For those of you that bet baseball totals, there is a factor that you should consider that the linemaker does not, and that is the umpire factor on baseball betting. Many long-time baseball betting fans have focused on the umpires and their statistics for a long while. Many websites now list umpire statistics that go back quite a few years. Those who are betting baseball totals on a regular basis will research who is behind the plate and incorporate that information into their betting decision. When you are looking at betting baseball totals and using umpire information you obviously need to know who is behind the plate. For the first game of every series you will have to wait until about an hour before game time when the lineups and umpires are announced. This information is best found at MLB.com. For subsequent games in the series it is very easy because the first base umpire rotates to home plate in the next game. It is only the first game of each series where you will have to go to a website for home plate umpire information.
Each year there are many umpires that will have tendencies to go over or under on a regular basis. Years ago the best under umpire in baseball was John Hirschbeck. He was a gold mine for those that bet the under hitting over 60% on the unders each year. He is not the automatic play he used to be, perhaps due to the changes in the umpire system. Other noted under umpires have been Doug Eddings and Jerry Meals. A few noted over umpires have been Randy Marsh, C.B. Bucknor and Gary Cederstrom. If those trends continue is anyone’s guess, but some years there are umpires that just continually go over or under the total and should be looked at before you make a totals bet.
When betting baseball totals it is a good idea to know the umpire that is behind the plate. You can always get that information from the boxscore of the previous day. If it is the first game of a series you have to wait for warm-ups to find out who is behind the plate, but MLB.com is very good about providing that and other sites have it as well. There is no guarantee when you bet baseball totals that having the proper umpire behind home plate will put you in the win column but it definitely can help. Don’t be like the linemaker and totally ignore the umpire factor. It could be the difference between winning and losing a wager and every little advantage we can get is well with our time.