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Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito is concerned about the safety of MLB players amid a rise in sports betting, revealing that both he and his girlfriend have been harassed on social media.
Giolito, 31, spoke about the issue after meeting with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred this week. He told the “Baseball isn’t Boring” podcast that Manfred met with the Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies to discuss issues and concerns and that he took the opportunity to raise an issue that he believes is a serious threat to most baseball players.
“I asked him about something that has been on my mind this year that’s been a little worrisome for me with the rise of sports betting – the access that exists now with social media and everything,” Giolito said.
“The threats when a player doesn’t perform well – threats to their family, threats to their life – it’s getting very tiring. I worry for guys that are maybe new to the league and aren’t ready for something like that.”
The 2019 All-Star said that he’s been subjected to angry threats on social media, regardless of his performance. He noted that even his girlfriend “gets a lot of nasty s—.”
“When it comes to the gambling, it obviously has created an uptick in insane people online — well, not insane, just disgruntled. I’m getting messages after every game, even games where I pitch well where they’re made at me because I hit the strike out over instead of being under, or I was under instead of being over like prop bets – all these crazy things. And people put hundreds of dollars on it and they don’t have a lot of money, but they’re gambling it anyways because it’s a disease. They freak out.”
Giolito admitted that while sports betting has been around for some time, access to players on social media and access to gambling has made it a bigger issue over the years. While staying off social media can shield players from the negativity, Giolito said it does not remove the real threat athletes could face.
“It only goes so far,” he said. “Is it going to take a player getting assaulted in front of their apartment building by some disgruntled guy that lost a bet for real action to be taken?”
Giolito said he appreciated the commissioner speaking with teams and players, adding that “to be able to get face-to-face time and ask questions is always good.”
However, Giolito isn’t the first athlete to ever raise concerns about sports betting – and he certainly isn’t the first MLB player to be subjected to alarming threats.
Just last month, police in Texas identified a man overseas as the culprit who allegedly made death threats directed at Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his family in May. Police said the man was “inebriated” when he made the threats on social media after he lost money on a bet.
The Astros hired security for McCullers and his family. McCullers said he struggled with explaining the situation to his 5-year-old daughter.
“She asked me when I came home, ‘Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?’” McCullers told The Associated Press at the time. “So, those conversations are tough to deal with.”
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