over and the baseball season is almost here.
Spring training is right around the corner and the Boys of Summer will soon be dominating the sports headlines.
Like the seasonal changes of the planet, people feel the transformation as it occurs.
“It’s up in the air,” observed Jeff Sherman, the Las Vegas Hilton SuperBook and Gambling Supervisor.
“You will know that baseball is really here when you can read about it on ESPN.com every day and watch ‘Baseball Tonight.”
Bookies generally advise that this is a good time to buy baseball futures, before the March Madness crowds drop the numbers.
“People are not very interested in baseball yet, but they will be in a few weeks,” said New Frontier chief of books Tony Nevill.
“That’s when you have a high concentration of people.
“They will be here to bet on basketball, but they will be looking towards baseball.
“All teams will have had some starts by then and pitchers will have some innings on their belts.”
Future World Series prices vary from store to store, depending on a number of things.
That makes shopping and cost comparisons imperative.
One factor in pricing is the opinions of baseball specialists at individual houses.
They design their own numbers or work with a “master” list provided by Las Vegas Sports Consultants, adjusting the numbers as they see fit.
Nevill notes that money moves ranks and the area a hotel guest comes from often influences future fluctuations, as fans bet their hard-earned dollars on local teams.
“We get a lot of guests from hotels in the Midwest and they bet on the Midwest teams,” Nevill said.
Surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, one of those teams is the Chicago Cubs.
The Windy City Northsiders are annual liabilities almost everywhere, as members of the Cubbie Nation emerge from all four corners of the country to dream, gamble and have new hope.
Some attribute this widespread popularity to the SuperStation WGN, which made Cubs games the first to be broadcast nationwide when television was still young; Those fans of yesteryear are now senior citizens, but the ties to the club are as binding as ever.
What makes this season different from most is that there is actually reason to believe, as Ernie Banks would put it, that the Cubs will find heaven in 2007.
“I think (.325 batter for life) Alfonso Soriano will be the spark plug the club needs,” said LVSC boss Ken White.
“If they can get Kerry Wood in the bullpen, ready to play a couple innings every other day, that would be a huge help,” Nevill added.
However, it’s best to buy those Cubs futures quickly, because prices are dropping faster than Wal-mart Holiday Barbies the day after Christmas.
Even Nevill was shocked when her computer revealed the plain truth.
“We opened the Cubs at 60/1 and now they’re 6/1,” Nevill said.
“Yes, you heard that right.”
White called that “too low,” and said he could still find Cubs futures in the 30/1 to 35/1 range across the valley.
Some gambling shops hung long-suffering Chicagoans up to 75/1.
Bruins futures have been cut in half at the Hilton.
“We opened them on 1/30 and now it’s 1/15,” Sherman said.
“That is typical.”
Philadelphia, which narrowly missed the 2006 postseason, is also attracting the attention of New Frontier futures.
The Phillies have slugger Ryan Howard and should bolster their mound corps with the acquisition of former White Sox pitcher Freddie Garcia.
“I know the computer says the money is coming to the Cubs, but it seems like all the other futures bets we’re making are in Philadelphia,” Nevill said.
“However, we’ve only lowered the odds of the Phillies from 18/1 to 15/1.
“That should tell you that I am not convinced of them.
“They have yet to prove themselves to me.”
The New Frontier is in good standing with all American League teams, although Nevill is on the lookout for any major or concentrated action in Cleveland.
“We opened the Indians at 35/1, we went to 40/1 and then we went back to 35,” Nevill said.
“I like them a bit and I don’t want to be caught off guard.”
Nevill noted that the Califnornia clubs are considered more or less like home teams and are strongly supported.
“The Dodgers, Angels, Padres … even the G-Men and the North Athletics,” Nevill said.
“The way things are set up, it doesn’t take much to win a division anymore.
“The California teams haven’t played much yet, but it’s probably because their starting odds weren’t very high.”
White and Sherman noted that San Francisco futures plummeted when the Giants acquired pitcher Barry Zito from the Athletics.
San Francisco opened between 60/1 and 75/1 and is currently in the neighborhood from 25/1 to 35/1, though the numbers could rise again if slugger Barry Bonds is prosecuted.
As usual, the New York Yankees are favorites in everything, including the ALDS, ACCS and the World Series.
Mike Colbert, the Plaza’s racing and sports betting manager, agrees that the Bronx Bombers should succeed this season and even more so if Roger Clemens reaches a deal that returns him to the Big Apple.
“They will definitely (become) the team to beat,” Colbert said.
Colbert noted that the Plaza had received more than a fair share of future bets in Milwaukee and Colorado at 50/1.
He also echoed Nevill in urging diamond futures players to rush to the betting windows.
“After March Madness ends, baseball heats up,” Colbert said.
“Fans looking for baseball bargains should definitely do it now.”
