Major League Baseball has fired umpire Pat Hoberg in relation to a known gambler who bet on baseball, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Monday.
The 38-year-old Hoberg is considered one of the best referees in baseball and is the first umpire to end for violating baseball’s gambling policy.
There is no evidence that Hoberg bets directly on baseball during a direct bet of 529 totaling $709,606 on two sportsbooks, but the accounts he shared with his best friend, a professional poker player, is among the five games. revealed 141 bets on a baseball game, including eight bets. Hoberg was either a referee or a video replay booth in New York.
“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball rules governing the conduct of sports betting is a key element of supporting our most important priorities. We protect the integrity of the game for our fans.” Manfred said in a statement. “A large-scale investigation reveals no evidence that Hoberg had a direct bet on baseball or that he or anyone else had manipulated the game in any way.
“However, his very bad judgment when sharing betting accounts with professional poker players is that he bets on baseball, in fact bets on baseball from shared accounts, combined with deleting messages, at least creates. Those who have created at least the emergence of injustice that ensures that the most serious discipline is imposed.
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“Therefore, there is the very reason to support Mr. Hoberg’s end of not following high standards of personal conduct and to maintain the integrity of the baseball game.”
MLB announced last summer that Hoberg was disciplined for potential misconduct, but has not yet revealed that it ended on May 24, 2024 due to an appeal filed with the judges’ union. That was it. MLB officially rejected his appeal on Monday, ending its relationship with major league baseball.
Hoberg has the right to apply for reinstatement in 2026, as Pete Rose had the opportunity to apply for reinstatement every year, but the best hit leader of all time is forever banned from baseball until his death It remained.
While Hoberg admitted gambling in various sports, he violently denied gambling in baseball. However, after MLB began its investigation in February 2024, authorities determined that it had deliberately deleted the message at the heart of the investigation. MLB could not find data from the sportsbook that revealed that Hoberg had bets on baseball or manipulated the outcome of the game.
“I am fully responsible for the errors in judgment outlined in today’s statement,” Hoberg said in his own statement. Personal and my own actions were not up to that standard.
“I have never provided any information to anyone with the purpose of betting on baseball, and never provided it. Protecting the integrity of the game is always paramount to me. I apologize to Major League Baseball and the baseball community as a whole. I’m wrong.
The MLB Umpires Association also issued a statement thanking the commissioner for his careful consideration of Pathoberg’s appeal.
“As a major league baseball umpire, we have dedicated our professional lives to adhering to the rules and integrity of the game. If we believe our union is betting on baseball, we will protect him. It’s never going to happen. Neutral Fact Finder never discovered that Putt was betting on baseball.
MLB information from a licensed sports betting operator that Hoberg opened a sports betting account in his own name in January 2024, and that the personal electronic devices associated with this account are associated with a legal sports betting account. We began our investigation last February when we received the product. His close friends who traveled frequently with him during the season.
“Hawberg’s actions and very bad judgments have created the situation based on the whole situation, including preventing investigation of his actions,” said Michael Hill, Senior Vice President of MLB Onfield Operations and Workforce Development, last year. The decision was made after seeing the evidence. Hoberg could not trust maintaining the integrity of the international baseball game on the field, as required by Article 9 of the CBA.
Manfred reviewed all the information during the complaint process and met with Hoberg personally to support the termination.
Hoberg, who scored a perfect score as a home plate referee in Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, began betting through friends in 2015 or 2016, and in 2019, he began online when sports bets became legal at home in 2019. An account has been opened. Iowa. Hoberg and his friends shared their passwords and accounts using the messaging app “Telegram.” Hoberg and his friends settled their outstanding debts in cash when they met each other in person.
Research shows that Hoberg’s device was used to spend $709,605.83 on two sportsbooks, spending $709,605.83 from December 30, 2020 to January 15, 2024, to place 529 direct bets on two sportsbooks. It was done. He lost a total of $75,876 bets on soccer, basketball, hockey and golf. Betting 141 Hoberg’s associate bets were held on baseball from April 2nd to 11th, 2021. 1, 2023, betting a total of $213,754.45, focusing on run scores and game winners. These bets generated a winnings of $34,583.06.
There were five games in which Hoberg was a New York umpire or replay booth between 141 bets, but MLB found no evidence of fraud or manipulation attempting to manipulate the outcome of the game. His associates won $9,000 for these five games in 2021, but there were no calls or replays showing potential patterns of integrity risk.
“Through the whole process, Hoberg has adamantly denied that he bets on baseball and that individual Aes are bets on baseball, and the data provided by Sportsbook is the source of baseball from his electronics. It does not show bets,” MLB said in a statement. “But based on the record of evidence, it is discovered as a fact that Hoberg knew or should have known that the individual was betting on baseball. He went to an account that reflected his bets. had free access and loss.
“Compared to Telegram Ledger, it’s easy to distinguish between individual A bets, victory and losses. Hoberg has reason to believe that individuals are betting on baseball, given that individuals are a sports gambler. He admitted that he thought he could bet on baseball.
“Hawberg admitted that he never said individuals to not bet on baseball and said that it would not happen to him to ask if Individual A did. Houghberg said that he was the one who said he was the one who was his own. Even though I knew I was allowed to open a betting account by name and bet on other sports, I was still able to separate myself as a major league umpire from an individual A baseball bet for several years. I didn’t do anything.”
Hoberg was early in Hoberg, who was able to apply for reinstatement at the start of spring training in 2026, but with all the possibilities he umpied his final game in Major League Baseball.
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(This story has been updated with additional details.)