Balderdash! Ohtani’s story more than a little fishy
Let’s see if I’ve got this right.
Ippei Mizuhara, who used to be Shohei Ohtani’s closest friend and his Japanese-English translator, lost $4.5 million betting with an illegal bookmaker. He paid the debt by stealing the necessary funds from Ohtani’s bank account. Most of his wagers were on soccer, but a few were on football and basketball.
Emphasize this: Mizuhara never bet on baseball and never told Ohtani what he was doing. Ohtani didn’t know anything about the matter until he discovered the seven-figure hole in his bank statement.
That’s what Mizuhara and Ohtani are telling us. That’s also what the Los Angeles Dodgers are telling us. Considering the plight they find themselves in, the Dodgers couldn’t have written the script better than that.
That’s what worries me. I have a gnawing suspicion that the Dodgers DID write it.
I suspect they desperately want to manage the story and squelch any suggestion that any of the details they’re selling aren’t quite right. After all, they’ve got 700 million good reasons to protect Ohtani.
Seven hundred million dollars is the amount of money they committed to the Japanese star over the winter. It was a staggering sum, but it might have been a very shrewd investment.
It is impossible to overestimate Ohtani’s popularity in his native country. His presence on the Dodgers will probably sell millions of blue-and-white Dodgers baseball caps in the Land of the Rising Sun. It will probably sell millions of Dodgers uniform shirts with Ohtani’s name and number on the back. It will make the telecasts of Dodgers games very popular viewing in Japan. It will enrich the Dodgers tremendously if they can figure out ways to play a few games in the Tokyo Dome during the next few years, which is something they are certain to do.
Now, picture this. Just as the bean counters in the Chavez Ravine are listening to the ching-ching-ching of their imaginary cash registers, a representative of Internal Revenue Service appears. He tells them that the IRS is investigating a man named Mathew Bowyer and believes that Bowyer is an illegal sports bookmaker and that Bowyer has received a large amount of money from Ohtani.
You can picture it because something of that sort probably did happen. When it did it probably caused a reaction that registered on every seismograph in California.
This was, indeed, everybody’s worst nightmare.
If Ohtani had knowingly interacted with an illegal bookmaker, he could face a serious suspension. If — Heaven forbid — he had bet on baseball, he might be banned from the game forever. If he had committed a felony he might even be deported.
Fortunately, none of that happened. The Dodgers assure us that Ohtani is an innocent man who has been the victim of a terrible crime. They keep assuring us of that while doing everything they can to squelch any suggestion that there might be more to the story.
They seem to be trying a little bit too hard from my perspective. My balderdash detector keeps on beeping.
Remember how this story broke? It was last Wednesday when the Dodgers announced that Ohtani had been the victim of a “massive theft” and that Mizuhara had been fired. The announcement was made in Los Angeles but at the time the team was in Seoul, South Korea. The ball team and the front office were separated by 10 time zones. It was impossible for any reporter to track down information independently, so the Dodgers account of the incident was the only one reported.
One day later, however, an alternate version surfaced. Beat writers traveling with the team reported that Ohtani said there had been no theft. Mizuhara, he said, had come to him begging for help. He had reluctantly agreed to bail out his friend with nine electronic payments of $500,000 — made to Bowyer over a period of several months.
Yipes!
Ohtani was admitting that he had made massive payments to someone he knew was an illegal bookie. Commissioner Rob Manfred wouldn’t like that at all, and the United States Immigration authorities might not care f it either.
Not to worry. One day later Mizuhara gave a press conference and said that was nonsense. He maintained that Ohtani had never known anything about his gambling and when he got in trouble he embezzled the funds he needed. He didn’t ask for permission before he did it.
After the team returned to Los Angeles, Ohtani appeared at a press conference gave an identical account of the matter. He disavowed the account attributed to him in Korea, claiming that his translator had somehow gotten it all wrong.
The reporters weren’t able to press him for details.
The press conference was a monologue and questions were not permitted.
That’s what managing the news looks like.
Ohtani was betrayed by a friend and the victim of a massive theft. For all I know that is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
But that balderdash detector continues to beep.
Ohtani and Mizuhara were known to be close pals who often hung out together even when they were away from the ballpark. I suppose it’s possible that Ohtani knew nothing about Mizuhara’s gambling habits, but I don’t think it’s likely that a bookmaker would extend millions of dollars’ worth of credit to man he knew didn’t have close to that amount of money. If he offered credit, he must have assumed the money would come from somewhere else.
The only possibility is Ohtani.
If he thought that, what made him think that?
I don’t expect the Dodgers to answer that question, but I hope the feds look into it. Perhaps Manfred ought to check it out, too.
My thoughts go back to Ohtani’s explanation in Korea — or at least what was reported. The description of nine payments over a period of months was detailed and, frankly, I find it believable. I have a much harder time accepting Ohtani’s later assertion that the translator got it all wrong and he never said such a thing. The translator couldn’t have gotten that much wrong unless he was grossly incompetent or deliberately devious and I find myself doubting either of those would be the case. But if it is, I think it merits a much more detailed explanation than the one we’ve gotten.
Mostly, I think it’s time somebody besides the
Dodgers become custodians of this tragic saga.
A FEW OPENING DAY MUSINGS: Most teams playing the Yankees this year will need a deep pitching staff. Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Rizzo have all drawn 80 walks or more at least once in their career … The Blue Jays will again have Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio in their lineup. Both are the sons of Hall of Famers … The Mets will have the largest payroll in the majors — a little bit above $300 million. That includes $64 million to people who are no longer with the team and $11 million to players who will open the season in the minor leagues … The Rays’ projected nine-man lineup includes players from seven countries … The Phillies are probably going to start the season with a batting order identical to the one that finished the 2023 campaign … The Brewers intend to use William Contreras in the two-hole of their batting order, which means he will get five at bats in nearly every game. That’s a lot of wear and tear on a catcher. Then again, the Cardinals are expected to use his brother Willson in the fifth slot. Willson is also a catcher … The Pirates will pay Aroldis Chapman and Bryan Reynolds slightly more than $10 million each. The rest of the roster combines will make $51 million … Six of the nine Orioles regulars have less than five years’ experience in the majors …. The Rockies have decided to keep 37-year-old Charlie Blackmon in the leadoff spot. Kris Bryant, who is 32, will hit second … Last Wednesday the Dodgers opened their season with Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman batting in the top three positions. That was the first time since 1983 (Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies) that three former MVPs filled the top of any team’s lineup. It is noteworthy that none of the Dodgers trio won an MVP award in a Dodgers uniform. The last Dodgers player honored as MVP was Cody Bellinger (2019), who is now a member of the Cubs.