No sport has embraced numbers as openly as baseball, and with the World Series coming up, we’ve decided to dive deep into the MLB World Series stats game to dig up some interesting numbers to potentially give you a betting edge.
10 MLB World Series Stats to Help Your World Series Betting:
1. It’s all about Game One
Getting off to a quick start has proven to be incredibly vital in the World Series. In the last 10 years, nine teams who won Game 1 have gone on to win the series. The only team to win after losing Game 1 was the 2009 New York Yankees.
2. Root for the home team overall
In 2003, the MLB implemented the rule that the winning league of the All-Star Game would get home-field advantage in the World Series. The AL won home-field for the first eight years of the rule, and the NL has won the last three. This has proven to be a true advantage as 7 of the last 10 teams with home-field have won the World Series, including the last four teams in a row.
3. Bet home field advantage on a game-by-game basis
Having said that, home teams have not been overwhelmingly dominant on their own turf overall. The home team has gone 29-21 in the last ten World Series.
4. National League or American League?
Historically, the American League has the lead on the National League in overall World Series wins (62-46). However, the NL has the slight edge in the past decade (6-4) and they have won the last three Series in a row (San Francisco in 2010 and 2012, St. Louis in 2011).
5. Does pitching matter in the postseason?
As the old adage goes, pitching matters in the postseason. In the past ten years however, it hasn’t exactly been the case; teams with a better pitching staff ERA actually have a losing record in the World Series (4-6), but are 3-0 in the last three years.
6. What about offense?
On the flipside, the better offense (in terms of total runs) is a mere .500 (5-5) in this decade, and have lost in the last three World Series.
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7. & 8. The Red Sox and Cardinals
The Red Sox and Cardinals have been the most frequent World Series participants in the last decade. It will be Boston’s third trip after winning it all in 2004 & 2007, and St. Louis will make its fourth. These are their records in previous trips: Boston: 8-0 (4-0 Home, 4-0 Road); St Louis: 8-5 (6-3 Home, 2-5 Road)
9. The four game sweep
The World Series is supposed to be a battle of two relatively even teams, but it has been pretty one-sided in the last 10 years. Seven of the last 10 World Series have been decided in 5 games or less, including four sweeps. The four-game sweep has actually been the most frequent World Series length in this decade (4 Games – 4, 5 Games – 3, 6 Games – 2, 7 Games – 1).
10. If it goes to seven, look to the home team
A Game Seven usually comes between two evenly matched teams, which makes every advantage – like home support – so valuable. Since 1980, there have been eight Game Sevens. The home team has won 100% of the last eight Game Sevens.
Check out odds and lines for the 2013 World Series and use these ten points to make your picks over at Top Bet Sportsbook.
