Sen. Cruz Wins World Series Wager with Sen. Toomey

Major League Baseball rule changes ahead of last season led to a massive uptick in stolen bases - and new faces in the MLB stolen base leader betting odds for 2024. The larger base sizes and new limits on pickoff moves saw the total number of stolen bases in MLB jump from 2487 in 2022 to 3503 in 2023, the second-most ever in a single season in the…

The Los Angeles Dodgers have some fundamental questions they are going to have to answer this offseason. Coming off another strong regular season only to get bounced early from the playoffs, LA looked surprisingly vulnerable as a team despite the fact that they had two viable MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman on their roster. The…

The World Series is over. The offseason has begun. While teams prepare to venture into the free agent and trade markets, some players are making decisions about their future. That includes former Oriole outfielder Nelson Cruz, who announced his retirement from baseball on the Adam Jones Podcast. What an incredible run it was for Cruz, who played 19…

The amount of people who predicted a 2023 Texas Rangers-Arizona Diamondbacks World Series is low. Their preseason odds to win the World Series were 50-1 for the Rangers and 66-1 for the Diamondbacks. Things can change during the regular season, but the Diamondbacks were even 40-1 at the beginning of the Wild Card series. The Diamondbacks may not…

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to building a World Series contender. This year's matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers proves such, thereby offering a wide range of information and lessons the Boston Red Sox can take into account while retooling for 2024 and beyond. The Diamondbacks, champions of the National League, had…

In a way, the Arizona Diamondbacks were playing for more than their fans and their state as they clinched a spot in the World Series for the first time since 2001 on Tuesday night with a Game 7 win in the National League Championship Series. They also had the future of one of the biggest mouths in sports media on the line, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo,…

Star Cincinnati Reds prospect Elly De La Cruz broke onto the baseball scene on June 6, 2023, and immediately brought no shortage of confidence with him. As the top prospect in the Reds organization, De La Cruz declared himself the "fastest man in the world" following one of his first MLB games in June 2023. What sparked the conversation? De La Cruz…

Cruz was a little late putting this bet on the table. By the time he did, the Stars were already down 1-0. That was after they somehow lost Game 1 in overtime despite Joe Pavelski scoring 4 goals. The Texas senator offered up some beer from Mckinney, Texas' own Franconia Brewing Co. (their kölsch sounds dynamite. I'm a big kölsch guy). He said…

We're a few weeks into the 2023 MLB season, and the Tampa Bay Rays have been the talk of the league. Tampa Bay won 13 straight games to start the season, and it has the best record in the Majors so far. While the Rays are off to a hot start, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres and other contenders have…

The Pittsburgh Pirates are 6-3 and have won two straight series, but that's where the good news ends. Yesterday, Oneil Cruz suffered a broken ankle that required surgery on a play at the plate and is expected to be out 10-12 weeks. The bad news continues, because the Bucs now welcome in the defending champs, the Houston Astros for a three-game…

There's no confusing the price difference between a happy hour beer in downtown Denver and a frothy pour at Coors Field - or any big sports venue, for that matter. But Colorado Rockies fans lamenting the fact that the team has the worst odds (or the second worse or third worst, depending on who you ask) of winning their World Series, they can at…

Nelson Cruz became the first player/GM to hit a home run during the Dominican Republic's exhibition game against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, per Hector Gomez. Although the stats don't count from the contest, Cruz's homer was still impressive to say the least. Nelson Cruz becomes the first GM /player to hit a home run in baseball…

In April 2022, Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor made history by main eventing Madison Square Garden, a first for women's boxing. Serrano will look to make history again when she faces Erika Cruz for undisputed featherweight gold on February 4. The fight between Serrano and Cruz takes place inside MSG's Hulu Theater. If Serrano, the WBC, WBO, IBO,…

It's not uncommon for politicians to place friendly wagers on high-profile sporting events. Barack Obama and then-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper bet cases of beer on U.S.-Canada hockey games during the 2014 Winter Olympics. When the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers met in the 2021 MLB Playoffs, London Breed placed a bet with…

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had an epic response to Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif, Tuesday after the House lawmaker offered a bet to the senator on the Dallas Cowboys-San Francisco 49ers game. Swalwell wrote in a tweet he was going to propose an "open bet" to Cruz. "If the @dallascowboys beat the @49ers I won't tweet for the rest of January. If the…

The Phillies may have lost the World Series, but at least we get to see Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) eat some crow. Toomey on Thursday paid up in his World Series bet with Sen. Ted Cruz (R. Texas), delivering a cart of Pennsylvania foods to Cruz's office in Washington. And all while wearing a Houston Astros jersey - that of second baseman José Altuve…

Xander Bogaerts made perhaps the easiest decision of his career on Monday afternoon, when he officially opted out of his team-friendly contract with the Red Sox to become a free agent for the first time. Bogaerts, 30, has been the most productive offensive shortstop in baseball for the last five years. Since 2018, his.880 OPS is clear and away the…

If we were a betting man, we'd likely throw our savings behind the Houston Astros to win the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Saint Arnold, Texas' oldest craft brewery, and Yards Brewing in Philadelphia have joined the fray with their own challenge -for everyone's enjoyment, but also for charity. If the Astros win, the team at Yards…

The World Series has officially arrived, and everyone seems to be placing bets on who the winner will be - including some high-profile Philadelphians and local institutions. Mayor Jim Kenney, for example, has a wager with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. If the Phillies win, Turner has volunteered some chicken and waffles and Dome Faux'm cream ale…

Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz had heard all about the man whom he was named after throughout his life. On Wednesday in New York, Cruz finally met the baseball star behind his namesake. Yankees Hall of Fame outfielder Paul O'Neill reached out to Cruz and the two connected over a FaceTime call prior to the Pirates matchup against the Bronx…

Yes, there are two Monday Night Football games tonight, but why not get your betting day started right with some baseball plays? We have a pick for the early Cleveland Guardians-Minnesota Twins matchup, as well as a few other plays to make on Sept. 19. Let's jump right in, with odds from FanDuel: The total in this game is huge at 11.5, which will…

By far the tightest divisional race in the MLB is taking place in the NL East between last year's World Series champion, Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets. The Mets just got done with a three-game series against Pittsburgh, now the Braves get the Washington Nationals. Tonight begins a three-game series between Atlanta and the worst team in…

Enduring another offseason in the Pittsburgh Pirates' long slog back to respectability, fans were able to take heart this winter that oddsmakers had deemed towering young shortstop Oneil Cruz the leading candidate for NL Rookie of the Year honors. That's no longer the case, as the Pirates drove another stake into those fans' hearts Tuesday…

After a career that spanned 19 seasons and eight teams, Nelson Cruz is retiring from baseball, he told The Adam Jones Podcast on Thursday. Cruz, 43, spent eight seasons with the Texas Rangers from 2006 to 2013, earning two All-Star nods and ALCS MVP in 2011. He's also a three-time All-Star with the Seattle Mariners, where he played from 2015 to…

PHILADELPHIA - They ripped their shirts off screaming. They sang. They danced a Conga Line. They sprayed champagne. They dumped buckets of ice on each other. They filled the air with cigar smoke. And they nearly drank as much beer as they spilled. It was nearly 1 in the morning, and no one was going anywhere. They were savoring every possible…