MLB previously brought in mobsters and FBI informants to warn players about gambling, ex-Red Sox closer claims… as Dodgers’ $700m star Shohei Ohtani faces investigation over suspicious wire transfers to a bookie
Amid baseball’s biggest gambling scandal since Pete Rose’s banishment from the game in 1989, former Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has opened up about efforts by the Commissioner’s office to deter players from placing bets on baseball.
In some cases, Major League Baseball tapped known mobsters and FBI informants to speak with players about the dangers of gambling.
‘They brought some of the mob members in,’ Papelbon told Audacy’s Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast on Thursday. ‘Gambling is such a big deal. They’ve brought former FBI informants with the mob with gambling rings in the mob to come talk in spring training about, ”Don’t get sucked into gambling. Stay clean. Don’t get into that world because once you get into it, you’re done.”
‘That’s how serious this is, man. We’re trying to keep the game clean. Once the game gets infiltrated, it’s done.’
Papelbon’s revelation comes as Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is being investigated by Major League Baseball over suspicious wire transfers from his bank account to an illegal California sportsbook. Ohtani has denied gambling on baseball and is accusing his now-fired translator, Ippei Mizuhara, of stealing millions to cover his own gambling losses.
Ex-Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has opened up about efforts by the Commissioner’s office to deter players from placing bets on baseball
Ohtani is being investigated over suspicious wire transfers from his bank account to bookies
Baseball is notoriously rigid about gambling infractions.
Then-commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis set the precedent in 1921 by issuing lifetime bans to members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox for throwing that year’s World Series to the Cincinnati Reds at the behest of New York gambler Arnold Rothstein.
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (pictured) banned members of the 1919 White Sox for life
Then, in 1989, commissioner Bart Giamatti issued a lifetime ban to Reds manager and baseball’s all-time hit leader, Pete Rose.
Although Rose previously denied gambling at the time, in 2004 he confessed to betting on Cincinnati games while managing the team, but insisted he never wagered against the Reds.
His critics have argued that is irrelevant, because he could conceivably rest his best relief pitchers for games when he wasn’t gambling, leaving Cincinnati less competitive on those nights.
It was in 1991 that the Hall of Fame board made Rose ineligible for life, and recently, current commissioner Rob Manfred vowed to uphold that ban.
‘Pete Rose violated what is sort of rule one in baseball, and the consequences of that are clear in the rule, and we’ve continued to abide by our own rules,’ Manfred said in 2023.
Former Cincinnati Reds player and manager Pete Rose was given a lifetime ban for gambling
Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti (pictured) banned Pete Rose from baseball for life in 1989
Many have questioned whether one person can impact a MLB game, but Papelbon knows that is quite possible.
‘Yes, 1,000 percent,’ Papelbon said. ‘Especially young guys and especially guys that are in my position like a closer who can really affect a game. I could’ve affected every game that I played in – literally.
‘To the amount of we can still win but I can let another run score, cover, be OK, nobody would ever know, to that extent,’ he continued. ‘As a player, I don’t think it happens as much as you think that they get approached, but they do. It does happen to players.’
MLB has been bringing in mobsters to talk to players about gambling for decades, Michael Franzese, a former capo in the Colombo crime family, told HBO’s ”Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in 2002.
Franzese said he approached players in the late 1970s and early 1980s about throwing games, but did not identify any individuals.
