Umpire Pat Hoberg was fired by Major League Baseball on Monday for sharing his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and for intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league’s investigation.

MLB opened the investigation last February when it was brought to its attention by the sportsbook, and Hoberg did not umpire last season. While MLB said the investigation did not uncover evidence Hoberg personally bet on baseball or manipulated games, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill recommended on May 24 that Hoberg be fired.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday he upheld Hill’s decision. Among the highest-rated umpires at judging the strike zone, Hoberg can apply for reinstatement no earlier than 2026 spring training.

MLB said the friend made 141 baseball bets between April 2, 2021, and Nov. 1, 2023, totaling almost $214,000 with an overall win of nearly $35,000.

Now 38, Hoberg became a professional umpire in 2009, made his big league debut as a call-up on March 31, 2014, and joined the major league staff ahead of the 2017 season. During Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, he had an unprecedented “umpire’s perfect game” by accurately calling balls and strikes on all 129 taken pitches, according to Umpire Scorecards.

“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement,” Hoberg said in a statement. “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. I apologize to Major League Baseball and the entire baseball community for my mistakes. I vow to learn from them and to be a better version of myself moving forward.”

College basketball

Auburn, Duke remain 1-2 in latest men’s poll

Auburn and Duke remain 1-2 atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third straight week, while Maryland is back in the rankings for the first time in nearly two years.

Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (20-1) held the No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive week in Monday’s poll and the third in a row as the unanimous choice. Auburn has claimed 246 of 248 first-place votes over the past month while remaining unbeaten in a rugged Southeastern Conference with nine ranked teams.

Auburn’s only loss came to Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils (19-2), who enter the week with the nation’s longest winning streak at 15 games.

Southern Cal women drop, UCLA stays No. 1

Southern Cal’s second loss of the season dropped the Trojans to seventh in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll Monday.

The previously No. 4 Trojans were shocked in Iowa when the Hawkeyes beat them 76-69 Sunday on a day Caitlin Clark’s jersey was retired. USC’s only other loss came at home to Notre Dame in November.

UCLA, South Carolina and Notre Dame remained the top three teams in the rankings.

Basketball

Gambling ring includes at least 3 college teams

A suspected gambling ring under federal investigation for its role in two NBA betting cases also was involved in unusual wagering activity on at least three men’s college basketball programs this season, ESPN reported Monday.

Sportsbook accounts connected to the gambling ring bet against Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State and North Carolina A&T, according to ESPN, which cited anonymous sources.

Three North Carolina A&T players were suspended indefinitely last week “for violating team rules,” though it was not clear if the statement from men’s basketball coach Monté Ross had any connection to the gambling allegations.

According to ESPN, some of the same sportsbook accounts also placed large wagers on prop bets involving former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter in two games during the 2023-24 NBA season and then-Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier in 2023.

Porter has admitted to manipulating his performance during games for gambling purposes and has been banned from the NBA for life. Rozier declined last week to comment on a reported investigation into unusual betting on his performance in a game.

The sportsbook accounts linked to the gambling ring also wagered on a Temple game flagged for suspicious betting last March.

BRIEFLY

NHL >> The Columbus Blue Jackets will have to continue their playoff push without forward Kirill Marchenko, who is out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a broken jaw.

NHL >> President Donald Trump mostly stuck to sports and avoided any talk of tariffs as he celebrated the NHL’s defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at the White House on Monday.

Soccer >> Spain forward Jenni Hermoso testified at Luis Rubiales’ trial on Monday that she did not consent to being kissed by the country’s former top soccer official after winning the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

College basketball >> Longtime Florida State basketball coach Leonard Hamilton is stepping down at the end of the season. Hamilton, who is being sued by six former players over allegations he failed to deliver on name, image and likeness promises.

soccer >> A federal court jury sided with the U.S. Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer on Monday in an antitrust lawsuit brought against the organizations by a now-defunct league that sued after it did not have its second-tier status renewed. After the verdict was announced, Judge Hector Gonzalez in Brooklyn dismissed the case brought in 2017 by the North American Soccer League, which disbanded months after the federation’s decision not to renew the status. The league said in the lawsuit the federation and MLS conspired to maintain a monopoly.

— From news services