There were some interesting odds in my local paper. The White Sox (Hernandez) were considered strong favourites (+160) over the Jays (Bush). The D-Rays and Kazmir were considered underdogs (-140) against the Rangers. The Yanks (Mussina) are favourites (+140) over the Indians (Cliff Lee) in Cleveland. The notion that pitchers peak earlier than one might have guessed doesn't seem to have affected oddsmaking yet.

so how does that "odds making" thing work? The bigger the number (say +160) means the bigger favourite you are, and if you're (-160) you're an underdog? How does that work in terms of winnings payed back for a successful bet?

Jobu, I too do not understand the betting line stuff.

Anyone know what it means, what it translates into when betting? Like if if's +160 and you bet 1 do you win 60? 160? none of the above?

I just want to pass GO and get $100!

Ah betting lines. I'm certainly not surprised the Jays are underdogs tonight, but 160 is a bit of a surprise. What that means is, to bet on the White Sox (-160), you must wager 160 to win only 100. Not very good odds. But betting on the underdog Jays, you only have to wager 100 to win 160, much better payback.

A large favorite can be over 200, as is the case with the Mets (Pedro's pitching) agasint the Brewers tonight (-270/+230). Occasionally in a toss up, both teams will have a minus #, like the SD/Pit game (-106/-104).

Bodog.com is one of many online sites that gives odds for every game. I don't bet on sports, but I check lines fairly frequently. If nothing else you can learn more about sports betting by reading lines and understanding parlays etc.

According to this Associated Press report, some anonymous baseball source has told a handful of U.S. newspapers that Palmeiro's positive test was for stanozolol, which is not found in supplements.

We'll probably never find out if that's true, because baseball's drug policy expressly forbids sharing the specific results apart from pass/fail.

The article goes on to list some contradictory information about whether or not supplements can trigger positive tests; a spokesperson for the supplement industry says it's impossible, and a German study is cited that claims 15% of tested supplements contained undocumented steroids.

Now, if it's true that Palmeiro's positive test was for stanozolol, it's a lot harder to believe it was an accident. That's the same drug that Ben Johnson took. Last summer I saw a fantastic documentary on Johnson's fall from grace (narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, but I can't remember the name of it) that examined every possibility and came to the conclusion that Ben Johnson was caught because he was dumb -- that there was just no way for him to have taken stanozolol by accident. Johnson himself admits in the documentary that he took the drug, but also says that the entire field was dirty and that steroids were the only way to be competitive.

While Johnson refuses to talk specifically about why he was caught, the conclusion of the film is that he was taking two different steroids, one for training and one for race day, and that he mistakenly took the training drug before the race. Had he taken the other one, his sample would have come up clean.

The documentary was Ben Johnson: Drugs and the Quest for Gold. It also includes a neat mini-history of how steroids came to the United States.

While Johnson refuses to talk specifically about why he was caught, the conclusion of the film is that he was taking two different steroids, one for training and one for race day, and that he mistakenly took the training drug before the race. Had he taken the other one, his sample would have come up clean.

Wow, I hadn't heard that before. It's amazing how much his life got altered by that moment.

I don't know if I'd ever stop kicking myself.

Here is something thats pretty funny...
Jay Mohr has written an article about True Yankees. Its an amusing read, but the part the I find hilarious is when he lists some players who are on the team but aren't Yankees, and then says who were born to be Yankees.

Here's the list:

2B Tony Womack -- should have been -- 2B David Eckstein
3B Alex Rodriguez -- should have been -- 3B Eric Hinske
SP Randy Johnson -- should have been -- SP Pedro Martinez

Anyone notice something hilarious? He'd rather have Eric Hinske than A-Rod!

Here's the link...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/jay_mohr/08/03/hot.read/index.html

Dan Schulman is on the Fan right now, and he says that with the information that came out today, Palmeiro has announced that he is going to give us "full disclosure".

The White Sox went off at -140. The lines in the paper don't always reflect what you really can get on the internet or in Vegas. There is also a vig, so the Jays are +130, they aren't the opposite of the White Sox. You'd get back 130 on a $100 bet on Toronto.

Covers.com will show you all the lines in one place though to compare a number of Internet sites.

Toronto, Tampa and Cleveland all won. The parlay probably would have gotten you about $15 for a $2 bet. Count one for Captain "Mortality"- that's me, the one who urges kids never to bet, stay in school and get married young.