The effect of baseball umpires on totals is one that is debated among bettors with some regularity. Some place a great deal of importance on who is calling balls and strikes, while others don't give it any thought.
It would be logical that the person calling balls and strikes could have a large impact on the outcome, but if sports betting went as logic dictates, we'd all be rich and relaxing on an island somewhere.
Still, it's interesting to note which umpires have seen a large percentage of their games go over or under the total so far this season and that's what we'll look at here.
Read Umpire Report Card in the Baseball Betting section of the site.
Photo: Laz Diaz has seen nearly 65-percent of his games go over the total when he is the home plate umpire so far in 2009. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
With the baseball season at its midway point, it's time for another look at the biggest money earners and money burners so far this season. There are a few surprises, especially when looking at the pitchers who have shown the largest flat-bet loss this year. 
For many years, sports gamblers practically had to rely on word of mouth and passed down tales when discussing the origins of sports betting. There was really no definitive history of the subject ever written. That changed in 2001, with the release of Betting the Line by Richard O. Davies and Richard G. Abram.
Former NFL player Reggie Rivers is certainly qualified to write about the inner workings of a professional football team and he hits paydirt with 4th and Fixed, which as you can guess, is about the fixing of professional football games.