NEW YORK – San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned from baseball for life for betting on the sport and four others were suspended for a year by Major League Baseball on Tuesday in the biggest gambling scandal in decades.
MLB said Marcano made 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 in October 2022 and last July through November with legal sports betting. He became the first active player in a century banned for life because of gambling.
Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly was banned for a year for betting on baseball, while in the minor leagues and three minor leaguers were also banned for a year for betting on big league games: San Diego pitchers Jay Groome and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona, and infielder José Rodríguez of Philadelphia. Each of these four players bet less than $1,000. Saalfrank and Rodríguez previously played in the majors.
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“Strict enforcement of Major League Baseball rules and policies governing the conduct of the game is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for fans,” said baseball commissioner Rob Manfred in a communicated. “The long-standing prohibition of betting on Major League Baseball games by those who play the sport has been a fundamental principle for more than a century. We have made clear that the privilege of playing baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for others.”
Marcano is the first active major league player banned for life under the sport’s gambling clause since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924. Pete Rose, baseball’s career hitting leader, agreed to the suspension for life in 1989 after an investigation concluded that he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team.
Major League Rule 21, posted in every clubhouse, declares betting on any baseball game in which a player, umpire, league official or team employee is under no obligation to show results under a one-year suspension. Betting on a game that a person has a duty to perform results in a lifetime ban.
Marcano became the second North American athlete banned for gambling in recent months. The NBA gave Toronto’s Jontay Porter a lifetime ban in April, after completing it, he disclosed confidential information to bettors and bet on games, including the Raptors’ loss.
MLB said it was tipped off in March about the betting activity by a legal sports betting operator. None of the punished players played any of the games they bet on, and all of the players denied to MLB that they had inside information relevant to their bets or the games they bet on – testimony that MLB claims is in line with data received from sports betting.
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In its announcement, MLB detailed the alleged bets for each player.
Marcano’s 387 baseball bets included international games and 231 MLB-related bets for $87,319 between October 16, 2022 and last November 1. Twenty-five of those bets included bets on Pirates games while he was on the team’s major league roster. Now 24, Marcano hasn’t played since tearing his right ACL on July 24 and was receiving medical treatment at PNC Park last year.
Marcano bet almost exclusively on game outcomes and lost all of his parlay bets involving the Pirates, winning just 4.3% of all his MLB-related bets.
Marcano made his major league debut on April 1, 2021, and has a .217 average with five home runs, 34 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 149 games. He played both infield and outfield.
“While the full investigation has revealed no evidence that any games were compromised, influenced or manipulated in any way in this case, protecting the integrity of our game is paramount,” the Pirates said in a statement.
The other four players did not bet on games involving the designated teams.
Kelly placed 10 bets in nine major league games from Oct. 5-17, 2021, while he was a minor leaguer assigned to Houston’s Triple-A Sugar Land farm team. Wagers included bets on outcomes, over/under runs, and pitcher’s individual strikeout totals. Three of the nine games involved the major league Astros. His bets totaled $99.22 and resulted in $28.30 in winnings.
Kelly, 31, is 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 28 games this season, last pitching Saturday in Atlanta. The former first-round draft pick has appeared in 46 games over the past three seasons.
Groome, a 25-year-old who has been on the minor league injured list since mid-April, placed 32 MLB-related bets from July 22, 2020, through July 24, 2021, including 24 on the Boston Red’s major league team Sox while he was assigned to Boston’s High-A team in Greenville, South Carolina. The sport detailed that he bet $453.74 on 30 MLB games and had a net loss of $433.54, receiving payouts in just two bets. His bets included rollovers.
Rodríguez, 23, was with Double-A Reading this season. He placed 31 baseball bets on September 30, 2021, and from June 5 to July 30, 2022, including 28 on MLB and three on college baseball. The total included seven involving the Chicago White Sox at the time he was assigned to the Double-A team in Birmingham, Alabama. Two of the White Sox bets involved outcomes and the others were on runs scored. He bet $749.09 on baseball, $724.09 of which was on MLB-related bets that included parlays.
Saalfrank, 26, played in 21 games for Arizona last year between the regular season and postseason, including three World Series games, and two this year before being optioned to Triple-A Reno on May 1. October 9-29, 2021, and March 9, 2022, including 28 in MLB and one accumulation in college baseball. He placed four bets on the big league Diamondbacks while on the injured list of his Low-A farm team. His baseball bets totaled $445.87 on baseball, including $444.07 on MLB, and he lost $272.64 on bets from MLB and $1.80 on the college bet. He won just five of 28 MLB bets, which included pitcher scores, runs and strikeouts.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
