Pick 'Em run ends on Friday
Million Dollar Pick 'Em players can earn grand prize with two perfect days in one week
The good news? Tuesday will bring another chance for Alex -- and you -- to take a run at the big money. Enter your Million Dollar Pick 'Em selections now RIGHT HERE.
Update 6/29, 2:30 PM: And the picks are in! All 11 players with a chance to win the $1 million grand prize selected the Rangers, Cardinals and Giants to win on Friday. The Cubs, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Rockies and Red Sox were also popular choices. Check out the chart below for a full rundown of selections.
Original story:
In the first six weeks of Million Dollar Pick 'Em play, four players correctly predicted the winning team for all games on a Tuesday or Friday.
Week 7 has been a little different.
Eleven pickers went 15-for-15 on Tuesday, and any could claim the $1 million grand prize with another perfect effort on Friday.
So who are these soothsaying savants and how did they do it? We asked a few about their backgrounds, their picking strategies and their plans for Friday.
Alex Tucker is a 22-year-old from Iowa City who will start medical school in the fall. With a million bucks, he could cover that tuition and still afford the new jet ski he's been eyeing. This is Alex's third week playing Pick 'Em and he only spent 15 minutes making picks on Tuesday -- consulting his roommate on any toss-ups. Alex will be in Minnesota visiting a college buddy this weekend, so the plan is to follow Friday's earlier games on his phone then catch the later ones at a bar.
Like Tucker, Jonathan Scharf is also a student who sits one lucky day from a whole lot of pizza money. A Cubs fan from upstate New York, he's tried not to overthink his picks, saying that "it's important not to over-evaulate my opinion." Check a few basic pitcher stats, see which teams have the momentum and let it ride -- hey, it's worked so far. Jonathan will be watching from home on Friday, and hopes to still be in contention when his favorite player, R.A. Dickey, takes the hill against the Dodgers at 10:10 PM.
Despite what Tucker and Scharf might have you think, Pick 'Em isn't only a young man's game. John Marshall, a 68-year-old retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, also went 15-for-15 on Tuesday. Although he now lives in Woodbridge, Calif., Marshall said most of the Major League games he's seen in person were at Ebbets Field, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. The Brooklyn Dodgers were his favorite team, especially Duke Snider and the 1955 "Boys of Summer" club. Marshall also said he'd be "amazed" if he repeats Tuesday's perfect effort, and that he'll give most of the money to charity if he does.
Queens native Leon Lai has parlayed his fantasy baseball knowledge into a shot at the Pick 'Em prize. The 40-year-old said he selects teams every week -- if he remembers -- picking the ones with the most players on his fantasy roster. After making Tuesday's picks in "less than a minute," he'll do a whole lot more research before following Friday's games from home on the MLB.com At Bat mobile app.
Will Alex, Jonathan, John or Leon be $1 million richer by the end of Friday's games? Will one of Tuesday's seven other perfect pickers take home the grand prize? Only time will tell.
Start playing Million Dollar Pick 'Em today, and it could be you competing for $1 million. The rules are simple: Be the first player to correctly predict the winner of all matchups on Tuesday and Friday of the same week, and the cash is yours. Make your picks RIGHT HERE.