Betting Big Apple Baseball
Playing baseball in the Big Apple is unlike any other market. Whether a player is hot, cold, cheating on his wife, or has bad breath, chances are fans can read about it in the daily rags.
It’s the price you pay for playing ball for two of the most popular sports franchises in America.
The New York Yankees and New York Mets are also two of the most popular teams among sports bettors. And with that popularity comes inflated price tags on their daily baseball betting odds. Sometimes referred to as the Yankee Tax, the extra couple cents on the moneyline isn’t reserved for just the Bronx Bombers.
Mets bettors have felt the pinch of bookmakers this season. The team from Queens is currently on a slide, dropping seven of its past 11 games heading into Wednesday. That skid has put Mets backers in the red, falling to minus 1 unit on the season.
Injuries are the biggest reason why New York is struggling. Most recently, the Mets added All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran to the disabled list due to a bruised right knee. Beltran’s .336 batting average and eight home runs join first baseman Carlos Delgado and shortstop Jose Reyes on the sidelines.
Their pitching staff hasn’t escaped the injury bug either. Starter John Maine is out with a tender shoulder, while the bullpen is without setup man J.J. Putz, who will be nursing a bone spur for the next few months.
Also adding to the Mets’ woes is the sudden decline of ace Johan Santana. The former Cy Young winner had lost three of his last four starts heading into Thursday’s scheduled appearance. In his last three outings, Santana is lugging an ERA over 8.00 and has served up six home runs.
On the other side of New York, the Yankees aren’t fairing much better than their cross-town counterparts. The Bronx Bombers have also lost seven of their past 11 games heading into Wednesday, totaling the cost at more than nine units on the year.
Serious damage was done this past week with New York dropping two of three games to the lowly Washington Nationals and the Florida Marlins. Those two series alone burned backers for nearly five betting units.
Despite the losses, the Yankees’ pitching has picked it up. Star arms CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett have settled into their pinstripes, while Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte have been steady for most of 2009. As a staff, New York has a 3.85 ERA for the month of June.
While the Yankees are considered one of the top offensive teams in the majors – especially in homer-friendly Yankee Stadium – their bats have been silenced during this current funk. They’ve averaged just over two runs per game in the past five contests, including getting shut out twice in that span.
And the offense won’t get a jumpstart from new Yankee Stadium until the end of the month. The Yankees remain on the road until June 28, when they close out a three-game set against the Mets. They have hit 105 home runs this season, but just 39 of those have come in opposing ballparks.
