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Major League Baseball on Monday upheld its firing of umpire Pat Hoberg for "sharing" sports betting accounts with a professional poker player and friend who bet on baseball.
Although Hoberg's new account was not believed to be betting on baseball, the friend, identified as Individual A, had bet on baseball via an associated account. These included on games that Hoberg umpired. Hoberg and Individual A met at a poker tournament circa 2014.
Hoburg, in a statement via the Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA), said he made mistakes but denies betting on baseball games.
"I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today's statement [by MLB]" Hoberg said. "Those errors will always be a source of shame and embarrassment to me.
"Major League Baseball umpires are held to a high standard of personal conduct, and my own conduct fell short of that standard. That said, to be clear, I have never and would never bet on baseball in any way, shape, or form. I have never provided, and would never provide, information to anyone for the purpose of betting on baseball. Upholding the integrity of the game has always been of the utmost importance to me."
Hoburg apologized to Major League Baseball and said he vowed "to learn from [mistakes] and to be a better version of myself moving forward."
Hoberg opened an online sports betting account in his name. The operator detected that Hoberg's personal electronic device associated with the new account was also associated with the legal sports betting account of an individual who had bet on baseball.
Additionally, Hoberg was also found to have intentionally deleted messages central to MLB's investigation into his conduct.
Hoberg was subsequently removed from spring training and made inactive for the 2024 season pending completion of the investigation.
On May 24, 2024, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill determined Hoberg's "conduct and extremely poor judgment" created a situation in which he "could not be trusted" to maintain the integrity of the game on the field. He was fired on May 31, but he appealed the process, leading to Monday's upholding of his termination.
"The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball's rules governing sports betting conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans," commissioner Rob Manfred said in the league's release Monday.
"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. 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."
Hoberg first umpired major league games in 2014 and became a full-time umpire in 2017. He umpired postseason games every year from 2018 to 2022 and was assigned to pool games in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
"We thank Commissioner Manfred for his careful consideration of Pat Hoberg's appeal," the MLBUA said in its own statement. "As Major League Baseball umpires, we have devoted our professional lives to upholding the rules and integrity of the game. If our union believed that an umpire bet on baseball, we would never defend him. But as today's statement from the league makes clear, the neutral factfinder did not find that Pat placed bets on baseball. Yet we respect Pat's unequivocal acceptance of responsibility for the mistakes that led to his termination."
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