THE WORLD SERIES MEANS ACTION
For decades Major League Baseball’s annual World Series was the most wagered on sporting event of the year. Way before the first TV sets showed up in American homes, local bookies enjoyed unprecedented action during the World Series each year.
Instead of big screen TVs everywhere, the local pub would always have a good quality radio turned up loud so that patrons could listen to the baseball games, on which most of them had wagers with their local bookie, who was probably seated down at the end of the bar by the pay phone.
Never mind that these days it’s the Super Bowl which has taken over as the most wagered on sports event of the year, the MLB seven game World Series is still one of the greatest sporting events of the year and a huge wagering opportunity for bettors everywhere, especially for baseball fans.
Team and individual props abound on wagering menus ranging from the number of home runs hit to how many pitches that the starting pitchers will throw. The list goes on and on and bettors across the land all have their personal favorites to lay down wagers on.
The 2019 World Series will open at Minute Maid Park in Houston when the Astros host the Washington Nationals to kick off this year’s Fall Classic. Houston begins the World Series at -235 to the Nationals +195 as a price for the whole best of seven game series.
For the opening contest on October 22, the Astros will start their ace pitcher Garrit Cole and are still favored at -200 to Washington’s +170, even with one of the toughest pitchers in the game today on in mound in Max Scherzer for the Nationals. The over and under for the first game set at 6.5 runs and with these to first class pitchers going up against some world class hitters, that bet could go either way.
The Houston Astros, fresh off of their game six walk off victory supplied off the bat of Jose Altuve in the bottom of the ninth inning over the New York Yankees, will be back home among their faithful fans to take on the Washington Nationals, who should be well rested after taking care of the St. Louis Cardinals in a four game sweep in the NCLS.
The Astros, who are probably still buzzing from their victory over the Yankees, won a franchise record 107 games this year with 55 losses while the Nationals came in as the National League Wild Card team with a record of 93-69. On paper the Astros look like the better team, after all they were World Series Champions just year before last when they defeated the Dodgers.
So the Washington Nationals are going into the 2019 World Series as underdogs, but historically, lots of underdogs have ended up winning the World Series over teams who looked better on paper. It’s what’s in the heart that counts, not what’s on the paper when the World Series rolls around this time of the year.
But the coveted ‘home field advantage’ also goes to the Astros by virtue of their impressive 107 games won this year so that the first two games will be played in Houston, then a day off for travel, then three games will be played at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. in a much different, outdoors and colder, environment from the enclosed park down in Texas.
If the best of four games is still not decided, the whole show will move back to Minute Maid Park in Houston to decide the final outcome and the winners of the 2019 World Series.
Bettors everywhere will have good reasons to consider betting the under seeing as the starting pitching matchups listed for the first three games will be featuring six of the best major league pitchers on the planet today.
After Sherzer and Cole go at it on Tuesday we will get Stephen Strasburg and Justin Verlander on Wednesday and then Zack Greinke vs. Partick Corbin when the series moves up to Washington D.C. on Friday. That line up has already won 5 Cy Young Awards and is eye candy for true pitching fans.
This is looking like it has to potential to be one of the best MLB World Series in recent memory.
