Joe Torre concerned about baseball’s link with gambling

Joe Torre, chief baseball officer of Major League Baseball, offered a very cautious evaluation of the sport’s rapidly growing relationship with the legalized gambling industry. “I don’t think there’s any secret—it’s a concern,” he told Asia Gaming Brief at a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.

“We just want to be sure that we do what we can to protect our game in regard to what you are betting on. We had meetings with every ball club in the spring to talk about it. In fact, I’m very sensitive because I’m responsible for umpires, responsible for minor league baseball. So there are a lot of dangers out there that we are aware of and that we are going to monitor to make sure that there is never a question about the game,” he explained.

“Our relationship now with MGM is just basically one of our sponsors, like the same would be with Coca-Cola or anything like that. That’s where our relationship is with MGM,” he added.

The 2019 MGM MLB Opening Series has been held this week between the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners at Tokyo Dome.

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