Edición 164 de El Infield Podcast. Carlos Valmore Rodríguez y Efraín Zavarce analizan el caso Tucupita Marcano. ¿Cuál es el origen de su tragedia? ¿Qué representa para MLB este hecho? ¿Por qué resulta tan grave? ¿Es completa la política de Las Mayores con respecto a este flagelo? ¿Hay doble moral en las Grandes Ligas en lo concerniente a las apuestas?
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00:00This episode of the Infil podcast is brought to you by FacilitoBet.com, the biggest organization at the service of your luck.
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00:22And also by Kamanbet, the usual parley.
00:26Welcome to this edition of the Infil podcast, we are with you Carlos Balmores Rodríguez and Efraín Zavarce.
00:34Today we will deal with a delicate, algae, shameful, tragic topic.
00:41It has to do with a Venezuelan, Tucupita Marcano, who unfortunately has been included in the list of non-eligible by the commissioner of the great leagues, Rob Manfred.
00:54Which means that his career in the major leagues has ended.
01:00He has ended up violating rule 21 of the constitution of the great leagues, apart from 2, which is very clear.
01:11And that prohibits players from betting in baseball games, regardless of the league to which the match belongs.
01:24And above all, it prohibits players from major leagues from betting in matches of the majors that involve their teams.
01:35And unfortunately, this was the case in which the Venezuelan incurred.
01:42At 24 years old, he has seen Carlos finish his career in this way.
01:50And the first thing I would like to know, Carlos, is your impression with respect to this case.
01:57Yes, Efraín and friends are surprised by the misjudgment of Tucupita Marcano.
02:08To do that, knowing the risks that this entailed, the possibility of receiving an exemplary sanction, as in fact happened.
02:22Tucupita Marcano, while he was a player who was on the floor of the salary scale of the major leagues,
02:35in any case, he was someone who earned an annual salary of $ 700,000.
02:44Let's assume that between taxes and agents' payments, that can be reduced, let's put it in half.
02:54It is $ 300,000 per year with which any person lives in the United States.
03:04One does not see the need to incur in this type of illicit.
03:14Efraín, for $ 150,000, which was what Tucupita Marcano spent, and also with very little success,
03:22because he only hit 4% of the bets he made.
03:28In other words, a misjudgment and also a badly dated Tucupita Marcano.
03:33In this case, it is very unfortunate, a player who could have stayed a few seasons in the major leagues,
03:42without the need to have a stellar role, a player who also had a family heritage in sports,
03:52the son of a player like Raúl Tucupita Marcano, with all the learning that he could have,
04:05having grown up in the ball industry.
04:10It is absolutely incomprehensible what happened and the fact that Tucupita Marcano has taken that path.
04:21It is a tragic fact because less than 5% of the Latin American players who sign for a major league organization
04:29reach the major leagues.
04:32And then, being so partial, as was the case in three campaigns,
04:41it also somehow denotes success.
04:45It is an achievement to display and of which to feel proud.
04:52Being 24 years old, Carlos, one understands that Tucupita Marcano,
04:58who was on the list of injured players before moving on to the list of unselected players,
05:04had a promising horizon to continue adding service time to the majors
05:11and to continue living a dream that, in his case, had come true.
05:18From that point of view, from the particular point of view, it ends up being, I repeat, tragic what happened to him.
05:29Then, the case of Tucupita is exposed by Carlos, giving him context.
05:38Well, the hypotheses of why this happened.
05:42One, and considering that the aforementioned player has not yet spoken,
05:50has to do with ignorance.
05:53Something that, at least for Carlos, I particularly rule out.
05:57Because this is a very well-known rule in major leagues, in every clubhouse,
06:04both in the facilities, in the stadiums, in the teams in regular season,
06:11but also in sprint training, the rule 21 is printed.
06:20As well as other rules to which major league players must adhere.
06:28For example, the substances they should not consume are punished for violating the anti-doping policy.
06:38There are also references to the policy against domestic violence and child abuse.
