Padres’ Tucupita Marcano given lifetime MLB ban for betting on baseball

• Four other players given one-year bans for betting offences
• Infielder does not appear to have influenced games

Major League Baseball has handed the San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano a lifetime ban for betting on baseball. The league suspended four other players for one year after finding they placed unrelated bets with a legal sportsbook.

Marcano appears to be the first active major leaguer banned under the sport's gambling provision since the New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O'Connell in 1924. Pete Rose, MLB's career hits leader, agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation concluded he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team.