Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was allegedly threatened by an angry sports bettor during the 2025 World Series.
Per ESPN, an Ohio sports bettor was banned from sports betting for allegedly threatening Schneider with violence during the Blue Jays’ 2025 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“The Ohio Casino Control Commission placed Blake Morgan of Thornville, Ohio, on the state’s Sports Gaming Involuntary Exclusion List for the alleged threats during a public meeting Wednesday. People on the list are banned from all state gaming facilities and prohibited from participating in the state’s legal betting market,” the report stated, noting that Morgan denied the allegations and plans on appealing his ban.
Bettor Was Upset About John Schneider Not Intentionally Walking Shohei Ohtani
In Game 3 of the 2025 World Series, Schneider decided to walk Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani four times. Schneider then said to the media in a press conference that he might intentionally walk Ohtani to leadoff Game 4, but instead decided to pitch to him instead, though Ohtani walked anyways on six pitches by Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber.
Per ESPN, the angry bettor called MLB’s customer service line during Game 4 and threatened Schneider with violence during a 14-minute phone call.
The caller said that Schneider was “lying” about his intention to intentionally walk Ohtani and then made threats about Schneider.
“That was a gambling grab. This game is not legit. There’s shady, fake and disturbing behavior going on… do I need to go to the game and on live TV and you know knock the dudes (expletive) head off right now on live TV so everyone can see that? We’ve got his address, we’ve got all of his information … if you don’t do something about it then we’re going to deal with your manager,” the caller said on the phone call.
MLB investigated the phone call and tracked it to Morgan, who admitted he was “pissed off” about Schneider’s comments about intentionally walking Ohtani but did not actually intend to hurt him despite his threats on the phone call. The local sheriff’s department also spoke to the bettor, though it’s unclear if criminal charges were filed, per ESPN.
Still, MLB took the threats seriously and banned Morgan from league venues and events two days later.
MLB Responds to Sports Bettor’s Ban
In a statement, MLB responded to Morgan being banned from placing wagers, noting that what he said was “unacceptable.”
“We commend the final order by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. We will continue to work with regulators across the country to protect those who work in our industry from unacceptable threats,” MLB said in a statement.
Per ESPN, the Blue Jays declined comment about the matter, though a source closer to the situation said the team was aware of the threats to its manager.
Fortunately, nothing happened to Schneider, as MLB acted quickly along with the Ohio Casino Control Commission to nip this incident in the bud before something bad could have taken place.
However, it’s just the latest example of an angry sports bettor who took things too far and threatened an athlete or someone else associated with a team, a story that has been told far too often in recent years, especially since the widespread legalization and popularity of sports betting in the United States several years ago. Ohio legalized sports betting in 2023.
Blue Jays John Schneider Was Threatened By Angry Sports Bettor