A friend of Pat Hoberg used the Major League Baseball umpire’s legal sports gambling accounts to make dozens of baseball bets over a two-year period, wagering roughly $214,000 and winning nearly $35,000, an investigation showed — and according to reporting, at least two of those games involved the Mets.
Hoberg was fired on Monday.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale said MLB focused on five games, including a pair of Mets contests:
June 15, 2021: Hoberg was the lead replay official for a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Mets. There was not a single replay review. Hoberg’s friend bet $1,050 on the Cubs — and won $1,550.
Aug. 15, 2021: Hoberg was the home plate umpire for a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Mets. He missed only two pitches in the game, according to MLB’ evaluation system, with a score of 98.89%. The two missed pitches were in “low-leverage situations” and benefitted the Dodgers, with the six other calls “within the buffer zone” — with four going against the Dodgers and two against the Mets. Hoberg’s friend bet $3,200 on the Dodgers — and won $5,200.
MLB opened the investigation last February when it was brought to its attention by the sportsbook, and Hoberg did not umpire last season. While MLB said the investigation did not uncover evidence Hoberg personally bet on baseball or manipulated games, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill recommended on May 24 that Hoberg be fired.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday he upheld Hill’s decision. Among the highest-rated umpires at judging the strike zone, Hoberg can apply for reinstatement no earlier than 2026 spring training.
Hoberg’s “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,” Manfred said. “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.”
Now 38, Hoberg became a professional umpire in 2009, made his big league debut as a call-up on March 31, 2014, and joined the major league staff ahead of the 2017 season. During Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, he had an unprecedented “umpire’s perfect game” by accurately calling balls and strikes on all 129 taken pitches, according to Umpire Scorecards.
“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement,” Hoberg said in a statement. “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. I apologize to Major League Baseball and the entire baseball community for my mistakes. I vow to learn from them and to be a better version of myself moving forward.”
The AP contributed to this report.
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