06:47And not only are these rules printed in English, also in Spanish, also in Japanese,
06:54in the languages of the players who normally come to life in major leagues.
07:02Then, in each sprint training, the players' association dedicates a day to each organization
07:09to meet with their affiliates, to remember these rules,
07:14to make a status of the state of the association in its relationship with major league baseball,
07:22and also to clarify any type of doubt that a player may have.
07:29It is difficult to think that ignorance was the cause of this violation of rule 21.
07:40And there is also the hypothesis of ludopathy that I would like to develop in our next block.
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08:06Ludopathy is this, a possibility.
08:09One tends to think that being the industry of major leagues so large,
08:16and excuse the cacophony, the redundancy,
08:21in terms of the number of people it employs,
08:25several of its members suffer from this evil.
08:31Rule 21, by the way, does not only mention the uniforms,
08:37the managers, the coaches, the players,
08:41but also all the employees of major league organizations
08:47and major league baseball as a league.
08:50That is, no person who is part of the payroll of any of the 30 major league organizations
08:59or who is part of the payroll of major league baseball as an institution
09:05can bet on baseball games.
09:09And understanding then that this is an industry that employs so many people,
09:15one understands that ludopathy is very likely to be part of this great industry.
09:25In this case, Carlos, I believe that the policy of major leagues with respect to bets
09:33should also contemplate helping those who are no longer part of this entity
09:42due to the violation of Rule 21,
09:46because it has been invalidated.
09:50I think, it is my opinion, and I would like to know what you think about it.
09:57That if that, for example, is the case of Tucupi Tamarcano or any of the other four sanctioned,
10:02because remember there were four other sanctioned players,
10:05in this case with a one-year suspension because they bet on baseball games,
10:11but not on games that involved their team.
10:14Well, major league baseball, although I think it should keep them away from the industry,
10:22it should give them a hand, because after all, they are human beings,
10:28human beings who are also very young,
10:30who have given the years that are supposed to be of academic training
10:37to face the rest of their lives in a dignified way,
10:41laborally, to the practice of baseball.
10:46And that, well, they are going to be made impossible,
10:49at least to participate in major league organizations from now on,
10:53for committing this violation, the specific case of Tucupi Tamarcano.
10:57I believe that here the policy of MLB with respect to this type of case
11:02should go beyond the sanction in the event that ludopathy is demonstrated.
11:07I don't know how you see it.
11:09Now, how is ludopathy distinguished, Efraín, from mere greed?
11:17That is a difficult issue.
11:20I don't know if psychologists or experts in mental health
11:25can establish a clear difference between one thing and the other.
11:31How is ludopathy born?
11:34How is that process?
11:37The ludopath is driven precisely by his illness to bet,
11:46or the greedy person who wants to make money starts to bet and becomes a ludopath.
11:53That is something really complex that is introduced in the interweaves of the human mind,
12:04and certainly we are not experts in that area,
12:09but it is not easy to distinguish one thing from the other,
12:14who is a sick person and who is simply a shameless person.
12:18Now, look at this.
12:21Tukupita Marcano, according to what was published by Major League Baseball,
12:28made more than 300 bets,
12:31around 290 or a little more in major league games.
12:3625 of those bets involved the Pittsburgh Pirates,
12:40which was the team for which Tukupita Marcano played or belonged at that time.
12:47Of those little more than 300 bets, according to the report,
12:51he won only 4.3% and spent $150,000.
12:57There it does not seem to have reigned sensitivity,
13:00so one understands that there was something beyond common sense,
13:07because if you spend $150,000 on bets,
13:12having won only 4.3% of them,
13:17it means that you probably lost a lot of money,
13:22and yet you kept betting.
13:25But more than $100,000.
13:27So you say, well, here is someone ...
13:31Because the better player, Efraín, is always going to look for the one who is losing,
13:36recover what is lost by betting more.
13:39But how far is he able to go without being ludopathy?
