Texas’ Vlad Guerrero returns to Anaheim as the AL designated hitter.
Oddsmakers are well aware of the public perception that the American League has dominated the National League in more than a decade of All-Star action. After all, the Junior Circuit is 12-0-1 in the last 13 Midsummer Classics. The AL's run without a loss is the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history.
However, bettors of this MLB baseball exhibition are well aware that the last four MLB baseball matchups have been decided by one run.
That includes last year's contest at St. Louis' Busch Stadium that saw the AL register a 4-3 victory as a small 110 favorite. The combined seven runs dipped ‘under' the 9 ½-run closing total. It marked the fourth straight All Star outing to dip ‘under' the closing number.
Most offshore sports books monitored by the Don Best's MLB Baseball Real Time Odds have opened the American League as a 120 favorite for Tuesday's 81st All-Star game in Anaheim. The ‘total' is set at 8 1/2 ‘over' (minus 120).
This marks the fifth consecutive time oddsmakers have installed the AL as the ‘chalk.' The NL was last favored during the 2004 game in Houston, but the AL came out on top as a 125 underdog, 9-4.
Those who like to wager on the ‘total' during these All-Star games should be aware that there will be a designated hitter in the lineup for both squads because the contest is being played in an American League park.
Vlad Guerrero (20 HR, 75 RBI and. 321 BA) will assume that role for the AL. This will be the veteran's ninth All-Star appearance, but his first as a member of the Texas Rangers. The game marks another return trip to Angel Stadium for Guerrero, where he played for the past six seasons.
If pitching is still the most important aspect of the game, some say close to 80 percent, then the NL could have an edge in Anaheim with Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright, Josh Johnson and Tim Lincecum possibly taking the ball in some order.
If the NL does get into the late innings with the lead, it can call on Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton. The burley right-hander has 19 saves in 21 opportunities so far this season.
The recently traded Cliff Lee might be the only AL pitcher who belongs in the class with the five Senior Circuit hurlers mentioned above. Jon Lester and David Price are also very fine pitchers on the AL staff.
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who has never been charged with an earned run in All Star competition, is not available this time around because of an MLB baseball injury.
So, if the AL has the lead heading into the final frame, Texas' Neftali Feliz could head to the mound. The 22-year-old right-hander has converted 23-of-25 save opportunities and has 39 strikeouts in 31 innings this season.
One other major AL injury to watch belongs to starting AL first baseman Justin Morneau, who has missed some games leading up to the All-Star game because of lingering concussion symptoms.
Shortstop Jose Reyes (side) and outfielder Jason Heyward (thumb), two NL starters voted by the fans, will also miss the game. Heyward was batting .251 with 11 homers and 43 RBA in his rookie campaign with the Braves, while Reyes was hitting .275 with 33 RBI and 19 stolen bases for the Mets.
The recent string of close All-Star games began in 2006 at Pittsburgh when the AL sneaked past the NL 3-2 as 150 favorites. The game was in San Francisco the next season, with the AL nipping the NL as 120 favorites, 5-4.
The Midsummer Classic returned to the old Yankee Stadium in 2008 for the fourth and final time. The game went 15 innings before the AL outlasted the NL as 150 favorites, 4-3. The game set a record by lasting four-hours and fifty minutes.
The American League hasn't lost an All-Star Game since 1996, a 6-0 National League victory at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Ironically, neither pitching staff issued a walk, an All-Star record. The American League could only manage seven hits, and the seven AL players with 20 or more home runs at the break went a combined 3 for 14 (.214).
The MLB Baseball National League still leads the all-time All-Star series, 40-38, with two ties.