Posada: I will forever be a Yankee

Baseball Betting Lines

01/24/2012 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saying he could never play for another team, veteran catcher Jorge Posada officially retired Tuesday after 17 years with the New York Yankees.

Posada was one of the cogs that helped the storied franchise to its most recent run of five World Series championships since 1996.

The 40-year-old native of Puerto Rico made his big league debut with New York in 1995 and became a regular part of the lineup in 1998 when the Yankees won the first of three straight World Series titles. He was also the catcher for New York's 2009 championship.

"Every time I stepped through the Yankees Stadium doors I quoted Joe DiMaggio, 'I want to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee,'" Posada said during his news conference Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

"I was able to live my dream to play baseball for the best sports franchise... the New York Yankees," Posada added in his opening comments. "Playing for the New York Yankees has been an honor. I could never play for another team. I will forever be a Yankee."

Posada became emotional while thanking his family, teammates, coaches, front office personnel and fans.

"Hopefully, you won't miss me that much," he said with a nod toward longtime teammate Derek Jeter, who was among those in attendance. Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia were also seated in the audience, along with former teammate and manager Joe Girardi and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

Posada was a five-time All-Star during his career, in which he batted .273 in 1,829 games with 275 homers and 1,065 runs batted in.

However, he was relegated to designated hitter duties in 2011 and struggled in that role. He hit just .235 with 14 homers and 44 runs batted in.

In May, Posada asked out of the lineup before a game against the Boston Red Sox when Girardi dropped him to ninth in the batting order. He apologized the next day.

Selected by the Yankees in the 24th round of the 1990 draft as an infielder, Posada made the switch to catcher in the minors and is among the top 15 in franchise history in numerous offensive categories. He is eighth in games and home runs, seventh in doubles with 379, 11th in RBI and 14th in hits with 1,664.

Posada appeared in 125 career postseason games and batted .248 with 11 homers and 42 runs batted in. He was the team's top hitter during the 2011 ALDS against Detroit, batting .429 with six hits in 14 at-bats.

Only Hall of Famers Bill Dickey (1,708) and Yogi Berra (1,695) have caught more games for the Yankees than the 1,574 by Posada, who also matched Hall of Famer Johnny Bench's mark of catching at least one game in 17 consecutive seasons with the same team.

Posada also joined Bench, Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk and Ivan Rodriguez as the only players to record at least 1,500 hits, 350 doubles, 275 homers and 1,000 RBI while playing at least half of his games as a catcher.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.