MLB Betting: All Star Game Odds & Prediction

By: Willie Bee

There are several reasons why I would like to slap MLB commissioner Allan H. Selig up one side and down the other. The All-Star Game just happens to be one of them.

It has been 10 years since the infamous 7-7 tie at the Midsummer Classic resulted in Buddy Boy deciding that the game should "mean something."  Why, if I close my eyes right now, the vision of Selig shrugging and throwing up his arms in surrender is easy to conjure up. 

Baseball bettors, of course, know the game still doesn't mean anything even if the winning league gets home-field advantage in the World Series, recognizing the contest for the exhibition it truly is. If it really was significant, we wouldn't have MLB odds to consider prior to the starting pitchers being officially announced. Roughly 34 hours prior to the game, the American League is -120 chalk and the total has been set at 8.5 with a 10-cent lean to the OVER. 

Sources are saying that Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander will get the starting nod from AL manager Ron Washington. Among the hurlers being bandied about to start for the National League is New York Mets knuckleballer RA Dickey. If that does turn out to be the initial mound matchup, two more disparate styles of pitching could not be found with Verlander running his heater up there in the upper-90s while Dickey's offerings rarely reach the mid-80s. 

Another possibility to start for the NL is San Francisco Giants righthander Matt Cain. That could set up an interesting moment when Dickey does enter the game, possibly behind Cain, and forces AL batsmen to adjust from a hard-throwing Cain to a fluttering knuckler. 

As different as Verlander and Dickey (or Cain then Dickey) would be, the biggest difference in this contest just might be the two managers. Washington has already said his primary goal is to get everyone in the game, and if the AL has the lead late, then he will manage to win. Making the decisions over in the NL dugout will be Tony La Russa who is coming out of retirement to manage the NL club after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the 2011 World Series title. La Russa will also do what he can to get all of his players into the game, but I suspect he will manage to win right from the first pitch. 

The two rosters are ridiculously deep to begin with, as they are each and every All-Star Game. You could throw all of the names in a hat, pull one and have a decent shot of picking the eventual MVP of the contest. If I was to tab one player from each starting lineup to win the honors, they would be Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees for the AL side and the Cardinals' Carlos Beltran for the NL. Both could deliver an early long ball, and in the case of Beltran, he figures to be particularly amped up for this game as he returns to where he started his MLB career with the Kansas City Royals. 

Speaking of Kansas City, the game is returning to Kauffman Stadium for the first time since 1973.  In case you don't remember 1973, it was a time when the players who went to the All-Star Game really played to win. It was also the second of 11-straight wins by the NL, who won easily behind three home runs, 7-1. 

Picking a winner in the game is a bit of a coin flip for me, and if you follow that line of reasoning, then the value might be with the NL at +110. Coming up with the winning wager on the totals side might also be a coin flip, but the UNDER has been the winner four straight years, and I would bet on the pitchers again if I was so inclined to bet the total.

My just-for-fun wager, however, will be a small one on the AL run line. The American League has lost the last two, and I'm counting on that to be a motivating factor while also expecting ALhitters to put 3-4 early runs on the board. After that, I'll rely on Washington to work his bullpen to hold the lead. 

More than anything else with this game, don't pull a Bud Selig and think it's really important. Have some fun while enjoying a couple of cold beers and hot dogs from the comfy confines of your home or among friends down at the corner tavern. Save your serious side for Friday when play resumes for games that really do mean something. 

My pick: AL -1.5 +170 ---