Betting Interleague Baseball Games
Interleague baseball may have its share of detractors, but it has been good for the game. Fans are given a chance to see stars from the other league they nay not have gotten to see otherwise and the games also help build rivalries between teams in close proximity. When the Giants and Athletics, Dodgers and Angels or Yankees and Mets meet during the regular season, there is bound to be a bit of additional interest.By now even the most casual baseball fan knows that the American League has gotten the best of its older counterpart in Interleague games. That knowledge has transferred over to the betting world as well.
Over the past three seasons, American League home underdogs are a solid 29-23 against the National League. But last year's totals were just 5-8, which was a losing proposition. So not only were there far fewer American League home underdogs than in the previous two seasons, they performed much worse than they had been doing.
That is a frequent problem for sports bettors, as the oddsmakers and sportsbooks are also aware of trends, especially those that attract the public's attention. The case of the American League's superiority was talked about frequently by bettors and non-bettors alike.
Trends that don't garner much public attention can be expected to continue. There may be some ups and downs, but they are far less likely to have a complete reversal as trends that are well known.
One such case would be when two left-handed pitchers meet in Interleague play. Over the past three years these games have gone over the total 26 times and under the total 41 times. While last year the method was just 10-9, it's a trend that I'd expect to continue being profitable.
For starters, it makes sense. Left-handed pitchers are generally tougher to hit against, as there are so many left-handed hitters in the game today. Batting against a pitcher who you seldom see is also considered difficult. When combined, it should make for a lower-scoring game.
Now, if we were to eliminate games with a total of 8.5 or lower, our number of plays would naturally decrease, but our winning percentage would increase, as there have been 28 overs and 15 unders. And for 2009, instead of being 10-9 we would have been 8-4.
When Interleague play rolls around for 2010 look for those games where two southpaws are facing off. If the total is 9 or higher, you likely have a pretty good under bet.
