Report: Orioles hire Showalter as manager

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07/29/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have reportedly hired Buck Showalter to be their next manager.

The Baltimore Sun is one of several media outlets to report the hiring. His first game as manager will be August 3 against the Angels to begin a seven- game homestand, according to an ESPN report. Showalter had been working as a baseball analyst for ESPN.

Juan Samuel has been guiding the team on an interim basis since Dave Trembley was fired back on June 4. Baltimore had the worst record in the majors at 15-39 at the time of Trembley's ouster, and, at 31-70, remains in that role.

Samuel has gone 16-31 at the helm since taking over, while Trembley had a record of 187-283 in nearly three full seasons as Orioles skipper.

The 54-year-old Showalter previously managed the Yankees from 1992-1995, then with the Diamondbacks from 1998-2000 and also the Texas Rangers from 2003-06. He was named AL Manager of the Year in 1994 and again 10 years later. His overall record stands at 882-833 (.514).

Showalter has come to be known as a franchise re-builder of sorts, leading a distressed Yankee team back to prominence and a playoff berth in 1995 following a 14-year absence from the postseason.

New York went on to win the World Series in 1996 a year after Showalter left the team, in part because of a bruised relationship with the late great Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Showalter took Arizona to the playoffs in just its second year out of expansion with a 100-win season and an NL West division title in 1999, but was fired following the 2000 season. The Diamondbacks also won the World Series a year after Showalter left.

He was again let go in 2006 by the Rangers after four years on the job. Texas had finished in last place in the AL West in 2002, the year before Showalter took the job. He never led the team to better than a third-place finish in the division.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.