Bodog Beat

Jeff Francis will take the mound Wednesday for Game 1 of the World Series. (AI Wire photo)

Tickets to the World Series are supposed to be tough to get, but not impossible. For Colorado Rockies fans, though, prospects of scoring a pair of boxseats – or even nosebleeds – seemed hopeless after a computer crash on Monday halted all sales. Major League Baseball said the crash wasn't an accident.

"There are people who don't want to play by the rules. Those are the people who create programs to bombard these sites," said Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB.com. Bowman wouldn't speculate if the crash was caused by the efforts of ticket brokers (fancy words for scalpers) or not, but we can all do the simple math on that one.

The problem was resolved on Tuesday and all three games of the World Series scheduled to be played at Coors Field in Denver were sold out quickly. The computer glitch is about all that's malfunctioned for the Rockies, who enter the Fall Classic having won 21 of 22 games.

The World Series opens in Boston on Wednesday, when American League Cy Young favorite Josh Beckett takes the hill for the Red Sox against Jeff Francis, the Rockies' emerging star who surprised the National League by winning 17 games this season. Boston is a -210 moneyline favorite in Game 1 (meaning a winning wager of $210 would net a $100 profit) while Colorado is at +175. The betting total is 8.5 runs. The Red Sox are -225 favorites to win the World Series and the Rockies are at +185 to pull the upset.

For complete World Series odds, step to the plate with the Bodog Sportsbook.