Umpire Pat Hoberg APOLOGIZES to MLB after getting FIRED over sports betting violations

Pat Hoberg gets fired by Major League Baseball after sharing a sports betting account with a friend who bet on baseball.

Umpire Pat Hoberg APOLOGIZES to MLB after getting FIRED over sports betting violations

Pat Hoberg [Image Credit: The Japan News]

Umpire Pat Hoberg has been fired by Major League Baseball after the league found evidence of him sharing his legal sports betting account with a friend. His friend bet on several baseball games including games in hockey, golf, basketball, and football.

The announcement came on Monday, and the reports showed that Hoberg was also involved in deleted electronic messages crucial to the league’s investigation. The official investigation dates back to February 2024, and MLB senior vice-president of on-field operations Michael Hill fired Hoberg on May 24.

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While the investigations showed that Pat Hoberg did not bet on baseball or manipulate any games, his professional poker friend bet on baseball via the shared account. His friend made 141 baseball bets where in eight of those games Hoberg was involved in.

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Either Hoberg was the umpire or the replay officials in those games. However, no connection or manipulation was found between his friend and Hoberg during those events. 

The bets were made between April 2, 2021, and November 1, 2023, with an amount roughly totaling $214,000, with a win of approximately $35,000. Hoberg can reapply for reinstatement, but not before the 2026 Spring Training. 

I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s 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.

Pat Hoberg as per Ronald Blum of AP News.com.

He reiterated that he’ll learn from his mistakes and move on from the past for a better future. Hoberg’s device that was used for placing the bets showed that there were more than $700,000 wagers involved from different sports.

While most of the bets involved football, basketball, hockey, or golf, there was no evidence of baseball betting from his device. Hoberg and his friend communicated and kept tabs on the bets via Telegram, but later deleted the messages during the investigation process.

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Hoberg said that he was unaware of his friend betting on baseball otherwise he would never have been part of the process. Following his apology statement, the MLB, and Umpire’s Association released a statement, hoping for Hoberg to reflect and return to work in the future.

Recent MLB betting scandal that shook MLB world in 2024

Apart from Pat Hoberg’s recent scandal, the news that shook the MLB world back in 2024 was the Shohei Ohtani–Ippei Mizuhara saga. Mizuhara was accused of massive theft from Ohtani’s account nearing $17 million on sports betting.

Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani [Image Credit: Imago]
Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani [Image Credit: Imago]

He initially said he was addicted to gambling but recent investigation reports found no evidence to support his claims. Mizuhara pleaded to the court for lighter sentences focusing on how his financial struggles led him to the current situation.

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However, prosecutors provided enough proof showing that Ippei Mizuhara was lying to get a lighter sentence than the three-year one. Currently, the case is going on and may reach an end on February 6 in a Southern California federal court.