I'm Giddy

At the onset of the 2009 season the sports bettor inside of me curiously checked the 'Odds to Win' lines for the NL West. Shocked to see the Dodgers going off at 8-5 odds I wagered $100 on them to finish in first place in the NL West. After all, nearly every major media outlet had predicted the Dodgers would finish first in the division in 2009. And they're never wrong, right? Anyway, as I explained earlier...

It’s not that I feel the Dodgers will win the NL West THIS season (which I do), but if the upcoming season were run eight times over, the Dodgers should have no problems claiming victory at least three of those times- and that’s all it takes for this bet to break even.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but things are looking awfully rosy at the moment. Take a look.

• Dodgers have a 6 game lead in their division, the largest in baseball.
• Dodgers have scored the second most runs in all of baseball, while allowing the fewest as well.
• Dodgers, who are 14-3 at home, get to play 15 of their next 22 games at Dodger Stadium.
• Juan Pierre is playing out of his mind.
• Guillermo Mota apparently won't be pitching unless it's a blowout.
• The Dodgers are doing all of this while a key player (Ethier) isn't firing on all cylinders.
• The Dodgers are throwing out lineups that look like this, and still scoring 10+ runs.

Can you understand while I'm giddy? What was once a 1.6:1 wagering advantage (meaning for every $100 bet you would gain $160) has now dipped to 1:20 (meaning for every $100 bet you would gain $5)...

And in the end, it's not even about the money. After all we are talking about $160, which I would most likely use for playoff (World Series?) tickets. It's just nice to see the Dodgers performing so well. As a fan, that's all you can ask for.