A team from the AL East likely will win the World Series this month.
That’s the clear forecast from www.linesmaker.com, which produced its Series odds yesterday.
The New York Yankees have been established as heavy, 2-to-1 favourites, and they’re followed closely by the Boston Red Sox, at 3-to-1.
Then come the Philadelphia Phillies at 5-to-1, the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs at 7-to-1, the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies at 8-to-1 and the Arizona Diamondbacks at 10-to-1.
The Phillies were major long shots only a few weeks ago. Their own general manager gave up on winning their division late in the regular season, before the New York Mets proceeded to choke and gag in one of the worst collapses in MLB history.
“It’s really a fluke that we we’ve made it this far,” Phillies GM Pat Gillick confessed. “There’s no other way to put it. We got awfully lucky.”
• After the botched calls (umpires missed a home run and later called Colorado’s Matt Holliday safe at home for the game-winning run even though he never touched the plate) in Monday’s wild wild-card tiebreaker between the Rockies and the San Diego Padres, look for some form of video replay in MLB next season. Finally … Let’s agree now, before all the TV bafflegab in the playoffs, that the so-called gyroball doesn’t exist and that there’s been way too much hype and baloney about Boston rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka … And Barry Bonds isn’t done just yet. AL clubs, including the Angels, Oakland A’s and Minnesota Twins, plan to bid for the 44-year-old homer king this winter.
• What’s this we’re hearing about Tiki Barber possibly giving up his NBC job and joining his twin brother Ronde and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a replacement for Cadillac Williams? … And Ricky Williams? Well, he couldn’t say no to drugs so the NFL should just say no to him. Heck, the NHL said no to Alexei Yashin for less … And did new New York Islander Mike Comrie really buy girlfriend Hilary Duff a $100,000 Mercedes Benz SUV for her 20th birthday? … A Calgary veteran discussing new Flames coach Mike Keenan: “He has to loosen up. We’re already tired, and the season hasn’t even started.”
• In the CFL, Stampeders coach Tom Higgins needed a scapegoat and fired defensive co-ordinator Denny Creehan instead of himself. Oddly enough, Creehan’s son Casey remains in Calgary, for now, as defensive-line coach … And there’s a new controversy in Hamilton, where Tiger-Cats coach Charlie Taaffe is calling Jesse Lumsden injury-prone. The running back probably is out for the season with shoulder damage.
In three-plus decades as a columnist and broadcaster, Marty York has built a network of solid contacts and a renowned reputation for his hard-hitting, groundbreaking style. The tradition continues in Metro Sports.
