MLB fires Umpire Pat Hoberg to share Betting accounts with Pro Poker player that bets on baseball

Major League Baseball has fired Judge Pat Hoberg after sharing Sports Betting accounts with a professional poker player who bets on baseball.

In a news message, the league said it found no evidence that Hoberg manipulated baseball games and said that “the data provided by the sports books does not show any baseball efforts from his own electronic devices.” However, the league found that Hoberg deleted messages that were central to its investigation.

The league initially fired Hoberg on May 31 last year. Hoberg then appealed the process that called for a “neutral factfinder” to be brought in.

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MLB UMPIRE PAT HOBGE Disciplined for violation of game rules

According to UMPIRES ‘collective negotiation agreement, the ultimate decision on the appeal with Commissioner Rob Manfred rests.

“The strict enforcement of the Major League Baseball’s rules for sports betting is a critical component of maintaining our most important priority: To protect the integrity of our fans,” Manfred said in a statement. “A comprehensive study revealed no evidence that Mr. Hoberg placed efforts on baseball directly, or that he or any other manipulated games in any way. However, his extremely poor judgment in sharing betting accounts with a professional poker player he had reason to believe in Bet on baseball, and who actually bets on baseball from the shared accounts, combined with his deletion of messages of inappropriate guarantee to impose the most serious discipline. Therefore, there is just reason to maintain Mr. Hoberg’s termination not to comply with high standards of personal behavior and to maintain the integrity of the baseball game. “

Hoberg can apply for reintroduction in spring training 2026 at the earliest.

“I take full responsibility for the mistakes in the verdict described in today’s statement,” Hoberg said in a statement. “These mistakes will always be a source of shame and embarrassment for me. Major League Baseball Umpires are kept to a high standard of personal behavior and my own behavior fell under this standard. That said, to be ready, I never and would never bet on baseball in any way, shape or shape. I have never delivered and would never give information to anyone for the purpose of betting on baseball. Maintaining the integrity of the game has always been of the utmost importance to me.

“I apologize for Major League Baseball and the whole baseball community for my mistakes,” Hob’s statement read. “I promise to learn from them and be a better version of myself moving on.”

Umpires’ Union released their own statement about the case. “We thank Commissioner Manfred for his careful consideration of Pat Hoberg’s appeal,” read Umpires’ statement. “As Major League Baseball Umpires, we have devoted our professional life to maintaining the rules and integrity of the game. If our union thought a referee game on baseball, we would never defend him. But as today’s statement from the league makes it clear, the neutral factfinder did not find that Pat placed bets on baseball. Still, we respect Pat’s unequivocal acceptance of responsibility for the mistakes that led to his resignation. “

Hoberg became a full-time league judge in 2017 and started working professionally in 2009, according to MLB’s Umpires Media Guide. The tracking site UMPScorecards.com gave Hoberg a perfect score for a game he worked behind the record during the 2022 World Series.

MLB disciplined Hoberg under a provision in Umpires’ CBA, which is largely demanding umpire to “maintain the integrity of the international baseball game” on the field as opposed to the sport’s famous Rule 21, specifically addressing games.

The league opened an investigation of Hoberg in February 2024, when a sports book informed the Commissioner’s Office Hoberg had opened an account on January 30.

Sports games that MLB and other professional sport leagues have embraced through sponsorship schemes has also produced significant controversy in sports. Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers Superstar Shohei Ohtani, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday to steal nearly $ 17 million from Ohtani to pay game debt.

(Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn / Getty Images)