Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball. Major League Baseball specifically refers to the organization that operates North American professional baseball's two major leagues, the National League and the American League. A joint organizational structure had been existed between them since 1903.The American League is in operation under the Designated Hitter Rule while the National League is not operated on the same rule.
The American and National leagues were officially disbanded as separate legal entities in 2000. All the rights and functions were consolidated in the commissioner's office. MLB effectively operates as a single league. It constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of North America.
New York-based MLB Advanced Media is the production/multimedia wing of MLB. It manages oversees MLB.com and all 30 of the individual teams' websites. MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the League itself as per its charter. But it comes under the same ownership group and revenue-sharing plan. MLB Productions is a similarly-structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media.
The Major League regular season continues from late March or early April to late September or early October. During February and March, players and teams prepare for the season in spring training, primarily in Florida and Arizona. Three rounds of playoffs follow the regular season. Then there is the World Series in late October.
According to official rule of major League Baseball, all players of a team are required to wear matching uniforms. There was no such rule in force in the early days,. Originally, teams were primarily distinguished by the colors of their stockings. The adoption of sock color was popularized after the success of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. It became the explicit identity of the club. The 1876 Chicago White Stockings actually wore caps of different colors. In 1882, the National League assigned stocking colors to the member clubs: red for Boston, white for Chicago, grey for Buffalo, blue for Worcester, gold for Detroit, green for Troy, and so on. The league also assigned jersey and cap colors that year.
Traditionally, teams wore uniforms that were mostly white with trim in team colors when they played at home. They wore uniforms that were mostly gray with trim in team colors when they played away. With the advent of synthetic fabrics, teams began using more color in their uniforms in the early 1970s. The Pittsburgh Pirates began a trend of multiple combinations of differently colored jerseys and trousers and caps (with the options of black, yellow, and white with pin stripes) in the late 1970s.
In an exhibition game, the All-Star game pits players from the NL, headed up by the manager of the previous NL World Series team, against players from the AL. The 2002 contest ended in an 11-inning tie because both teams were out of pitchers. The fans were not happy with the results. The league which won the game received the benefit of home-field advantage for a two-year trial in 2003 and 2004.
Following this format, the 2005 contest was played in Detroit. The Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox (http://www.ticketnest.com/sports-tickets/Chicago-White-Sox/index.php ) took some advantage of the rule in 2004 and 2005 respectively, as each team started the Series with two home victories, giving them good momentum for a sweep. However, the rule did not help the Yankees in 2003, as they lost the Series to Florida in 6 games, or the Detroit Tigers in 2006 as they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 5 games.
Major League Baseball is in the transition to a new set of television contracts. For the 2007 season and beyond, the league has three current broadcast partners. FOX Sports will remain with MLB through 2013 and broadcast FOX Saturday Baseball throughout the entire season. FOX will also hold rights to the All-Star Game each season. FOX will also alternate League Championship Series broadcasts, broadcasting the American League Championship Series in odd-numbered years and the National League Championship Series in even-numbered years as part of the new contract. FOX will continue to broadcast all games of the World Series.
Major League Baseball has several blackout rules.A local broadcaster has priority to televise games from the team in their market over national broadcasters. For example, TBS shows many Atlanta Braves games nationally and internationally in Canada. Fox Sports Net (FSN) also shows many games in other areas. If the Braves play a team that FSN or another local broadcaster shows, the local station has the rights for their own local market, TBS will be blacked out for the duration of the game for everyone in the zip code of the market of the team playing against the Braves.
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Major League Baseball is somewhat of an enigma. Especially when attempting to use statistics to predict a games outcome. Even so, there is a lot of data and trends to consider before throwing ones hands up in utter frustration in baseballs defiance of probability. With patience and due diligence, a pattern may emerge. But then a gut feeling comes on and the urge to take the long shot is strong, especially when the pay out is big! The mountain of data, trends and statistics are enough to drive the sanest of us away from the bookmakers, relegating us to the sidelines. However, no one wants to live a life that boring. You can play the game - wager some cash - and make your life a whole lot more exciting.
First off, here are a few ideas to keep your sanity. These are my "top 10 baseball wagering tips for the hopelessly clueless," of which, when it comes to wagering, I am a charter member. If you consider yourself a knowledgeable bettor, these tips will still help you keep your perspective.
1) Dont bet any more than you can afford to lose. 2) Don't ever bet more to recoup a loss. 3) Ignore your gut feelings and/or hunches. 4) If a bet looks too good to be true, it probably is. 5) Once youve made your bet, remember that no amount of stress will change the outcome of a game. 6) Never risk more than 5% of your bankroll on any given game. 7) Don't bet long shots. They are long shots for a reason. 8) If you are on a losing streak, take a break from wagering. 9) Dont hold grudges over losses- your favorite team wont be much fun to watch if you do. 10) Target long-term goals instead of random or short-term gains.
If you follow these 10 tips then you will be head and shoulders above the average Joe who is placing bets. Of course, you must first understand what you are doing when you wager. Here are some betting basics.
A straight bet is merely betting to win or lose. Sometimes you may not be able to get such a wager without giving or taking points. This is known as the point spread. To win you must "beat the spread", or win by more than a particular team is favored by doing so. This is also known as a form of handicapping. Money lines are pretty simple; it is the amount you need to risk to win $100. So if you see a number in a column marked ML, perhaps -110, you know you need to put up $110 to win $100 and get your $110 back. So if you win, your total payout is $210. The minus sign indicates that team is the favorite. A plus sign in front of the money line indicates the underdog. With over/unders, you are wagering on the total runs that will be scored in the game. You either bet on the number being under or over that total. Action Points refer to that fact that you are betting one team against another. With action points you ignore the starting pitchers, but if there is a change in one or both of the starters, the wager or the payout could be adjusted. Side bets are just what they sound like. You can put side bets on top of your bets. With head to head propositions or match bets you are wagering on one sports figure/team beating another sports figure/team. You can also Buy Points on a handicapped or point spread contest. Usually a straight buy of point will cost you $10 on an 11/10 (risk $110 to win $100) standard bet. A straight buy of 1 point would cost $20. If you win, youll get back what you wagered plus $100. Sports books generally make 10% vigorish, or juice on a typical head to head straight wager. They only make it if you lose your bet.
Sports books will provide information in a compact format. The listing includes the MLB teams and pitchers with the away or visiting team and pitcher listed first and then the home team and pitcher listed underneath. The MLB money line tells you which team is the favorite (- sign) and what you must wager to win a particular amount. The MLB run line is the run differential that the sports book predicts. To win your wager, you have to beat the run line spread. The amount you wager is determined by the money line odds, located right next to the run line spread. Primarily the starting pitchers determine the money line odds. If a run line handicap is +1.5, the bet can still be won if your team loses the game, but only if they lose by one run. If they lose by two runs, you lose your wager. Run lines are always based on the listed pitchers. If the starting pitchers are changed before the game begins, these numbers may also change. The over/under will be a number in the O/U column. If the number were 7, then you would win the wager if the total number of combined runs were 8 or more. A winning under wager would result if 6 runs or less were scored.
All of this may seem rudimentary, but its the important foundation for MLB betting. Wagering can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. There are some more complex forms of wagering that are beyond the scope of this article. In Major League Baseball Wagering - Part II, we will discuss explanations and strategies of wagering on MLB futures, parlays, multiples, round robins and teasers. We will also discuss the advantages, bonuses, safety and security of choosing a good online sports book site for wagering on MLB.
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