NL Notebook: Better late then never for Reds' Rhodes

Baseball Betting Lines

07/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There may not be a more random All-Star on this year's National League squad than left-handed specialist Arthur Rhodes. Then again, there may not be a more deserving player either.

Forget the moonball he served up to Ryan Howard on Friday in Philadelphia, the 40-year-old Rhodes has been one of the best relievers in baseball this season for a Cincinnati Reds team that ranks right near the top of the surprises in the Major Leagues.

Cincinnati, which hasn't been to the postseason since 1995, heads into the break with a one-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central, and Rhodes is a huge reason why.

Rhodes has pitched to a 1.54 earned run average in 41 games this season, going 33 straight scoreless appearances at one point to tie a major league record. He has only allowed six earned runs on the year, five of which have come against one of his six former teams - the Philadelphia Phillies - in the past month.

It has been a long road to All-Stardom for the 19-year veteran, who began his career as a starter way back in 1991 with the Baltimore Orioles. After years of languishing in that role, Rhodes moved to the bullpen for the O's in 1995, becoming a full-fledged reliever in 1997, when the team won the AL East.

Before this year, Rhodes' only other chance at an All-Star Game came in Seattle in 2001 when with the Mariners he went 5-0 with a 1.95 earned run average before the break. Rhodes was passed over that season, and has since become the definition of a journeyman pitcher. Since leaving the Mariners in 2003, Rhodes has been the property of seven different organizations, including a return to Seattle in 2007. That second tour actually didn't come to fruition until 2008, as Rhodes sat out the entire '07 campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Rhodes easily could have packed it in after that, especially given the fact that he lost his five-year-old son, Jordan, to an undisclosed illness in the winter of 2008. Rhodes, though, turned that nightmare into motivation and has been tremendous since the surgery, pitching to a 2.11 earned run average in 168 games for the M's, Marlins and now the Reds.

Rhodes pays tribute to his son by drawing his initials in the back of the mound before each appearance, and has a pair of angel wings tattooed on his right calf.

I can't imagine that there were many people in Cincinnati who thought much of the Reds' two-year, $4 million deal for Rhodes last winter. It very well could turn out to be the move that propels them to a division title.

And it couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.

MANUEL GOES WITH JIMENEZ AS HIS STARTER

Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who will be skippering the National League for a second straight year at this year's Mid-Summer Classic, named Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez as his starter for the contest at a Monday press conference.

Jimenez has had an incredible start to the 2010 season with a record of 15-1 and a 2.20 earned run average in 18 starts. He has already matched his victory total from last year and leads the majors in wins.

"It's a huge honor for me just to be here," said Jimenez. "I'm going to cherish the moment tomorrow. It's an honor to be in the clubhouse with all these stars."

The 26-year-old Dominican native threw the season's first no-hitter and the first in Rockies history on April 17 against Atlanta. He last pitched on Thursday against St. Louis and threw eight innings in a 4-2 victory, becoming the first National League pitcher to reach 15 wins before the All-Star break since Greg Maddux in 1988.

"He's a very talented guy," said Manuel, who indicated that Florida ace Josh Johnson was also considered. "We've got some real talented pitchers on the National League squad. He's 15-1 and his record speaks for itself."

Manuel also named his starting lineup for Tuesday's contest.

Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez will lead off for the National League and will be followed by Atlanta second baseman Martin Prado, who is starting for the injured Chase Utley of Philadelphia. St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols will bat third, followed by Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, who was chosen by Manuel as the designated hitter.

New York Mets third baseman David Wright will hit fifth, followed by Milwaukee left fielder Ryan Braun, Dodgers center fielder Andre Ethier and Brewers' right fielder Corey Hart, who is starting in place of injured Atlanta rookie Jason Heyward. Yadier Molina of St. Louis will catch and bat ninth.

Wwwtitaniccasino Baseball Betting News

<< AL Notebook: Cano finally starting to 'get it' with Yankees
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It wasn't long ago that there were some people inside the New York Yankees organization who wanted to deal Robinson Cano. Some felt he was too lazy in the field. Others didn't like his approach at the plate. His harshest c

<< ESPN's Berman honored with Pete Rozelle Award
Canton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - ESPN host Chris Berman has been recognized as the 2010 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio- Television Award. The award recognizes long-time exceptional contributions t

<< Henry to New York exactly what MLS needs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In one of the worst-kept secrets in soccer, French striker Thierry Henry will be announced as Red Bull New York's second designated player at a press conference on Thursday at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. What

<< Three advance in Prague
Prague, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A trio of unseeded women, including Slovenian Polona Hercog, posted first-round wins Monday at the $220,000 Prague Open tennis event. Hercog humbled German Tatjana Malek 6-4, 6-2 on the red clay at

<< Chivas USA's Braun earns MLS Player of Week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA forward Justin Braun was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 15 of the 2010 season on Monday. Braun scored both of his club's goals in its 2-0 win over th

Canucks sign D O'Brien, three others >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks on Monday announced the signing of defenseman Shane O'Brien. O'Brien, 26, had two goals and six assists with a plus-15 rating in 65 games for the Canucks last season. He has

This Week in Golf - July 12th through July 18th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, The Old Course at St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland - The season's third major championship is on deck and it's being contested at the home of golf, The Old Course at St. Andrews

The 'wow' factor in horse racing >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This past Saturday had three stakes races that were the equal of any last-second result in the more popular sports in the world. The word 'wow' had to be shouted by anyone who watched the races as they hap

Montana's Wilson to play after murder acquittal >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Wilson plans to rejoin the University of Montana football team after the NCAA granted him another year of athletic eligibility following his acquittal on murder charges. Wilson was tried in Southern Cali

Blackhawks to match San Jose's offer sheet for D Hjalmarsson >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite noted salary cap problems, the Chicago Blackhawks announced Monday that the club will match San Jose's offer sheet for restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. The Sharks signed the 2

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.