13:47So this is where I believe,
13:49because if not, this person is left to the margin of living a completely unfeasible life.
14:00And this is where I say, well, okay,
14:04stay away from your industry, because it is not healthy for your industry,
14:09and we will talk about that later,
14:12but I reiterate, there is a human being,
14:15whom I believe should be extended his hand.
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14:54At this time, 38 of the 50 states that make up the American Union
15:00legally allow betting.
15:05And in 2018, the Supreme Court of Justice opened the doors to sports leagues
15:12so that they could be sponsored by betting houses,
15:19and betting houses, in turn, could offer their clients
15:26what is developed in the main American sports leagues.
15:32Well, from there, a scenario has been opened with multiple consequences
15:39and challenges for American society in general,
15:47including its state institutions, state sports leagues,
15:54citizens in general, and the tax, which is a very important part of tax collection,
16:00one of the main reasons why sports betting has been legalized
16:05in much of the American territory.
16:11From here, one of the reactions that one sees from the case of Tukupi Tamarkano
16:20has to do with the possible double moral of Major League Baseball,
16:24and then whether the decision, the sanction, is fair for those who violate Rule 21.
16:35And I would like, Carlos, for you to give us your opinion on these two aspects.
16:41I believe that the sanction for those who bet in the game must be exemplary,
16:54because allowing that is good for any number of situations
17:04that would question the legitimacy and cleanliness of the game.
17:09There is a precedent that continues to gravitate through the decades
17:16in the industry of major leagues, and it was that disastrous chapter of the Black Media
17:24that sold the 1919 World Series in conjunction with a group of gamblers.
17:34So that has to be cut off from the roots, and in that sense it seems understandable
17:43and absolutely essential that Major League Baseball be severe with this type of behavior.
17:55There has to be an implacable behavior of Major League Baseball.
18:07The issue, and the other point that Efrain pointed out, is whether Major League Baseball
18:17loses or not moral authority to punish the infractors when they themselves are benefiting
18:27from the money that comes in through gambling houses that work in an absolutely legal way.
18:37And I believe that this is an issue, this is a problem of image, of presentation to society
18:50for Major League Baseball. I do believe that this is a problem that Major League Baseball
18:57has to clarify.
19:00Now, from the moment in which, and it can clarify, you say it must clarify,
19:07how can it clarify it?
19:09Well, it can simply clarify it by looking for other advertisers different from the gambling houses.
19:17What happens is that it is a fairly lucrative industry and it is an activity that has accompanied
19:23humanity practically since the beginning of time.
19:26How do you see the fact that 38 states out of the 50 that oppose the United States allow
19:35legal bets today? How do you see the fact that the major media, not only in the United States
19:41but in Europe, dedicated to sports coverage, are sponsored by gambling houses?
19:50How do you see the fact that this podcast, for example, is sponsored by gambling houses?
19:56Yes, but that is fine and I believe that it is an industry that must be legal because it is part of
20:11an activity that is part of human nature. But in the cases that you are mentioning,
20:26there is no double standard because no one involved is imposing exemplary sanctions
20:38for that type of practice, in the sense that no one can say that those states of the United States
20:46are somehow incursing in that double standard.
20:53They simply collect the taxes of that activity so that there is something of that at the service
21:00of the community, but you are not applying, on the other hand, extremely severe sanctions
21:11like the one we have seen in this case of Major League Baseball.
21:16Back, I will assume the role of lawyer of the devil.
21:30I will assume the role of lawyer of the devil.
22:01The case of gambling in baseball, in sports in general, but specifically in baseball,
22:08as a result of what happened, of the fact that it is unfortunately played by your cupid, Marcano.
22:16It is true that the Major Leagues have a strict, inflexible rule with respect to those who bet,
22:26but this happens only in baseball.
22:33That is, the members of the organizations of the Major Leagues can bet on any other sport.
22:40The sum they want, that is not a problem of the Major Leagues.
