Ohtani, the interpreter and the $4.5M debt
Why baseball’s biggest star might be in real trouble in gambling case
First, let’s just say: Shohei Ohtani is the best. He’s the most exciting baseball player since Barry Bonds, he’s the most unique player in history — Babe Ruth wasn’t an elite pitcher and hitter at the same time — and a genuinely awe-inspiring figure in a sport where players were largely anonymized in the wider culture after ... well, let’s just say it’s hard to find Bonds’s plaque in the Hall of Fame. Or Mark McGwire’s. Or Sammy Sosa’s. There was some unpleasantness. And almost 20 years later, Ohtani became a new, different, untarnished baseball god.
Well, about that. The FBI reportedly found wire transfers in Ohtani’s name in January as part of a long-term investigation into an alleged illegal bookmaker named Matthew Bowyer of Orange County, Calif. ESPN and the Los Angeles Times started sniffing around. And Wednesday evening, the Times broke the story that Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s longtime translator, had been accused by Ohtani’s lawyers of theft of at least $4.5 million (U.S.). The FBI is involved.
So the biggest star in baseball is standing very close to a federal gambling case, is the story. Except the story has already changed once. With ESPN and the Times circling, a spokesperson for Ohtani presented Mizuhara to ESPN for an interview Tuesday night, in which Mizuhara told his story: Ohtani didn’t know about the gambling, but covered the $4.5-million debt when he found out. In his 90-minute interview, Mizuhara laid out that story in detail. And notably, Ohtani’s spokesperson also told ESPN that Ohtani had transferred the money to cover his friend’s debt.
The Los Angeles Dodgers played the San Diego Padres Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea, as part of a global version of baseball’s opening day. ESPN prepared to publish the story.
Mizuhara and Ohtani stood together in the dugout during the game. And if Mizuhara’s story was true, why wouldn’t they? The two men had worked together for over a decade, since Ohtani was a NipponHam Fighter. Friends forgive friends, even when they cost you a little money. And after the game, Dodgers officials reportedly warned the players a gambling story was coming out, and Mizuhara spoke to the team in the Dodgers clubhouse telling the same story.
And within hours, Ohtani’s lawyers — a West Hollywood firm, Berk Brettler LLP — sent out a statement that read, “In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”
Something changed. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara. Ohtani had not spoken to the press as of Thursday evening Eastern time.
There are three obvious possibilities here.
One, Mizuhara sunk into debt, didn’t tell Ohtani, gained access to his bank account and executed a massive wire transfer — not an uncomplicated financial transaction — via fraud. He then convinced Ohtani’s spokesperson to lie to ESPN, lied to ESPN for 90 minutes and lied to the Dodgers in order to make his case after the game, all without Ohtani’s knowledge. What was his plan once Ohtani found out — like, when Mizuhara was speaking to the team in the room? Maybe it’s like the old Churchill saying: when you’re halfway through hell, keep going.
Two, Mizuhara’s story is true: He developed a crippling gambling addiction and used his relationship with Ohtani as a way to get deeper
and deeper in debt, and when he told Ohtani about it, Ohtani covered the debt with wire transfers in his own name. The fact that Ohtani’s spokesperson told that version to ESPN before Mizuhara told the same story at length seems notable. As is the fact that California is one of only 12 American states that have not legalized gambling. In this scenario, the lawyers then found out and decided Ohtani was in jeopardy, and the story was changed, including with the Dodgers, to protect Ohtani.
Third, Ohtani was in fact the guy doing the gambling — nobody is alleging bets on baseball, to be clear — and the initial Mizuhara story was the attempt to cover that up. And then the lawyers got involved and the coverup had to change. It seems more likely that Ohtani would have known about the wire transfer than not. But there is so much we don’t know.
Mostly, this is a reminder of how things used to be. In 38 states — and one province, natch — Mizuhara and Ohtani could have legally gambled like madmen. Now, with the FBI on the case, this won’t be something MLB can bury in the backyard. We’re going to find out whether the biggest star in baseball is in real trouble.
And this is all part of the transition to a gambling-based economy, and it’s the old-school version. In the new school version, we’re already seeing the inevitability of problem gambling, especially among young men: Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton said the other day that some nights he feels like a prop for gamblers; the NBA integrated live betting odds into its League Pass streaming service; and Bernie Bickerstaff Jr., the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, said last season he was personally threatened over gambling.
“They got my telephone number and were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff,” Bickerstaff told reporters before Wednesday night’s game in Miami. “So it is a dangerous game, and a fine line that we’re walking, for sure.
“And I think that we really have to be careful with how close we let it get to the game, and the security of the people who are involved in it.”
Yeah. See, even in the worst-case scenario Ohtani or Mizuhara was just doing what sports and sports media are pushing so hard, in one of the last places that hasn’t opened the sluice gates. This isn’t Pete Rose or the Black Sox scandal. But it’s just a reminder of how we used to live, when leagues tried to keep athletes and their close associates away from gambling, because it had consequences. And really, if you think about it, that might have been the better way.