Tucupita Marcano gets lifetime MLB ban for betting on baseball

 

Tucupita Marcano has been permanently barred by Major League Baseball following the discovery that, during his time with the team the previous season, he wagered on hundreds of baseball games, including ones involving the Pittsburgh Pirates.

MLB stated on Tuesday that Marcano wagered more than $150,000 on 387 baseball wagers with a legitimate sportsbook in October 2022 and from July to November of last year. He became the first player to be permanently banned for gambling yet still be active in a century.

Marcano appears to be the first active major leaguer banned under the sport's gambling provision since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O'Connell in 1924. Pete Rose, baseball's active career hits leader, famously agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation concluded he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team.

"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," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "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."

Currently a player with the San Diego Padres, Marcano was discovered to have wagered on 231 MLB events, 25 of which the league claims were Pirates games during his time as a major league player. But because he was sidelined due to a season-ending knee injury, he was unable to play in any of those games. It was at PNC Park that he was getting medical attention.

The MLB reports that Marcano wagered almost solely on game results, losing all of his parlay wagers on the Pirates and winning only 4.3% of his wagers on MLB teams.

Every clubhouse is required to publish MLB Rule 21, which stipulates that wagering on any baseball game in which a player, umpire, league official, or team employee is not required to perform might result in a one-year suspension. A lifelong ban is imposed for betting on a game in which an individual is required to perform.

MLB claimed that a legitimate sports betting company had alerted it to the betting activity. All of the disciplined players denied to MLB having inside information about their bets or the games they were betting on, and none of them participated in any games in which they were paid to gamble. MLB claims that these players' statements are consistent with the information obtained from the sportsbook.

In recent months, Marcano became the second athlete in North America to get a gambling ban. In April, the NBA banned Jontay Porter of Toronto for life after it was determined he had given bettors access to private information and placed wagers on games, including ones in which the Raptors were supposed to lose.


The games featuring their designated teams were not gambled on by the other four players.