Ventura’s game-winner causes ‘total’ confusion

Monday, Oct. 18, 1999 | 9:45 a.m.

Baseball "over" bettors suffered a bad beat Sunday night when Robin Ventura of the Mets failed to touch all the bases after an apparent 15th-inning grand slam.

Las Vegas sports books posted a total of 7 1/2 runs on Game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Mets and Braves.

With the bases loaded and the score tied at 3, Ventura belted a Kevin McGlinchy pitch out of the park to give New York the win -- but then the confusion began, as Ventura was mobbed by his teammates before he could reach second base.

NBC flashed a final score of 7-3 on television. The umpires insisted the final was 5-3, reasoning that two runners crossed the plate before the Mets' celebration.

Either result would have given "over" bettors a win. But neither was correct.

The NL, in conjunction with the Elias Sports Bureau and official scorer Red Foley, credited Ventura with an RBI single instead of a grand slam and ruled the final score 4-3.

"Under" bettors were saved and "over" bettors were stung by a tough beat they won't soon forget.

"It certainly was a bad beat for someone out there," said Chris Davis, sports book administrator at the Fiesta hotel-casino. "If they had the over, they're sitting there with a low-scoring game into extra innings and they think they've lost, then all of a sudden there's a grand slam and they're going to be all excited.

"But it was the official scorer's ruling that he didn't touch home plate, and we have to go with the official scorer's ruling."

Davis said because Sunday was a busy football day in the sports book, there was not much interest from gamblers in the baseball over/under.

"There definitely was not a lot of action on the total due it being a Sunday and a full NFL slate," Davis said. "Had this been a Friday night, there would have been a lot more action and a lot more people upset."

Until the bizarre finish, the game was played true to form, as oddsmakers were expecting a low-scoring affair. Atlanta and New York were tied 2-2 after nine innings.

In many Las Vegas sports books, bettors had to lay minus 135 on the under, even though 7 1/2 is considered a very low total in baseball. Several offshore books even had the total at 7.

Because the Braves were favored in the game, run-line betting was not affected by the controversy.