Big favorites in the Series and big favorites in Game 1, the Detroit Tigers send Justin Verlander to the mound Wednesday night in San Francisco against Barry Zito and the Giants. SBR follows the Fall Classic from the start to finish with previews, commentary and MLB picks.
Tigers at Giants, World Series Game 1
Wednesday, Oct. 24 -- 8 PM (ET) FOX
It's funny, though not always ha-ha, how the mind works when you get to be an old fart such as myself. Some days, you're reminded of an event long past and totally irrelevant to whatever is going on in the present. Other days, you can't recall what you were doing five minutes ago.
And then there are days like Tuesday when the present did play a role in jogging a memory from the past, and possibly very relevant in the near future. We'll come back to that in a moment, assuming I don't forget.
With 2,430 regular season games and 33 more playoff contests finally in the books, the 2012 World Series is finally upon us. The beginning of the end of the MLB betting season starts Wednesday night with the Detroit Tigers -165 to -170 road favorites to open with a 1-0 lead over the San Francisco Giants who will host the first two contests. The expected pitching matchup between Justin Verlander and Barry Zito has led to a 6.5 run total that favors the OVER at shops like Bookmaker, and a 7 run total at The Greek priced -135 to the UNDER late Tuesday.
The 1968 World Series was the memory that came back to me while jotting down my thoughts in Tuesday's general preview of this year's Giants-Tigers clash. Granted, '68 was a matchup between the Tigers and Cardinals, recently defeated by San Fran in seven games to prevent a fourth Fall Classic between Detroit and St. Louis .
That '68 Series was a indeed a classic in every sense of the word, and remains one of my favorites. I won't bore you with details from 44 years ago, but entering that World Series, the general consensus was St. Louis would win all three games that Bob Gibson pitched. And the Cardinals almost did.
What caused that memory to return to the front of my fat head is this stuff we're already hearing about Verlander possibly pitching three games between now and November 1. And he just may, though that certainly remains to be seen. If so, can the Tigers win them all, or will the Giants figure out a way to beat the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young winner at least once? And ifSan Francisco can beat Verlander but once, why not in Game 1?
Giants Look To Extend Magic Behind Zito
If you don't already know the general stats for both clubs, and Game 1's pitchers, then go look them up. If you were expecting me to regurgitate numbers on anything, my old brain matter would have started with stats from that 1968 World Series, like Mickey Lolich winning three for the Tigers (Games 2, 5 & 7, all complete games). I might have also run down parts of pivotal Game 5 which are still etched in my brain, namely Al Kaline's big 2-run single late that plated the game winner.
We don't know if Verlander will start three games in this series, but we do know he will start Game 1, and nobody has beat him so far in three postseason starts. We also know that Zito is finally paying dividends for the Giants who have won each of his last 13 starts, none bigger than last Friday's NLCS Game 5 performance.
The Giants have gifted Zito with a lot of runs during this streak, close to two extra per game over their season scoring average. Getting that done against Verlander will require at least three runs coming plateward in the first couple of innings, and I simply don't see it happening.
Keeping One Eye On The Weather, The Other On Odds
One way or another, weather will be a factor in this World Series with all of the action taking place in open air stadiums well-north of the Mason-Dixon Line . Bettors will definitely need to get updated forecasts for each game, but right now it appears the first two in San Francisco will come off without a hitch. Remember that the games at AT&T Park will be late-afternoon affairs local time, and Wednesday calls for temps in the low-60s around first pitch, a slight chance of rain and a 10 mph SW breeze (straight out to right).
Assuming the teams do return to the Golden Gate City
Umpires have been announced for the title tilts, and it will be Gerry Davis chiefing the crew while working the plate in Game 1 (and potentially Game 7). The rest of the crew includes Dan Iassogna, Fieldin Culbreth and Brian O'Nora around the horn for the opener, with Brian Gorman on the LF line and Joe West in right. It's the first time for Iassogna and O'Nora to work a World Series.
I'm very tempted to take Verlander and the Tigers on the run-line as my MLB pick, a la Bob Gibson in Game 1 of the '68 Series, but instead will play the 2012 World Series opener with a wager on the total.
My picks: Under 6.5 (+105) ---
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