Following a lengthy appeals process, Major League Baseball on Monday has fired umpire Pat Hoberg for “sharing” sports betting accounts with a friend who bet on baseball and for intentionally deleting messages key to the investigation into his conduct.
MLB said Hoberg “adamantly denied betting on baseball directly or indirectly,” with commissioner Rob Manfred saying there was “no evidence” that Hoberg directly bet on games or manipulated the outcomes of any games “in any way.”
In its statement, MLB said it fired Hoberg for failing to “uphold the integrity of the game” and that he “should have known” that his friend — a professional poker player — had bet on baseball from the shared account.
The 38-year-old Hoberg, who was widely regarded as the best ball-strike umpire in MLB, can apply for reinstatement no earlier than the start of spring training in 2026.
“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement [by MLB]” Hoberg said in a statement via the Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA). “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.”
MLB began its investigation into Hoberg in February 2024, after the long-time umpire opened an account with a licensed sports betting operator in his own name. The operator detected that Hoberg’s personal electronic device associated with the new account was also associated with the legal sports betting account of an individual who had bet on baseball.
Additionally, Hoberg was also found to have intentionally deleted messages central to MLB’s investigation into his conduct.
He was subsequently removed from spring training and made inactive for the 2024 season pending completion of the investigation.
On May 24, 2024, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill determined Hoberg’s “conduct and extremely poor judgment” created a situation in which he “could not be trusted” to maintain the integrity of the game on the field. He was fired on May 31, but he appealed the process, leading to Monday’s upholding of his termination.
“An extensive investigation revealed no evidence that Mr. Hoberg placed bets on baseball directly or that he or anyone else manipulated games in any way,” Manfred said in the league’s release Monday. “However, his 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.
“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.”
Hoberg, 38, is best known for his perfect performance in Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, when he was the plate umpire and called all 129 balls and strikes correctly.
In his statement Monday, Hoberg apologized and said he vowed “to learn from [mistakes] and to be a better version of myself moving forward.”
Hoberg first umpired major league games in 2014 and became a full-time umpire in 2017. He umpired postseason games every year from 2018 to 2022 and was assigned to pool games in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
“We thank Commissioner Manfred for his careful consideration of Pat Hoberg’s appeal,” the MLBUA said in its own statement. “As Major League Baseball umpires, we have devoted our professional lives to upholding the rules and integrity of the game. If our union believed that an umpire bet on baseball, we would never defend him. But as today’s statement from the league makes clear, the neutral factfinder did not find that Pat placed bets on baseball. Yet we respect Pat’s unequivocal acceptance of responsibility for the mistakes that led to his termination.”
