It was announced a couple of hours ago that MLB fired umpire Pat Hoberg for sharing gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball. Hoberg did not umpire in the 2024 season while the investigation was ongoing. The earlies he can apply for reinstatement is spring training for the 2026 season. 

Hoberg was one of the highest rated umpires for calling balls and strikes in the game. In the 2022 World Series during Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, Hoberg called a "perfect game" with 129 of 129 taken pitches called correctly. Hoberg received widespread praise from both fans and commentators of baseball.

 Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules governing sports betting conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans, An extensive investigation revealed no evidence that Mr. Hoberg placed bets on baseball directly or that he or anyone else manipulated games in any way."

I read that one factor leading to his termination was the fact that he deleted text messages that MLB requested between himself and his friend that he "shared" an account with.

My question, Who shares a gambling account?

By all accounts he was a top notch umpire, but this doesn't pass the smell test.

The fact that his buddy made money on the handful of games he was umpiring or on review duty doesn't help his case, and they both deleted the same app they had hurts. As an official I'd almost have to give my phone to the league and just be honest, but I'd assume they were both freaking out. This is certainly not the only official in baseball or any sport do the same things.