News: Since Pete Rose, MLB has banned bettors from baseball for life.

The 24-year-old Venezuelan Tucupita Marcano was “declared permanently ineligible,” according to an announcement made by MLB.

The latest evidence that the widespread legalization of sports gambling and MLB’s support of gambling-based advertisers may be bringing the long-simmering problem of player gambling to a boil is the disciplinary action Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday against five players for placing bets on baseball.

After an MLB investigation found that San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano had wagered over $87,000 on MLB games, including 25 games against the Pittsburgh Pirates during which he was injured but still on the major league roster, Marcano became the first person to be permanently barred from betting on baseball since Pete Rose in 1989.