Baseball's Biggest Betting Scandal Since Pete Rose

"On June 27, I was watching my beloved St. Louis Cardinals play the Cleveland Guardians on Apple TV, a streaming platform I pay 13 bucks a month for, in large part so I can watch baseball games on Friday nights. The Cardinals were off to a surprisingly strong start to the season, and I remember this game specifically because actor J.K. Simmons was visiting the broadcast booth and had thrown out the first pitch."

"Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz came into the game with a 4.30 ERA, fresh off his best start of the season (a ten-strikeout, six-inning shutout performance against the Oakland A's), and he'd shut down the Cardinals for the first two innings. But then he threw a pitch that bounced roughly ten feet in front of the plate - a pitch so cartoonishly incompetent that Cardinals batter Pedro Pages even looked out at Ortiz as if to say, "What the hell was that?""

"It turns out that Ortiz earned $7,000 for throwing that pitch, according to authorities, coordinating with gamblers who had wagered $18,000 that Ortiz's first pitch would be either a ball or a hit by pitch. On Sunday, Ortiz and his teammate Emmanuel Clase were indicted on federal charges related to illegal sports betting. Ortiz was arrested in Boston on Sunday, Clase is currently out of the country, and both have been suspended by Major League Baseball since July."

On June 27 a St. Louis Cardinals game on Apple TV featured actor J.K. Simmons in the broadcast booth. Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz, entering with a 4.30 ERA and fresh off a ten-strikeout, six-inning shutout, threw a pitch that bounced roughly ten feet in front of the plate. Two pitches later Pedro Pages hit a home run, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Authorities allege Ortiz earned $7,000 by coordinating with gamblers who wagered $18,000 on his first pitch being a ball or hit by pitch. Ortiz and teammate Emmanuel Clase were federally indicted; Ortiz was arrested in Boston, Clase is abroad, and both were suspended by Major League Baseball in July. The incident is compared to the Pete Rose betting scandal.

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