Gambling Men

BY Mark Halpern

     I hate to start it this way but, at the rate these players that are being caught for gambling Pete Rose’s case for the Hall of Fame will end up on the back burner now. There are multiple lifetime bans for betting on their respected teams and 4 minor leaguers get a year suspension for players who bet on the sport but not on their teams. This comes on the same day as it was announced that Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud and will receive up to 33 years in prison. 

    Now Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres has received a LIFETIME BAN for betting on Pirates games while he was a member of the team. Now he isn’t the only player to receive a lifetime ban but, in the NBA Jontay, Porter of the Toronto Raptors was caught betting on games while a member of the Raptors and is the first NBA player to be caught.

 While we have two lifetime bans, we also have four one-year suspensions handed down to Oakland A’s Michael Kelly, Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank, Phillies infielder Jose Rodriguez and Padres pitcher Jay Groome for betting on baseball. We also know that David Fletcher, who was good friends with Ohtani, is now being investigated into whether violated league rules regarding betting. Funny enough most of all the lines regarding betting are heading towards the illegal bookmaker and more attention than this guy wants.

This is the rule in the official Major League Handbook

According to Rule 21.(d) in the MLB official handbook regarding misconduct: “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”

It’s right there black and white and as simple as day. However, there are ways around things (so they all thought.) This is just the beginning and with recent findings that are closed and with findings enclosed the question is how deep the Rabbit hole goes.

  Gambling has been around whether legal or illegal, people find a way to bet. FanDuel, DraftKings, MGM, Caesars, Underdog and Fanatics are just a small sample of gambling sites that offer big rewards with bonus bets, trips and any way to lure a person in. I definitely can say that during the Pandemic DraftKings and FanDuel saw significantly larger returns with people not wanting to go out so betting on sports became bigger.  I understand why players should not be allowed to gamble on the sport they are in. Yes, they have friends that can give them inside information or can guarantee they will do something to increase the chance of a bet to win. If the NFL, NBA, NHL, NBA, WNBA, PGA and I can go on and with more sports and get very technical but, if you’re reading this then you know what I am getting at. There has to be a common ground and I really don’t see one. If a person who is directly related or an acquaintance is caught placing a bet that eventually returns to him. Then it’s good night, Irene. 

   The big thing now and I hate to put it out there but what if a class action is now brought against all of these players and anyone who bet on those games and lost due to it. It would be the most expensive lawsuit in a long time. This is just the first step of a long hundred steps this slinky of a story is going to take to conclude.