When Mike Shildt abruptly retired as the manager of MLB’s San Diego Padres with two years remaining on his contract this week, it came as a shock to the league. Despite being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last week, the Padres look like they could continue to be contenders after winning at least 90 games the past two seasons.
It seems, though, that the spread of sports betting played at least a small role in Shildt’s decision to walk away.
I’m just tired and want to go home, dude.”
In an interview with Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Shildt said he isn’t worried about rumors or armchair analysis as to why he is retiring, saying simply: “I’m just tired and want to go home, dude. I’m at super peace with it.”
He explained to Lin that the stress had piled up so much that he had been thinking about this decision since August. Shildt, wrote Lin, experienced “poor sleep, chest pains, hair loss and, in an age of pervasive sports gambling, even death threats from strangers.”
Shildt did not give specifics on the threats, but it is a story we have heard from athletes in every league and at every level over the last few years as sports betting has become ubiquitous in the United States.
In an anonymous MLB player poll this June, The Athletic found that 78% of players said that legalized sports betting has changed how fans treat them. And the change is almost universally negative.
While some players just get annoyed by fans telling them that they have money riding on their performance, others have received threats, likely similar to what Shildt experienced.
“It’s insane,” one player said. “Nowadays it’s ‘f— you, f— your family.’ S—, it’s a bad day, I’m sorry. It’s not like I called you and said, ‘Bet on me today.’ You’re making the fans expect us to go 4-for-4 every day.”
“I get threats,” that same player added. “‘I’m going to shoot you from my apartment. I live right across (from) the stadium.’ … I got three or four texts like that and I had to report it to MLB security. I don’t know if it’s for real, but I don’t want to find out.”
