ASSOCIATED PRESS
Japanese journalists focus their cameras on Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki before his team’s practice at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo Tuesday, March 27, 2012. The Mariners will meet the Oakland Athletics in their two season-opening games of the Major League Baseball in Japan, at Tokyo Dome from Wednesday.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 | 9:30 p.m.
Japan loves baseball. The whole country is fascinated by America’s pastime and intrigued with watching the game played at its highest level.
The only question is if that will change after the Japanese citizens are subjected to a two-game series between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s over the next two days.
The Major League Baseball regular season kicks off hours from now — 3 a.m. local time — in Tokyo with a matchup between two teams Vegas oddsmakers deem among the five worst franchises this year.
The Mariners, which went 67-95 a year ago, have an over/under season win total of 72 at the LVH Superbook. That means Seattle should just edge out Oakland, which went 74-88 last year, for second-to-last place in the American League West.
The A’s have an over/under win total of 71 ½.
Cruelty wasn’t MLB’s objective, however, when shipping the Mariners and A’s across the Pacific. The league wanted to give fans a chance to catch Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki for a couple days.
“Aging superstar” is perhaps a more suitable description for Suzuki. The 38-year-old former hit machine had by far his worst year at the plate in 2011, with a career-low 184 hits and .272 batting average.
Although Suzuki is moving down two spots to third in the batting order this season, Las Vegas sports books don’t see things improving. The SuperBook lists Suzuki’s over/under in hits at 190 ½.
That might be a generous mark.
These two teams are so far down the radar that the LVH only offers one other individual prop involving a member of the Mariners or A’s. Seattle starting pitcher Felix Hernandez, 2010 American League Cy Young award winner, has an over/under win total of 14 ½.
The Tokyo Dome, Japan's first domed stadium, can accommodate 56,000 people. It's hosted much more meaningful sporting events than a two-game series between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's, teams that Las Vegas oddsmakers don't see keeping up in the American League this season.
Hernandez has only eclipsed 14 wins once in his seven-year MLB career, with playing for an offensive team as poor as Seattle and injuries to blame.
Hernandez starts opposite Oakland’s Brandon McCarthy — who had a breakout year in 2011 with superior numbers to Hernandez — in the opening game of the season.
Behind Hernandez, Seattle is a -125 (risking $1.25 to win $1) favorite Wednesday morning with Oakland coming back at +115 (risking $1 to win $1.15).
The over/under is shoestring low at 6 ½, which makes sense given these teams’ struggles to score. The Mariners produced an MLB-worst 556 runs last season.
That’s quite the anti-accomplishment considering Seattle plays with a designated hitter in the American League. Seventy of the Mariners 162 games went under the total in 2011, according to the database at Covers.com.
The A’s were third-worst in the American League at scoring runs with a base runner crossing the plate 645 times. Sports books may have over-adjusted for their weakness, however, as the A’s had nine more games go over the posted total than under.
The over/under in Thursday’s second game of the series increases to 8 at the LVH. The pitching matchup is far less dazzling, as Seattle’s Jason Vargas meets Oakland’s Bartolo Colon. That game is set as a pick’em with both sides offered at -105.
Neither team has any power. If a bettor thinks Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki or Seattle first baseman Justin Smoak will lead the league in home runs — yes, those might be the best power hitters gracing the Tokyo Dome — he or she must take the field at 12-to-1 odds.
It isn’t pretty, but betting a game that matters should beat firing on Spring Training alternatives. With the rest of the teams getting into action next week, check back for a more comprehensive look at the 2012 season.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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