Major League Baseball has officially fired umpire Pat Hoberg for sharing a sports betting account with a friend and hiding evidence of the accounts by deleting text messages that could be used in an investigation.
The league moved to fire the umpire in May, but that was delayed as the appeals process played out over the last few months. That came to an end on Monday and Hoberg was officially relieved of his work behind the plate.
Hoberg has denied placing bets on games and the MLB investigation didn’t find evidence of him betting, however, the league noted that his conduct didn’t uphold the integrity of the game.
“An extensive investigation revealed no evidence that Mr. Hoberg placed bets on baseball directly or that he or anyone else manipulated games in any way,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said. “However, his extremely poor judgment in sharing betting accounts with a professional poker player he had reason to believe bet on baseball and who did, in fact, bet on baseball from the shared accounts, combined with his deletion of messages creates at minimum the appearance of impropriety that warrants imposing the most severe discipline.”
“Therefore, there is just cause to uphold Mr. Hoberg’s termination for failing to conform to high standards of personal conduct and to maintain the integrity of the game of baseball.”
Shared Betting Accounts
MLB reported that Hoberg, 38, shared sports betting accounts in Iowa with a friend that he played poker with and asked him to make non-baseball wagers for him. Hoberg later used the account to make his own non-baseball bets directly.
The men allegedly used Telegram to communicate about the bets and would later settle up in cash. Those messages were allegedly later deleted when MLB questioned Hoberg about his betting activities. MLB did report that his friend made baseball bets, including on five games that Hoberg umpired, but said there was no evidence of game-fixing.
Hoberg, who has $33,000 in live poker tournament results dating back to 2014, accepted the results of the investigation.
“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement [by MLB],” Hoberg said in a statement through the MLB Umpires Association. “Those errors will always be a source of shame and embarrassment to me.”
The name of the umpire’s poker friend wasn’t released as part of the investigation. Hoberg has been working MLB games since 2014 and became a full-time umpire in 2017. He was viewed by many as one of the best officials in the league and reportedly scored a perfect grade after working behind the plate during the second game of the 2022 World Series.
Several MLB players have been disciplined over gambling-related issues over the last year, including handing out a lifetime ban to San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for betting on games while a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Oakland Athletics reliever Michael Kelly, Diamondbacks reliever Andrew Saalfrank, Padres pitcher Jay Groome, and Phillies infielder Jose Rodriguez also received a season-long suspensions for wagering on MLB betting sites while playing in the minors.
Last year, an interpreter for Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani reached a plea deal for a pair of felony charges for bank fraud and filing a false tax return related to millions in bets with an illegal bookie.
