Baseball's stretch race: Betting road games
By BRYAN LEONARD
One area of baseball betting I sometimes look at is the length of road trips. It's not always easy for athletes to cross time zones. It can throw off body chemistry and habits, such as getting up at 8 a.m. when your body believes it's 5 a.m. Subtle things like this can make a difference in how much rest/sleep a players has, potentially influencing their performance.
Understand that professional athletes need their body to be in tip-top shape to compete at such a high level. Having body clock chemistry altered, or too little sleep, can hinder peak performance.
Many times baseball teams will set out on road trips flying across the country. Look at the first extensive road trip that the Milwaukee Brewers took last year. They got off to a hot start to take over first place, even winning nine of 10 games during a 10-game home stand. Then came a road trip to LA and San Diego, crossing several time zones. The Brewers went from being dominant at home to being pushed around, losing five of six on the trip, including five in a row.
After the Florida Marlins concluded a West Coast trip, they lost the first six games on the journey to Arizona and San Francisco. Being in the Southeast part of the US, the Marlins have to take longer road trips than teams situated in the middle of the country.
I heard a radio interview with a baseball player recently and he made a joke with the announcer about how tired he was at a recent game: 'You try catching a plane at 1 a.m. and then trying to play ball the next afternoon.' This is something few of us think about with respect to the life of a pro athlete, but travel time, changing time zones, and having sleep disrupted is a regular part of their life.
Boston is in a pennant race, but is on a 9-game trip. The last time the Sox took a trip was a few weeks ago, and they went just 4-3 despite being favored in every game. The White Sox still have two long road trips on deck, this month and in September, as does Minnesota.
A good example of this came last June when the high priced Yankees put together their first winning streak of the season, taking 11 of 12 games from the Pirates, White Sox, D-Backs and Mets. Of course, most of those games were at home. NY then took off on a West Coast trip to Colorado and San Francisco, then flew across the country to play Baltimore. The road trip was a disaster, getting swept in Denver, then losing two out of three to both the Giants and Orioles.
Back in 2006 I recall the Red Sox making their first road trip out to Seattle, and they proceeded to give up 14 runs in a loss. They ended up 2-4 on the road trip out West. That happened right after an 8-1 run. In fact, they went 2-8 in 10 road games during a 13-game stretch.
Check out the home/road records of most teams and you will find a stark disparity in many. It's not just that a team feels comfortable in its own ballpark. Having to travel a long way can alter an individual and a team's overall effectiveness.