Major League Baseball on Monday upheld its decision to fire umpire Pat Hoberg for violating the league’s betting policies.
Hoberg had appealed his initial firing late last May following a months-long investigation that involved a legal sports betting account Hoberg opened in his name.
While the investigation found no evidence that Hoberg bet on baseball, it did discover that he shared his gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball. Hoberg also intentionally deleted text messages relevant to the investigation, which the league cited as another reason for his termination in a release Monday.
“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 release.
In his own statement, Hoberg apologized to MLB but maintained he never manipulated the outcome of any game he umpired.
“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.”
Hoberg can apply for reinstatement at the start of spring training in 2026.
The 38-year-old became a full-time umpire in 2017 and established himself as one of the game’s best at calling balls and strikes correctly. That was on full display in Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, when Hoberg accurately called all 129 pitches taken from behind the plate.
–Field Level Media
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