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.

MLB said the sportsbook notified it that Hoberg opened an account in his name on Jan. 30 last year and an electronic device associated with the account had accessed an account in the name of another person, who had bet on baseball.

Hoberg’s devices placed 417 direct bets with Sportsbook A between Dec. 30, 2020, and Jan. 15, 2024, on the friend’s accounts totaling $487,475.83, which lost $53,189.65 in the aggregate. The devices placed at least 112 bets with Sportsbook B totaling $222,130 that resulted in a loss of $21,686.96 in the aggregate. Most of the direct bets were on football, basketball, hockey and golf.

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’s reporting that was based on sourced information.

The website said some of the same 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.

nfl

Star defensive end Myles Garrett has requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns with the hope of better positioning himself to win a Super Bowl, according to a statement he sent to media outlets Monday.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry had said last week he would not trade Garrett in the offseason. A Browns spokesman said Monday the team is not entertaining trade offers for Garrett.

Garrett is under contract with the Browns for two more seasons.

The Houston Texans are hiring Rams assistant Nick Caley as their offensive coordinator, a source told The Associated Press. Caley spent last season as the passing game coordinator and tight ends coach for the Rams. He replaces Bobby Slowik, who was fired last month.

Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle Tony Boselli, the first draft pick in the history of the Jacksonville Jaguars, has been hired as the franchise’s executive vice president of football operations. Boselli, a fomer USC star, was a five-time Pro Bowl selection in seven seasons in Jacksonville.

college basketball

Longtime Florida State 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, announced his decision Monday following a team meeting. Hamilton ranks 10th on the NCAA’s list of winningest active DI coaches. He joined Florida State in 2002. He led the Seminoles to 16 postseason appearances and a dozen 20-win seasons.

John Shumate, who sparked Notre Dame to the 1974 upset of UCLA that snapped the Bruins’ record 88-game winning streak, has died. He was 72. Notre Dame announced that Shumate died on Monday.

Shumate played at Notre Dame from 1971-74 and was a first-team Associated Press All-America selection in 1974. The Phoenix Suns made Shumate the No. 4 overall pick in the 1974 draft, and he remained in the NBA through 1981 before beginning a lengthy coaching career at the college and pro levels.

mlb

Rich Dauer, a San Bernardino native who starred on the baseball diamond at USC and in the major leagues, has died. He was 72. Dauer, graduated from Colton High and went to San Bernardino Valley College before going to USC. He was an infielder who played a decade in the major leagues and won a World Series as a player with the Baltimore Orioles and as a coach with Houston Astros.

The Orioles announced Dauer’s death Monday. They did not announce a cause of death.

SOCCER

West Hills native and Agoura High graduate Savy King is retuning to Southern California with Angel City FC. King, a defender, who was the No. 2 overall pick by Bay FC in the 2024 NWSL Draft out of North Carolina, was acquired in exchange for $200,000 in intra-league transfer funds, plus an additional $100,000 in 2026. The trade was announced Monday.