The unwieldy program that was used to implement the 1919 Black Sox’s groundbreaking playing scandal is responsible for the staggering gambling suspensions issued this month by Major League Baseball, including a lifetime ban for San Diego Padres prospect Tucupita Marcano.
Two pieces of text form the backbone of baseball’s gambling policy: Rule 21 ( d ) of MLB’s own rules and bylaws, and Attachment 61 of the Basic Agreement negotiated between the owners and the MLB Players Association.
The code of ethics for gambling has long been governed by MLB Rule 21, which is what led to the career suspensions of armed baseball players like Pete Rose and Shoeless Jackson. Both were expelled from the game for violating a sanctified law prohibiting gambling on game where their respective teams were competing.

According to a union spokesman, Attachment 61 of the latest Basic Agreement is intended to expand on that principle.
Due to MLB’s now-familiar connection with legal gambling venues and casinos, whether this most needs to be updated in the next collective negotiations will be a question. The 2026 World Series will be the last game of the existing Basic Agreement, and negotiations will undoubtedly start there.
It may come as no surprise if sport’s gambling policy is ll- examined in work talks. There was a clear distinction between baseball betting and participating in the game when Jackson and seven of his Chicago White Sox friends were expelled in 1920 for hosting the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, and Rose was banned in 1989 for doing so. The latest rapid development of legalized gambling in the U.S. appears to have blurred that distinction, at least in the minds of some people.
Four of the other five recent players—Jay Groom, also in the Padres ‘ organization, Michael Kelly of the Oakland Athletics, Jose Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Andrew Saalfrank of the Arizona Diamondbacks—were all suspended for a year under Rule 21 ( d ) ( 1 ), because they “bet any sum]legally ] whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform”.
So, they bet on football, but not on their own game. That’s an involuntary one- yr suspension.
Marcano, as a member of the Pirates organization before joining the Padres, violated Rule 21 ( d ) ( 2 ):” 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”.
He is therefore subject to a career suspension.
Under the Basic Agreement, people are informed of the administrative procedure once it starts, and they have the right to dispute trials. That part of the process is private, and by the time punishments are handed down officially, the dispute process been concluded. Therefore, if any of these people chose to go through a dispute process, it’s already over, and they have no proper to further lament these choices.

The answer is no. People, along with directors, coaches and officials, are all forbidden from betting on the activity under Rule 21.
However, those stringent restrictions are in conflict with recent revisions to state laws, broader society, and MLB and other professional sports ‘ commitment to making money with legalized gambling. In some areas of the country where state legislatures have passed suitable laws, bettors had to spot sports bet with unlawful bettors or websites before the Supreme Court affirmed state ‘ right to legalize betting in 2018.
Since 2018, that’s changed, with Screen protection and promotion all urging supporters to place bets on their phones, on computers or at just legal betting parlors across the country. In Phoenix, for example, there’s a sports text in the square outside the main gate to Chase Field, where the Diamondbacks enjoy 81 regular season games.
Well, but there’s a big catch. Rule 21 ( d ) ( 3 ) prohibits anyone involved in baseball from betting illegally on any sport.
This is the part of the law that actually hung Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s past speaker.
Mizuhara placed millions of dollars wagers on sporting events that are not related to sports with a bookmaker in California, a state where wagering is prohibited. Had he bet the same amount of money legally in Arizona, Mizuhara probably would n’t have been caught. Otherwise, he was involved in the bookmaker’s scheme and is currently facing 33 years in prison after admitting to the offenses of stealing from Ohtani’s records to pay off his sizable payments.
If Mizuhara had been uncovered to be a knowing companion in them, Mizuhara’s transgressions might have had a significant impact on Ohtani. He was n’t.
All of this has taken place since the start of the standard time for the 2024 and spotlighted MLB’s business dealings with games and gambling establishments. Through licensing agreements, MLB is earning more than$ 1 billion annually, opening a huge new revenue stream for the owners and the players.
It would be incumbent on all parties, therefore, to improve education for the players, in particular, considering all the force then being put on the those players. And that’s where Attachment 61 steps in.
Every spring, the union and MLB meet with the players on each team, and gambling is a hot topic of conversation. Players are aware of the restrictions and rules, which are constantly being repeated in various languages. In the wake of the suspensions and the Ohtani-Mizuhara incident, anticipate a doubling down of that education process this year.
Attachment 61, Part C, stipulates details of that education process, which is now spread to the 5, 500 minor leaguers covered by the union.
Particularly at issue is how players are affected by emerging gambling technology, government investigations, sponsorships and how other sports are dealing with all this. Those aspects are addressed in Part C ( 2 ) of the attachment, which also states that” the Parties will meet and confer each offseason”, to discuss these issues.
No. There is n’t a formal collective bargained program at this point that addresses the gambling issue, unlike the Joint Drug Policy and the Domestic Violence Policy.
The Joint Drug Policy evaluates the use of performance-enhancing drugs, establishes drug testing, and sets sanctions for a player who tests positive. Players who abuse their partners ( or other people ) are subject to a number of penalties under the domestic violence policy, regardless of whether they are accused or found guilty in court.
Gambling is handled similarly to the abuse of alcohol and drugs. At the club and league levels, a player can report a problem and have it treated as an anonymous mental health issue through programs. Many players report these issues and continue to play. Some people take time off to deal with their problem.
Chris Martin, a 38-year-old pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, is a perfect recent illustration of this. He told the team he wanted to take some time off to deal with his anxiety. On June 5, the Red Sox put him on the 15- day injured list and, in agreement with Martin, announced that his mental health was the reason.
Perhaps the next collective bargaining negotiations should include a joint gambling policy as a topic that needs to be addressed.