Surrey's Ellis chasing major league dream

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Thunder Bay, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Ellis is like any other player on Canada's junior national baseball team - following his passion by playing the sport he loves.

What's different about him and the rest of Team Canada's 18-and-unders is that they're chasing a dream very few people their age will ever experience.

So when the 18-year-old pitcher from Surrey, B.C. was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 35th round of the 2010 MLB Draft in June, Ellis accomplished something far from the norm of his peers.

He remembers following the draft online before going to school that day and how it sunk in later that night that his dream of making it to the major leagues was very much alive.

"I was sitting down and it hit me that I have an opportunity to still play pro ball and it doesn't really matter what round I get selected, but where I end up," said Ellis at the junior national team's workouts in Toronto earlier this month.

Where he is now is in Thunder Bay, Ont. representing his country and competing for a world title against the best young baseball players on the planet.

"It's special being able to play for your country," said Ellis, after throwing four scoreless innings in a 9-2 win over Panama at the Worlds on Tuesday night. "I've never had a chance to do that in a tournament like this."

Ellis, who has experienced the perils and spoils of being a star pitcher in his hometown of Surrey, said nothing's quite like donning the red and white on an international stage.

"I've played in a few national tournaments but compared to this, it's a whole new level," he said prior to arriving in Thunder Bay.

He's experienced that other level too, joining teammate and Texas Rangers' first round pick Kellin Deglan at the Seattle Mariners' pre-draft training camp prior to being selected by the Padres.

For a pitcher whose strengths lay in his ability to command the strike zone and keep hitters off balance with breaking pitches, Ellis said it was a little overwhelming to be in an environment where six-foot-five, 230-pound college players were a dime a dozen.

"It really was humbling knowing the kind of competition you're getting into, the guys you're competing for spots with," he said. "I know that I don't have the body type to be the 95-98 miles per hour fastball guy that strikes everybody out.

"I try to be efficient and stay within myself."

At six-foot-one and 180 pounds, Ellis said he focuses on fooling hitters with off-speed pitches rather than blowing them away with heat.

The right-hander's arsenal includes a slider he's been working on since spring training in Florida, one he said back-doors on righties and cuts in on lefties.

With a fastball topping out in the 88-90 miles per hour range, Ellis is constantly trying to figure out ways to maximize his strengths on the mound.

"I want to get a little bit better throwing to both sides of the plate with all my pitches," he said, describing the benefit of working with guys such as pitching coach and former major league pitcher Paul Quantrill. "We have really good coaches with a lot of good insight and professional experience."

Ellis knows locating his pitches will be key in a tournament like the Worlds, where Padres' scouts are sure to be in attendance as he tries to pitch his way into a major league contract.

Should the Padres choose not to sign him before the August 15 deadline, Ellis will attend Florida International in Miami, a Division I school where he expects to compete for a spot in the starting rotation.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.