22:46The problem of the Major Leagues, and I think I understand why the sanction, which by the way is not new,
22:57this is one of the oldest rules in the constitution of the Major Leagues,
23:03regulates its members with respect to bets in baseball.
23:10I repeat, the members of the organizations of the Major Leagues can bet on any other sport,
23:16the sum they want, as long as, by the way, they are illegal betting houses, not illegal.
23:24The case for which it is sanctioned, it is expelled, in principle, I.P.I. Misuohara,
23:33the former translator of Shohei Yotani, is not only because he bets on baseball,
23:40but also because he bets on an illegal house in the state of California.
23:47The state of California is one of the few states in the United States where bets are not legalized.
23:55And in fact, those who start the investigation, in this particular case,
24:01are not members of the Department of Investigation of the Major Leagues,
24:06it is the agency that collects taxes in the United States, and it is the FBI.
24:11That is, this was a federal investigation, the one that was behind the case of Shohei Yotani and his translator.
24:22So here we have to be clear about that.
24:27The members of the organizations of the Major Leagues can bet, but not on baseball games,
24:33as long as they are legal betting houses.
24:38Considering the amount of money that the betting houses have for themselves,
24:49are they willing to sponsor sports leagues?
24:53Well, it is very difficult to say no, especially when the US government has allowed this.
25:02And then, remember, these betting houses have as their main base what happens in the sports leagues.
25:09So it is very difficult for one thing not to be concatenated with the other.
25:17Where is the big problem here?
25:20And the big challenge, not only for Major League Baseball, but for all sports leagues,
25:25is to avoid, because here there is a big problem, that its members bet on their games.
25:32Now, of course, the incentive to bet in American reality is much greater
25:38from the legalization of betting houses.
25:43So this is where the leagues must be very careful.
25:49We already saw, Carlos, how at the beginning of the year the NBA had to suspend a player from the Toronto Raptors
25:59because of a case similar to that of Tukupita Marcano.
26:06Considering that MLB is such a large industry that produces more than $10,000 a year,
26:14you have to take into account what is the basis of this great business,
26:27what sustains it, and it is something tremendously fragile.
26:34And it is nothing other than the confidence that millions of fans deposit,
26:40not only in the United States, but around the world,
26:43in what honestly stems from the field of play.
26:47And Major League Baseball understands very well, due to a very hard experience already mentioned by Carlos,
26:54the World Series of 1919,
26:59that if the confidence of the fans is lost in what happens on the field of play, the business falls.
27:06And MLB is mainly a business, and fortunately it has always been managed under that criterion,
27:13because that is what allows it to be as big and spectacular as it is today.
27:19So you can bet, but you can't bet on baseball games,
27:24let alone on your team's games.
27:26Because if you don't, you are directly tempting the heart of the business,
27:32of this industry that has benefited you,
27:35and this is referring to the players who have violated this rule.
27:42Speaking of business, and to finish,
27:46Tukupita Marcano did a very bad business by investing in bets related to baseball.
27:55There is an article in the Forbes magazine,
27:58in which it is calculated how much Tukupita Marcano stopped earning
28:09by being suspended for life, assuming that he had played between 2024 and 2028.
28:19From Marcano's career and his possibility of even becoming a Super 2,
28:27this figure related to refereeing,
28:32in this Forbes article they conclude that Tukupita Marcano could have lost
28:41up to $14.5 million in lost wages.
28:48And that does not include collateral benefits that are in the collective contract,
28:56medical benefits, pension, etc.
29:00That is, the money that Tukupita Marcano lost by being suspended for life
29:10is of an immeasurable magnitude,
29:12especially if we take into account that it went down the drain for $150,000.
29:20This was the Infield Podcast.
29:22We were with you, Carlos Balmores Rodríguez and Efraín Sabarse.
29:25See you next week.
29:30This episode of Infield was presented by FacilitoBet.com,
29:35the largest organization at the service of your luck.
29:39And also by Multiviral, vitamins and minerals.
29:44And also by Come and Bet, the usual parlay.