I've seen it in numerous places and not sure where I originally saw it, but here's an article that I found in 10 seconds by googling.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 ? The Mets rode into town Friday with a 14-game division lead that is swelling at the same pace as the potential headache surrounding their All-Star catcher, Paul Lo Duca. For much of the week, Lo Duca has faced tabloid headlines divulging details of his marital discord. But on Friday both he and the Mets were confronted with something that could potentially be more distracting and damaging.
A report in The Daily News said that at least twice in the past two years illegal bookmakers had taken steps to get Lo Duca to pay his gambling debts. Lo Duca, who owns race horses, had stated earlier this week that he bets only on horse racing with a legal, online account and has maintained that he had not incurred any debts with his betting activities.
Any connection between Lo Duca and bookmakers would be troubling for both the Mets and Major League Baseball because of its potential to compromise Lo Duca.
For the moment, the Mets are standing behind the Lo Duca, who has been a key figure on the field and in the clubhouse for a team that is running away with the National League East.
?We have talked to Major League Baseball and they have expressed no concern of any violation of any Major League Baseball rule regarding Paul Lo Duca,? the Mets said in a statement. ?Right now we urge Paul to focus on baseball and we support him through this difficult period in his life.?
Lo Duca, who is normally one of the more quotable and accessible players on the team, spent minimal time in the clubhouse before Friday night?s game against the Washington Nationals. When approached, Lo Duca said he would only answer questions related to baseball.
?The Mets said it for me,? Lo Duca said. ?I don?t need to say nothing else.?
On Wednesday, General Manager Omar Minaya said he had asked Lo Duca whether he gambled on horses ? Lo Duca told him that he did ? but Minaya added that he had not asked Lo Duca whether he bet only on horse racing. Contacted Friday evening, Minaya said he was sticking to the team?s statement and reiterated that he had not asked Lo Duca whether his betting habits extended beyond horse racing.
Major League Baseball has not commented directly on the gambling allegations concerning Lo Duca, but it has said nothing to contradict the Mets? assertions that Lo Duca has not aroused any concerns within the commissioner?s office.
According to The Daily News story, one bookmaker contacted the Florida Marlins in June 2005 to complain that Lo Duca, who was then a Marlin, owed him money. The Marlins, the story said, then contacted Major League Baseball. If true, it would mean that baseball was aware of at least one allegation concerning Lo Duca over a year ago and presumably had cleared him.
Lo Duca?s continuing interest in horse racing ? he owns several horses that are based in California ? is widely known and online betting on horse racing is legal. Partly because of the availability of such accounts, as well as the growth of legal off-track betting sites, bookmakers no longer deal with horse racing in the volume that they once did and any number of bookmakers do not take bets on racing.
So if Lo Duca had run up debts with bookmakers, the possibility of him betting on sports other than horse racing could be raised. It is possible for Lo Duca or anyone else to bet on games without using a bookmaker and without going to Las Vegas. There are hundreds of Web sites that take wagers on everything from pro football to college basketball, although it is against the law in the United States to accept such bets. That is why such Web sites are located offshore.
Baseball?s collective bargaining agreement does not address betting activities. Major League Baseball rules do, but only on a prohibition against betting on baseball. A player found to have bet on the sport faces a one-year suspension; a player betting on his own team receives a lifetime ban.
This isn?t the first time the Mets have been confronted by gambling-related issues. Last May, a supervisor of groundskeepers at Shea Stadium was indicted for working as a bookmaker in a gambling ring controlled by the Bonanno crime family.
Lo Duca has not seemed to let the various headlines undermine his performance on the field. By hitting safely in 24 of his past 27 games, he had boosted his average to a team-high .319 entering Friday night?s game. In his first at-bat of the game, he slammed a home run that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.
For Lo Duca, who is in the second year of a three-year, $18 million contact, it was one more good moment in a season that has gone smoothly on the field. Acquired from the Marlins in December, Lo Duca has had no problems acclimating to a new team. True to a reputation he developed while playing nearly seven seasons in Florida and in Los Angeles, he has quickly became one of the more popular players in the clubhouse.
Pitchers have raved about his knowledge of opposing hitters and his uncanny sense for managing a game. Lo Duca deserves some credit for leading the pitching staff to a 4.01 earned run average, the best in the National League. Manager Willie Randolph has repeatedly expressed his fondness for Lo Duca?s situational hitting and unselfishness. His 25 strikeouts in 360 at-bats are, by far, the fewest among everyday players on the Mets.
He is a major reason the Mets hold such a comfortable lead with seven weeks remaining and are a near-lock for their first playoff berth since 2000. In such times, it is easy to daydream about October, which perhaps cannot come soon enough for Lo Duca.