Major League Baseball upheld the decision to fire umpire Pat Hoberg upon appeal after he was found to have violated the league’s gambling policy.

While there was no evidence discovered that Hoberg bet on games himself or manipulated the ones he worked, he shared betting accounts with others who did bet on baseball.

MLB insider Jessica Kleinschmidt shared the league’s statement that said, in part, “The disciplinary action was taken due to Hoberg’s failure to uphold the integrity of the game by sharing sports betting accounts with a professional poker player and friend who bet on baseball and whom Hoberg should have known bet on baseball, and due to Hoberg’s intentional deletion of messages central to MLB’s investigation into his conduct.”

“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement [by MLB]” Hoberg said, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “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.”

Rogers provided a timeline, noting MLB first starting investigating Hoberg in February 2024 when he opened a betting account on a personal electronic device that was associated with a sports betting account of someone who had bet on baseball.

The league removed Hoberg from spring training and did not allow him to work games during the 2024 season as the investigation unfolded and eventually resulted in his firing in May 2024.

The umpire appealed the ruling, but his appeal was denied with Monday’s announcement.

Rogers noted Hoberg, who first umpired in MLB in 2014, can apply for reinstatement starting in spring training 2026.

Rogers also pointed out Hoberg was “widely regarded as the best ball-strike umpire in MLB” and finished with a performance in Game 2 of the 2022 World Series that was ruled perfect because he called all 129 balls and strikes correctly.