Copyright cleveland.com
In the wake of a stunning betting scandal involving two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Major League Baseball this week announced new limits on certain kinds of wagers. But the hosts of Today in Ohio, the daily news podcast from cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, said the move does little to restore faith in the game while the league continues to profit from gambling. “The whole game of baseball is in jeopardy here,” said cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn on Tuesday’s episode. “This is absolutely wrong. It’s not going to bring trust back.” MLB’s new rules cap “micro bets” — wagers on individual pitches — at $200 and prohibit combining them in parlays. The league framed the changes as a major step to protect the sport’s integrity, even drawing praise from Gov. Mike DeWine. But the podcast hosts weren’t buying it. “The last entity that should regulate betting in baseball is baseball,” Quinn said, responding to co-host Lisa Garvin’s observation about the league’s deep ties to gambling companies. “As you note, it’s making money off it with their partnership.” The scandal hits painfully close to home for Cleveland fans. Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase is among those accused of manipulating games for gambling profits — allegedly throwing balls in the dirt to satisfy betting arrangements that may have altered outcomes. That leaves fans questioning everything about the team’s breakout 2024 season, which ended with an abrupt playoff exit. “Did we lose the potential for a championship because a pitcher got bought off?” Quinn asked. “You can’t say that’s ridiculous given what he’s charged with.” The hosts wondered why professional athletes making tens of millions would risk their careers for payouts of just a few thousand dollars. “Some have theorized that they’re being pressured by organized crime,” Garvin said. The team on Today in Ohio pointed out the central contradiction in MLB’s stance: the league has partnered with betting companies like FanDuel while claiming it can police the integrity problems those same relationships create. Even Gov. DeWine’s role is complicated, they noted, given that he is part owner of a minor-league baseball team. “Why would pro sports leagues partner with online betting companies?” Garvin asked. “I understand it’s all about the money, but it just has a really bad look.” Quinn said baseball largely avoided widespread corruption after the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal, with only isolated cases — such as Pete Rose’s gambling — damaging the game’s reputation. But by embracing gambling in the digital age, he said, the league has opened Pandora’s box. If baseball truly wants to protect its integrity, the Today in Ohio hosts agreed, it won’t come from half-measures or token betting limits. They argued that states — or perhaps the federal government — must step in and ban these types of bets entirely. The sport, they said, can’t effectively regulate itself while cashing in on gambling revenue. The episode ended on a sobering note. If corruption of this kind has reached baseball — a sport that once held itself up as America’s moral pastime — it’s hard to imagine that other major sports are immune. Listen to the episode here. Read more Today in Ohio news Cuyahoga County cuts social services — and the sheriff wants more deputies? Cedar Point in peril? Class-action lawsuit exposes troubled Six Flags merger Is your electric bill spiking? The Ohio battle over who pays for data center power demands
