For the first time since the infamous Pete Rose scandal, Major League Baseball has handed down a lifetime ban.
San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was officially banned for life today after it was discovered that he committed the cardinal sin – he bet on baseball.
Alongside Marcano, four other players faced one-year suspensions: Oakland Athletics reliever Michael Kelly, and minor-league players Jay Groome of the Padres, José Rodríguez of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Andrew Saalfrank of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The decision came following MLB’s reception of data from a legal sports betting operator, indicating gambling activity linked to accounts owned by the aforementioned players.
According to the league, while personnel are allowed to engage in sports gambling within the confines of the law in their respective jurisdictions, betting on baseball or softball is strictly prohibited.
Each player found themselves in breach of this rule.
Commissioner Rob Manfred emphasized the significance of upholding the integrity of the game in a statement released by the league.
“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” Manfred stated.
“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.
“Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, we have worked with licensed sports betting operators and other third parties to put ourselves in a better position from an integrity perspective through the transparency that a regulated sports betting system can provide.
“MLB will continue to invest heavily in integrity monitoring, educational programming and awareness initiatives with the goal of ensuring strict adherence to this fundamental rule of our game,” Manfred concluded.
Marcano reportedly bet on games involving his own team – the Pittsburgh Pirates – last season.
“We are extremely disappointed of Tucupita’s actions and are fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s ruling. The Pirates, along with MLB, Players Association, and every club, work to ensure all involved within our game are aware of the rules and policies around gambling,” the Pirates said in a statement.
“While the thorough investigation revealed no evidence of any games being compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way in this case, protecting the integrity of our game is paramount.”
Marcano, a 24-year-old infielder, had a particularly egregious record of gambling, reportedly wagering over $150,000 across almost 400 baseball bets, including both MLB and international contests.
Notably, Marcano even placed bets on games involving his own team, the Pirates, although he had not played since suffering an ACL injury last July.
MLB’s investigation did not find evidence of Marcano having inside information influencing his bets, estimating his success rate at a mere 4.3% for MLB-related wagers.
Regarding the other suspended players, Kelly, Groome, Rodríguez, and Saalfrank, they were found to have placed bets on MLB games in which they were not participants.
However, they did bet on games involving their organization’s major-league team while playing in the minors.
Their frequency of betting did not match Marcano’s, and they did not bet on their own games.
Marcano’s professional career began when he was signed by the Padres as an amateur free agent from Venezuela in 2016.
He was traded to the Pirates in 2021 but returned to the Padres last November.
His career has been interrupted by injury, with his last game played in July due to an ACL tear.
With sports gambling becoming more and more common with mass legalization, there have predictably been numerous incidents in recent years across multiple sports.
Here’s a closer look at the timeline…
-May 14, 2018: Supreme Court strikes down federal prohibitions on sports gambling.
-Nov. 29, 2019: NFL suspends Josh Shaw indefinitely for placing a parlay at a sportsbook in Las Vegas.
-Sept. 8, 2020: University of Colorado signs sponsorship deal with Denver-based PointsBet.
-May 26, 2021: Capital One Arena in Washington becomes the first professional sports arena in the U.S. with a fully operational sportsbook (William Hill).
-Oct. 8, 2021: Sporting KC’s Felipe Hernandez suspended for betting on MLS games.
-March 7, 2022: NFL suspends Calvin Ridley for one year for betting on NFL games.
–Dec. 23, 2022: New York Jets WR coach Miles Austin suspended for one year for betting (although not on NFL or college football).
-Jan. 19, 2023: UFC tightens gambling rules, hires integrity firm amid investigations into suspicious gambling activity before fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke.
–March 29, 2023: University of Colorado and PointsBet end partnership three years early.
–April 21, 2023: Jameson Williams among five NFL players suspended for gambling.
–May 4, 2023: Alabama fires head baseball coach Brad Bohannon after his link to suspicious gambling activity.
–May 8, 2023: Start of Iowa-Iowa State gambling investigation where over three dozen athletes were suspected of violating NCAA rules against gambling on sports.
–June 29, 2023: NFL suspends four players (three for betting on their own team) for gambling violations (Indianapolis Colts’ Isaiah Rodgers Sr. and Rashod Berry and free agent Demetrius Taylor).
-Sept. 29, 2023: Jameson Williams reinstated after NFL tweaks gambling policy.
–Oct 26, 2023: NHL player Shane Pinto suspended 41 games for gambling.
–Oct. 27, 2023: Two Korn Ferry Tour golfers suspended for placing bets on PGA Tour competitions.
-Jan. 25, 2024: Patriots’ Kayshon Boutte arrested over illegal betting which allegedly occurred while he was at LSU.
-March 12, 2024: Ex-Jaguars employee Amit Patel given 6 ½ year prison sentence for fraud. (Patel pleaded guilty to stealing $22 million from the team – most of which he transferred into gambling accounts.)
-March 20, 2024: Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, amid allegations of “massive theft” stemming from gambling debts.
-March 27, 2024: NCAA president calls for ban on college prop bets.
–April 11, 2024: Federal prosecutors say Mizuhara stole more than $16 million from Ohtani.
–April 17, 2024: NBA bans Jontay Porter for life after their investigation found that “Porter violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”
As far as overall baseball scandals throughout history – some involving gambling, some not – here is a closer look at the top five most infamous…
#1. Black Sox Scandal (1919): One of the most infamous scandals in baseball history, eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series in exchange for money from gamblers. This led to the banning of the players involved from professional baseball for life and tarnished the reputation of the sport.
#2. Steroid Era (1990s-2000s): The extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), particularly anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH), by numerous MLB players during this era led to a significant scandal. Players like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa, among others, were implicated in the use of PEDs, casting a shadow over their accomplishments and impacting the integrity of the game.
#3. Pete Rose Betting Scandal (1989): Pete Rose, one of baseball’s greatest players, was banned from MLB for life in 1989 for allegedly betting on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Despite his outstanding on-field achievements, including the all-time record for hits, Rose’s involvement in gambling on the sport has kept him out of the Hall of Fame and remains a significant stain on his legacy.
#4. Biogenesis Scandal (2013): In 2013, a scandal erupted involving the Biogenesis of America clinic in Florida, which supplied PEDs to numerous MLB players. This resulted in suspensions for several players, including high-profile figures like Alex Rodriguez, who received a lengthy suspension from the league.
#5. Sign-Stealing Scandal (2017-2018): The Houston Astros were found to have used a sophisticated system to steal signs during their 2017 World Series-winning season and into the 2018 season. This scandal involved the use of cameras and technology to decode opposing teams’ signs and relay them to batters in real-time, giving them an unfair advantage. The fallout from the scandal led to fines, suspensions, and the firing of key per
What are your thoughts on this latest gambling situation? … Do you agree that a lifetime ban was warranted?
Sadly, it’s safe to say this won’t be the last scandal we hear about.
What do you think MLB (and all the different leagues) can and should do to help prevent this type of stuff from happening???