Major League Baseball, which fired umpire Pat Hoberg for his association with a known gambler and officially denied his appeal Monday, said there is no evidence Hoberg gambled on baseball or manipulated the outcome of any game he umpired during his career.
While MLB made it clear that Hoberg violated their gambling policy, MLB officials insist there’s a distinction between Hoberg’s wrongful actions and those of former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who was sentenced to prison for betting on games that he officiated.
There were 141 baseball bets placed by Hoberg’s close friend, called Individual A in the MLB report, a professional poker player who placed 19 of the bets from Hoberg’s house. There were eight bets placed during the 2021 season on five games that Hoberg either umpired or was a replay review official.
MLB found no evidence of any wrongdoing in those five games, the investigation revealed in its detailed report:
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April 13, 2021
- Hoberg was the third base umpire in the game San Francisco Giants-Cincinnati Reds game and had three close plays, according to the MLB evaluation system. The three calls were all correct.
- Hoberg’s friend made two bets for $2,000 and $1,000 on the Reds – and lost with the Giants winning, 7-6.
June 15, 2021
- Hoberg was the lead replay official for the Chicago Cubs-New York Mets game. 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 the Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Mets game. 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.
Oct. 8, 2021
- Hoberg was the third base umpire for the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants playoff game in the NLDS but did not have any calls close enough to be logged in MLB’s evaluation system.
- Hoberg’s friend bet $2,000 on the Giants and $3,000 on the over-under – and won both bets for a total of $9,300 with the Giants beating the Dodgers, 4-0.
Oct. 30, 2021
- Hoberg was the lead replay official for Game 4 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves. There was only one replay review when the Houston Astros challenged a safe call at second base. Hoberg confirmed the call, which was supported by the staff in the Replay Operations Center.
- Hoberg’s friend made two separate bets on the Astros for $3,000 and $1,050 – and lost both when Atlanta won, 3-2.
‘MLB analyzed baseball bets placed from Individual A’s accounts and corresponding game data to search for any discernible patterns that could indicate integrity risks,’ MLB said in its investigation. “Overall, although the baseball bets were profitable, the data did not support a finding that baseball bets from Individual A’s accounts were connected to game-fixing or other efforts to manipulate any part of any baseball game or event.
‘Critically, the baseball betting activity did not focus on any particular club, pitcher, or umpire, and there was no apparent correlation between bet success and bet size. The eight bets on games Hoberg worked similarly did not reveal any obvious pattern.’
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