Guardians gambling investigation should bring micro-betting under scrutiny

USA Today

3 days ago

Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase became the latest pro athlete caught up in a gambling probe Monday after being placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of an MLB investigation. The three-time all-star will have to sit out through at least Aug. 31, the same as teammate Luis Ortiz who's been on leave since July 3 after unusual gambling activity was flagged on two of his pitches from games in June.
It hasn't been confirmed how Clase's leave is connected to the investigation into Ortiz, but they certainly seem to be related based on Cleveland's statement which said "no additional players or Club personnel are expected to be impacted."
It's awful timing for a team in the thick of a Wild Card chase trying to decide whether it should buy or sell at the trade deadline, with Clase among the players who were likely to be dealt. That's obviously now off the table. More than that, this investigation is an awful look for baseball with potentially disastrous implications.
At the heart of the probe into Ortiz were his first pitches of select innings of games on June 15 against the Seattle Mariners and June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals. Both were flagged because of unusual betting on Ortiz to throw a ball or hit a batsman, which is exactly what happened as Ortiz threw both pitches wayward for balls.
This type of gambling -- where you can bet on individual moments within a game -- is called micro-betting. It's something I've written about quite a bit over the years as the offerings have expanded. More and more, that expansion is beginning to look like a mistake.
The legalization of sports betting was always going to present issues of integrity for leagues, whether actual or perceived, but it's a lot more difficult for an athlete to influence an entire game. Micro-betting, however, opens up a whole new avenue of risk. It's easy to see how someone might convince themself they can get away with fixing a single result and not get caught. Worst of all, it's easy to see how spectators might convince themselves someone is fixing a result even when they aren't. The mere presence of micro-betting can make for bad optics.
What happens the next time an umpire makes a bad call on a ball or strike (like this truly awful call from Tuesday), will people wonder if he had a bet on the pitch? What about when a base-runner is thrown out at home on a bad gamble to end the first inning -- did he have money on the NRFI (no runs first inning)? That's the potential danger of micro-betting in this spotlight. It's not so much that people are fixing results. It's that we can never be too sure.
I'm not saying leagues should definitely find a way to get rid of micro-betting -- if they even have the power to do so. I'm just saying it's probably worth looking into. As these type of markets grow in popularity, so too will the conspiracies.
Angel Reese... didn't say that
A tweet of a supposed quote from Angel Reese went viral Tuesday because of the nonsensical contents of the alleged quote: "Y'all make $1,400 a week. I make $1,400 in seven days."
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That anyone would believe it was a real quote (especially considering the source) is ridiculous, but apparently some did, so FTW's Meg Hall did some digging and it turns out Reese didn't actually say that.
"So, how did this meme take off?
Well, per Her Hoops Stats, Reese's current WNBA salary is $74,909. What's $74,909 divided by 52? Roughly $1,440 a week or about $1,400 for simplification purposes. See where this is going? That's how easy it was to spread a "believable" quote."
You mean the internet would lie? About Angel Reese?!? You don't say.
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That's it for today folks. We'll be back tomorrow.
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