 Chicago
Cubs Among Favorites
to Win 2008 World
SeriesIt's been 100 years - no scratch that - it's been 99 years, but who's counting. That is the last time the Chicago Cubs won a World Series. Could 2008 be different? The oddsmakers think, maybe. Entering the new season, the Cubs were listed with single digit odds of winning the 2008 World Series at Bookmaker.com. A $100 bet would pay just over $700 at press time March 29 and those odds are locked in once the bet is placed. There is hope! Something strange has happened to the Cubs this spring. They made it all the way—well, about 90 percent of the way—without defections or disappointments in or damage to their pitching staff, writes Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune.
Only one decision
remains for the
pitching staff—which
left-hander to keep
for relief duty,
Sean Marshall or
Carmen Pignatiello—and
that appears to be
only a short-term
position because
Scott Eyre could
return from his
elbow tightness in
the second week of
April. The only
player with a real
injury this spring,
Eyre stayed behind
in Arizona to rehab
but he will be
eligible to come off
the disabled list
April 8. ESPN has already been touting the Cubs as winners of this year's World Series. "My message, first and foremost, to this team -- and I've been thinking about that -- is don't put the load of 99 other years of not winning on you," Piniella said before heading to the club's Spring Training headquarters in Mesa, Ariz. "Worry about this year only. We've got a good ballclub; don't put any pressure on yourself. Let this team stand on its own merit, and that's really going to be the message as far as Spring Training is concerned. "You can't redo the past. We've got a good chance to go forward. If we start looking at what's happened, and for so long, you put undue pressure on yourself. Let this team stand on its own merit and go from there." Only four teams have better odds of winning the 2008 World Series than the Chicago Cubs: Boston, both the New York Yankess and Mets, and the Los Angeles Angels. The Detroit Tigers had odds only slightly longer than the Cubs. Here are all your odds to win the 2008 World Series available at Bookmaker.com - in business since 1986:
10201 ARIZONA
DIAMONDBACKS +1700 -
- ---- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com Originally published March 29, 2008 3:15 pm EST
|