MLB opened the season on Wednesday morning with the biggest superstar, Shohei Ohtani, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to victory. Then a scandal broke out.
Specifically, Ohtani's longtime interpreter and friend Ippei Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers after he reportedly stole millions of dollars from the two-way phenom to cover gambling debts. The story came out of nowhere on Wednesday, surprising the baseball world, and confusion grew as more details emerged.
ESPN's lengthy report detailed an apparently bizarre situation going on behind the scenes, all centered around the claim that Ohtani had agreed to shoulder Mizuhara's debt. A spokesperson for Ohtani made that claim to ESPN, but a day later he reportedly reversed course and got Ohtani's legal team involved.
It's worth noting that everyone involved in this story, including Mizuhara and the illegal bookmakers allegedly involved in the story, say that Otani does not gamble. MLB players are allowed to gamble on sports other than baseball, but not through illegal means. ESPN cited a gambling operation official who said Bowyer dealt directly with Mizuhara regarding bets on football and other non-baseball sports.
For clarity, we'll present the story chronologically as it appears in the ESPN report, with some background information.
2013: Otani and Mizuhara meet in Japan
When we say Ohtani and Mizuhara go back, we mean back to where Ohtani started his professional career in Japan. In 2013, Otani played his rookie year with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and met Mizuhara, who began working as an interpreter for American player Chris Martin that season.
2018: Ohtani transfers to MLB and brings Mizuhara with him.
After much fanfare, Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels, who hired Mizuhara to act as Ohtani's translator. Over the next six years, Ohtani won Rookie of the Year and two MVP awards, and Mizuhara served as his translator, serving as a catcher for Home Run Derby and as a training partner, among other roles.
2021: The encounter between Mizuwon and Bowyer
Mizuhara, who was said to have been betting on DraftKings, met bookmaker Matthew Bowyer at a poker game in San Diego. He later claimed that he believed it was legal to place the bet with Bowyer, and that he did so. a lot.
September-October 2023: $1 million transferred to Bowyer in Ohtani's name
Bank records show Ohtani's name on two $500,000 wire transfers sent to Bowyer's associates. The description section of his transfer said “loan.” One ESPN official claims that Bowyer led people to believe that Ohtani was a client to help his business.
Mizuhara later claims this was done after Ohtani agreed to cover $4.5 million in gambling debts. Otani was “not happy” but reportedly said he would work with Mizuhara to make sure it didn't happen again. Otani also allegedly logged on to his computer and sent telegrams under Mizuhara's supervision.
Asked why Ohtani didn't just give him the money instead of paying Bowyer's associates directly, Mizuhara said Ohtani doesn't trust him with money.
“He didn't want me to gamble away money,” Mizuhara said.
Mizuhara said that he told Ohtani that he would “return the money.''
October 2023: Bowyer's home is attacked
Mr. Bowyer's home was searched by federal authorities, and a search warrant inventory shows officers seized cash, casino chips, bank documents, a currency counting machine, multiple computers, portable storage devices, and a cell phone. .
December 2023: Ohtani signs with Dodgers
Ohtani erased the record for MLB's richest contract with a 10-year, $700 million contract with Los Angeles, with payments of $680 million deferred after the contract expires.
January 2024: Federal authorities notice Ohtani's name on Bowyer's surgery
The same federal authorities learn that Ohtani's name is on the wire transfer.
March 19: Mr. Mizuhara talks with ESPN
ESPN eventually got wind of the story and contacted Ohtani's camp while the star was in South Korea.
Importantly, a spokesperson told ESPN that after Ohtani transferred funds to cover Mizuhara's gambling debts, he made Mizuhara available for a 90-minute interview in which he laid out the supposed story. Ta.
“Obviously he [Ohtani] “I didn't like it, so I said I would work with him to make sure he didn't do it again. He decided to pay it back for me,” Mizuhara said.
“I want everyone to know that Shohei was never involved in gambling. I want you to know that I had no idea this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. Sports betting is I don’t want to do it again.”
Ohtani's camp later claimed that this was all done after the player's handler spoke with Ohtani, relying on Mizuhara's translation. Ohtani was probably in the dark about this situation.
March 20th: A lot will happen
OK, this might be best done in lightning rounds:
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Ohtani helped lead the Dodgers to a 5-2 season-opening victory over the San Diego Padres.
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After the game, Dodgers officials held a meeting in the clubhouse and informed the players that there would be negative talk later in the day. Mizuhara admitted that he had a gambling addiction and apologized.
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According to a subsequent report by ESPN, Ohtani began asking questions.
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An ESPN reporter asked the Ohtani camp about Mizuhara's claim that Ohtani was present, helped move the funds, and intended to be paid.
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Otani's publicist contacted Otani's attorney who denied Mizuhara's statement.
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Ohtani's attorney at Burke Brettler released a statement saying, “In the course of responding to recent media interviews, we learned that Shohei was the victim of grand theft, and we have decided to refer this matter to the authorities.'' It is said that
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Mizuhara gave a separate interview to ESPN, but said he was told he could not comment when asked if he had been charged with theft. He declined to say who told him that.
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Mr. Mizuhara later recanted his story, claiming that Otani knew nothing about his gambling activities or debts, and that he did not send any wire transfers.
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This article is reported by the Los Angeles Times, which received the statement.
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Mizuhara is fired.
March 21: Otani has no comment.
After the Dodgers' 15-11 loss to the Padres, Ohtani was guarded at his locker with the team's publicist. leave the locker room Without even talking to reporters.
This series of events leaves many questions.
It is unclear when Mizuhara's second press conference on the 20th took place in relation to subsequent events, but the exact order does not change the story. On Tuesday, Ohtani's camp announced that the player had helped Mizuwon with his gambling debts. On Wednesday, the camp claimed that Mizuhara had made up the whole story and was a thief.
It is worth noting that the use of a wire that “entitles the recipient to receive money or credits as a result of a bet or wager” is explicitly listed as a violation in the U.S. Criminal Code, punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison. may be imposed. This may explain Mizuhara's behavior after he said that Otani had made the wire transfer. MLB also strictly prohibits any association with illegal gambling.
The change in story naturally sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories about Ohtani's involvement in gambling, but all reported details unrelated to Mizuhara's explanation are compatible with the idea that the interpreter was gambling illegally. We are doing so. It's also doubtful whether Otani's name would be on that cable, even if the whole plan was to hide his secret gambling habit.
Of course, that doesn't mean there wasn't something going on behind the scenes.
