Police: Overseas bettor behind McCullers threats
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David Purdum
An intoxicated bettor located overseas was behind social media threats directed last month at Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his family, according to the Houston Police Department.
A spokesperson for the department on Monday declined to identify the suspect or his location and said no charges had been filed. The spokesperson told ESPN that the man admitted that he had been gambling on an Astros game, lost money and was frustrated and inebriated when he sent the threats to McCullers.
The man apologized and asked that his apology be relayed to McCullers and his family, according to the spokesperson. The case remains open while charges are considered. McCullers said threats to “find my kids and murder them” were sent after his start against the Cincinnati Reds on May 10.
In his second game since returning from a nearly 2½-year absence recovering from arm surgery, McCullers gave up seven runs in the first inning.
“I understand people are very passionate and people love the Astros and love sports, but threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with,” McCullers told reporters after receiving the threats.
McCullers told the Associated Press that his 5-year-old daughter overheard his wife, Kara, talking about the threats on the phone.
“She asked me when I came home, ‘Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'” he said.
The Astros hired 24-hour security for McCullers’ family after the threats, according to the AP.
The Astros did not immediately return a request for comment, and Major League Baseball on Monday declined comment regarding the Houston police’s investigation.
Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks revealed last week that he received death threats directed at himself and his wife recently.
“Threats against my life and my wife’s life are horrible and cruel,” Hendriks, who missed nearly two years battling non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and recovering from Tommy John surgery, wrote in a post on his Instagram account. “You need help. Comments telling me to commit suicide and how you wish I died from cancer is disgusting and vile. Maybe you should take a step back and re-evaluate your life’s purpose before hiding behind a screen attacking players and their families.”
Multiple MLB players told the AP that they have seen an increase in online threats in recent years as legal sports betting spread across the nation.
“I think over the last few years it’s definitely increased,” Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich said. “It’s increased to the point that you’re just, ‘All right, here we go.’ It doesn’t even really register on your radar anymore. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re just so used to that on a day-to-day, night-to-night basis. It’s not just me. It’s everybody in here, based on performance.”
Matthew Wein, a former official for the Department of Homeland Security, who covers gambling-related threats, says investigating social media threats is difficult for multiples reasons but believes more can be done to combat the issue.
“I think law enforcement is doing what they can, but leagues and gambling platforms should be doing a better job sharing information to prevent these instances from happening in the first place in addition to aiding investigations once something happens,” Wein told ESPN.
Sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, partner with firms that monitor the betting markets and take steps to remove threatening messages to athletes on social media. But investigations of such threats that result in criminal penalties are rare.
Jim Brown, head of integrity services and athlete well-being for Sportradar, an MLB partner, said threats to athletes on social media are wide-ranging and have been taking place in the U.S. before the expansion of legal sports betting. Sportradar is a partner with Major League Baseball.
“It is broader than just sports betting,” Brown told ESPN. “Yes, sports betting is a factor, but we see it in all forms, whether racism, transphobia, doping, geopolitical, misogyny.”
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chase Elliott somehow stole Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway, where he drove from eighth to the checkered flag during a two-lap overtime sprint to earn a spot in the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs.
It was a wild ending to a race that probably should have been won by Denny Hamlin, who dominated and led 159 laps until a bevy of late issues denied him his chance at career win No. 60 for Joe Gibbs Racing.
The race had a slew of late cautions — Hamlin dropped from the lead to seventh on a slow pit stop — that put Bubba Wallace in position to win the race. A red-flag stoppage for Zane Smith flipping his car set up the final overtime restart and Wallace was holding tight in a door-to-door battle with Christopher Bell for the victory.
Then Hamlin came from nowhere to catch Wallace, who drives for the team Hamlin co-owns with Michael Jordan, and Wallace scraped the wall as he tried to hold off his boss. That’s when Elliott suddenly entered the frame and smashed Hamlin in the door to get past him for his second win of the season.
“What a crazy finish. Hope you all enjoyed that. I certainly did,” NASCAR’s most popular driver told the crowd after collecting the checkered flag.
Elliott joins Ryan Blaney as the two drivers locked into the third round of the playoffs. The field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight after next week’s race in Concord, North Carolina and Elliott said once he got in position for the victory, he wasn’t giving up.
“I wasn’t going to lift, so I didn’t know what was going to happen. I figured at the end of the day, it was what it was at that point,” Elliott said. “Wherever I ended up, I ended up. At that point, we were all committed. Really cool just to be eighth on the restart and somehow win on a green-and-white checkered. Pretty neat.”
Hamlin finished second and was clearly dejected by the defeat. The three-time Daytona 500 winner is considered the greatest driver to never win a Cup title and needed the victory to lock up his spot in the next round of the playoffs. He also has a 60th Cup win set as a major career goal and is stuck on 59 victories.
He drove the final 50-plus laps with his power steering on the fritz.
“Just super disappointing. I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 for me,” Hamlin said. “Obviously got really, really tight with [Wallace], and it just got real tight and we let [Elliott] win.
“Man, I wanted it for my dad. I wanted it for everybody. Just wanted it a little too hard.”
Hamlin was followed his JGR teammates Bell and Chase Briscoe, who were third and fourth.
Wallace wound up fifth and even though the victory would have moved him deeper into the playoffs than he’s ever been in his career, he was satisfied considering how poorly his car was running earlier in the race. He wasn’t even upset with Hamlin, and he shook hands with his boss on pit road.
“To even have a shot at the win with the way we started … you could have fooled me. We were not good,” Wallace said. “Two years ago I’d probably say something dumb [about Hamlin]. He’s a dumbass for that move. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there.”
Elliott, in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was the only non-Toyota driver in the top five.
Next up is a playoff elimination race at the hybrid oval/road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Kyle Larson won a year ago. The playoff field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight following next Sunday’s race.
The four drivers in danger of playoff elimination headed into that race are Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Reddick and Wallace.
“Obviously there’s only one thing we can do at Charlotte (win), and that’s what we’ll be focused on,” Reddick said.
Rodney Childers, who guided Kevin Harvick to the 2014 Cup Series championship, has finally landed a new job after he was let go as crew chief at Spire Motorsports in April.
Childers will be the crew chief at JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series for the No. 1 Chevrolet, which will be split between Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch. It will be Childers’ first time as an Xfinity Series crew chief.
“Rodney’s résumé and career speak for themselves,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JR Motorsports. “Rodney and I grew up together and have known each other since we were kids. That’s a relationship that has always been close and has remained close to this day. We’ve always had interest in working together in motorsports, and I’m thankful that this opportunity came about and we could bring him into the JRM family.”
Childers worked with Justin Haley at Spire, but the team parted ways with him when both driver and crew chief said the relationship wasn’t working.
Childers won 40 races and a Cup title at Stewart-Haas Racing with Harvick then worked with Josh Berry in 2024 when Harvick retired. That was the final year Stewart-Haas Racing existed.
Also on Saturday, NASCAR confirmed it has parted ways with race director Jusan Hamilton with six races remaining in the season. He is no longer listed as an employee at NASCAR, where his official title was managing director for competition operations.
Hamilton first joined NASCAR as an intern in 2012 and returned in 2016 under various roles. He oversaw NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, pit crew development and the pro iRacing NASCAR divisions as well as serving as a race director.
Hamilton was instrumental in setting both the annual schedule and the schedule for each race weekend. His first event as race director was in 2018 at Pocono Raceway. In 2022, Hamilton became the first Black race director to officiate the Daytona 500.
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