LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Boston Red Sox opened as slight favorites Friday to win the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals.

“If the Red Sox were a team that had won a couple of times in the last few years, this line would be more of a pick em,” said John Avello, race and sports book director at Bally’s Las Vegas. “But a lot of people want to believe this is the year.”

The Red Sox haven’t won a World Series since 1918, when Babe Ruth led the team to its fifth championship. The team’s futility since Ruth’s sale to the New York Yankees in 1920 has been blamed in baseball lore on the “Curse of the Bambino.”

At Bally’s and Caesars Palace, the Red Sox opened as 8-5 favorites, meaning a $160 wager would win $100 if the American League champions prevail.

Initial betting moved the line slightly toward the National League champion Cardinals, who defeated the Houston Astros on Thursday to advance to the best-of-7 championship beginning Saturday in Boston.

The Cardinals last appeared in the World Series in 1987, and last won in 1982.

At MGM Mirage Inc.’s eight casinos in Las Vegas, oddsmaker Robert Walker said wagering would continue to favor Boston in part for sentimental reasons. Also, if the series goes to seven games, it would end in Fenway Park.

“I think the public wants to root for the Red Sox, and obviously the home-field advantage is huge,” he said.

Former Little League stars set to faceoff

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) – If St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason Marquis faces Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek in the World Series, they’ll make Little League history.

Marquis and Varitek could become the first Little League World Series players to face each other in the major league World Series.

Marquis led South Shore Little League of Staten Island, N.Y., to a third-place finish in the 1991 Little League World Series. Marquis pitched two complete-game shutouts, blanking Hamilton, Ohio, 8-0 and Glace Bay of Nova Scotia, Canada, 16-0.

Varitek played shortstop, catcher and third base for Altamonte Springs (Fla.) National Little League, the runner-up in the 1984 series. His team lost 6-2 to South Korea in the championship game. Varitek walked twice and scored a run, but did not have a hit in three games.

UMass prosecuting students in post-playoff mayhem

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) – The University of Massachusetts has disciplined 17 students who took part in rowdy street celebrations following Boston Red Sox playoff games and is moving to punish 51 others arrested during the disturbances.

Over four nights last week, police arrested 79 people, including 68 students at the Amherst campus, mostly for disturbing the peace and failure to disperse.

“We are moving ahead promptly to review each case individually to determine permanent sanctions, up to and including expulsion from the university,” dean of students Jo-Anne Vanin said.

The university noted it had warned students repeatedly about the consequences of destructive behavior, and also outlined its no-tolerance policy in a letter to parents.