Category: National League

Magic Numbers, World Series Favorites, MVP Odds And More

From your basic statistics such as batting average and ERA to more advanced sabermetrics like UZR and BABIP, baseball is a sport littered with numbers.

Baseball fans typically like numbers, so here are some numbers to keep your eyes on for the remainder of the season:

Playoff Clinch Scenarios:

*The Angels can clinch a playoff berth September 10th, the earliest of any team in the Majors.

*The Orioles and Nationals could clinch their divisions (AL and NL East) on September 12th, the earliest of any team.

Magic Numbers To Win Division:

*Orioles magic number is 19

*Royals magic number is 26 (25 to clinch playoff berth)

*Angels magic number is 22 (17 to clinch playoff berth)

*Nationals magic number is 19

*Cardinals magic number is 25 (23 to clinch playoff berth)

*Dodgers magic number is 23 (20 to clinch playoff berth)

Wild Cards:

*A’s magic number to clinch a playoff berth is 21 (22 for the first Wild Card spot)

*Tigers magic number is 25 to clinch a playoff berth

*Giants magic number is 22 to clinch a playoff berth and 24 to host the Wild Card game.

*The Brewers magic number is 24.

Pennant Odds: According to Bovada Sportsbook (http://sports.bovada.lv/)

AL

*Angels – 5/2

*A’s – 7/2

*Orioles and Tigers – 4/1

*Royals – 7/1

*Mariners – 12/1

NL

*Dodgers – 2/1

*Nationals – 5/2

*Cardinals – 5/1

*Brewers and Giants – 7/1

*Braves – 14/1

World Series Odds:

*Angels – 5/1

*Dodgers – 11/2

*Nationals – 6/1

*Orioles and A’s – 7/1

*Tigers – 8/1

AL Cy Young:

*Felix Hernandez -300

*Chris Sale +300

*Max Scherzer +500

AL MVP:

*Mike Trout -200

*Robinson Cano +500

*Jose Abreu +550

NL MVP:

*Clayton Kershaw -150

*Giancarlo Stanton +120

*Andrew McCutchen +1000

There are no odds listed for the NL Cy Young award which is one way of saying congratulations to Clayton Kershaw.

Custom All-Star Game Hats Are The Way To Go

When it comes to sticking to their ways, baseball is about as staunch as it gets for a major sports organization.

However, Major League Baseball subtly strayed from the norm at this year’s All-Star Game and if that change continues into the future, it would certainly be welcomed.

In years past the players wore their standard uniform and hat while participating in the All-Star Game, but this season, the All-Star wore two-tones hats that mirrored the Twins’ batting helmets from the 60s and 70s.

It was a small change – one that has no impact in the grand scheme of things – but it was cool to see a tiny tribute to the history of baseball in the host city, Minneapolis.

The 2015 All-Star Game will take place in Cincinnati and some have speculated that the hats could be of the pillbox style that Mr. Red wore when he debuted in 1955.

The Cincinnati Enquirer recently put out images of what every hat would look like in a pillbox style, and most of them look pretty good.

There are a few I don’t like (why do the Dodgers have a red stripe? White would have looked better) but either way it would be cool to see.

Hats are a big part of baseball – and fashion in general – and if baseball can come up with a way to consistently make the All-Star hats a small tribute to the host city, it’d be a pretty nice touch to the Midsummer Classic.