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MLB Disciplines Umpire Pat Hoberg for Sports Betting Violation

Kelly Irvin

Updated as of June 18, 2024 at 12:14 AM EDT. Read time: 1 minute and 25 seconds. For more information, visit our Twitter and Google News links.

Home plate umpire Pat Hoberg calls an out in the fifth inning during an MLB World Tour game between the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants as we look at the Pat Hoberg MLB gambling scandal.
Home plate umpire Pat Hoberg calls an out in the fifth inning during an MLB World Tour game between the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants. Photo by Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports.

MLB has seen its fair share of sports gambling scandals, with one of the most notable involving Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and fraud charges after taking $17 million from the superstar’s bank account to fuel his gambling activities.

Former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Tucupita Marcano has been permanently banned from baseball for placing 387 wagers on the sport.

The new twist is that a person responsible for upholding the rules has violated certain gambling regulations.

Umpire Pat Hoberg gets disciplined

MLB has been conducting a months-long investigation into veteran umpire Pat Hoberg, and it has been confirmed that a penalty will be imposed. The specifics of the situation and the severity of the punishment have not yet been disclosed.

The Major League Baseball league released a statement announcing that an investigation was initiated during this year’s spring training regarding umpire Pat Hoberg potentially violating MLB’s sports betting policies. Mr. Hoberg was taken off the field during the investigation. Although MLB’s investigation did not uncover any evidence of games officiated by Mr. Hoberg being compromised or manipulated, the league decided that disciplinary action was necessary.

It’s been a slow start to the year for Hoberg, who has yet to officiate a game in 2024. Since becoming an MLB umpire in 2014 and earning a full-time position in 2017, the 37-year-old has gained a reputation as one of the most precise umpires in the league. His most memorable moment came during Game 2 of the 2022 World Series when he called a perfect game as the home-plate umpire.

He is now squarely in the league’s sights for violating gambling policies, and Hoberg is prepared to defend himself.

An appeal is coming

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Hoberg refutes allegations of betting on baseball and plans to challenge MLB’s decision through an appeal.

This is just the most recent incident in a series of MLB betting problems involving more than just Mizuhara and Marcano. Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, along with three minor league players, has been suspended for betting on baseball games, even though they were not participating in the games.

David Fletcher has also been connected to the bookmaker used by Mizuhara. In late May, he was investigated by MLB, but Fletcher has denied allegations of placing bets with Mizuhara’s bookmaker.

This follows similar incidents in other sports, with the NBA’s ban on Jontay Porter being the most notable.

Written By:
Kelly Irvin
Kelly Irvin has been in the sports media wilderness since 2009, and he joined Underscoreg Review in 2021. His work has been referenced in The New York Times and Forbes. He’s also made appearances on The Fan 590 and TSN 1050. Sean is a regular bettor who places bets daily while using a handful of books. Most frequently, he uses FanDuel and bet365 due to the quality experience on those apps. While he’ll often take an analytical approach, Sean enjoys the fun, recreational side of betting too, and embraces alternative markets on events like the Westminster Dog Show or Eurovision, or the many novelty props tied annually to the Super Bowl, for example. Beyond sports, Sean is also interested in the betting markets tied to politics, and especially those connected to American elections. He sees betting as a way to explore and engage in a deeper way, and takes that same view to his work. He plays poker periodically too, and is an avid fantasy sports player. Sean also previously spent time with Bleacher Report and theScore, all after earning his media studies degree from the University of Guelph-Humber.