ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Major League Baseball is considering whether to take any actions to protect players following threats arising from the proliferation of gambling in the U.S.
“In the last month or so, players mentioned this issue to me,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday ahead of the All-Star Game. “It’s obviously one that’s of concern, and we’ve been discussing internally what and whether we should do to be more proactive in this area.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in May 2018 struck down a federal law that barred betting on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states. Sports books have since opened at stadiums across the country across the major U.S. pro sports.
USA Today reported last month that baseball players had received gambling-related threats.
“Any time a player receives a threat from any source on any topic it is a matter of concern to us that we take really seriously in terms of our central security operation and the regional people that we employ with each club,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Players’ association head Tony Clark, a former All-Star first baseman, said the union “had concerns at the outset and we still have them now, particularly as more players, whether in our sport or otherwise, find themselves in the crosshairs.”
Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, pleaded guilty in federal court in Santa Ana, California, on June 4 to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from the unsuspecting athlete’s Arizona bank account. Mizuhara spent much of the money to cover gambling bets and debts with an illegal bookmaker.
San Diego infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned from baseball for life on June 4 for betting on the sport. Oakland pitcher Michael Kelly was suspended for one year for betting on baseball while in the minor leagues, and three minor leaguers also were banned for one year for betting on big league games: pitchers Jay Groome of San Diego and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona, and infielder José Rodríguez of Philadelphia.
“What we continue to do and we’ll stay committed to is ensuring that the process is in place, the due process that’s in place is such that players are treated fairly against the backdrop of accusations that may arise,” Clark said.
MLB said on June 15 that it plans to discipline umpire Pat Hoberg following an investigation into a potential violation of sports gambling policies. MLB said it didn’t uncover evidence games worked by Hoberg were compromised or manipulated, and Hoberg decided to appeal the penalty.
“I am generally a believer that penalties and demonstration of your ability to figure out what’s going on serves as a deterrent,” Manfred said. “To work your whole life to get to the major leagues in whatever role and then lose that over sports betting or gambling, that’s a huge penalty. It’s a huge penalty, I think I try to keep perspective on this. I think the relationships that we built with sports betting enterprises, which has given us the ability to use technology to monitor betting activities, I really, truly believe that we are in a better position to know what’s going on today than we were in the old days where it was all illegal.”
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