Ohtani's former interpreter is charged in gambling case
Federal authorities charged the former longtime interpreter for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday with federal bank fraud, alleging that he stole more than $16 million from the Japanese sensation to cover gambling debts.
Ippei Mizuhara served as Ohtani’s interpreter after Ohtani came to the U.S. in 2018 to play baseball. U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said Mizhuara “acted as Mr. Ohtani’s de facto manager.”
Mizuhara helped Ohtani set up a bank account for Ohtani’s baseball salary, and stole more than $16 million from Ohtani’s bank accounts to pay for his own sports betting and lied to the bank to access the account, Estrada said.
Mizuhara was able to “use and abuse” his position of trust with Ohtani “in order to plunder Mr. Ohtani’s bank account,” he said. Estrada also confirmed that when Mizuhara would win on sports bets, he did not deposit the money into Ohtani’s account.
“Mr. Mizuhara did all this to feed his insatiable appetite for illegal sports betting,” Estrada said, adding the complaint alleges he committed fraud “on a massive scale.”
Estrada said there is no evidence that Ohtani was aware of his interpreter’s actions, adding that Ohtani has cooperated fully and completely with investigators.
“I want to emphasize this point: Mr. Ohtani is considered a victim in this case,” he said.
Mizuhara is expected to appear in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles for his initial appearance in the near future, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.
The maximum penalty for the bank fraud charge Mizuhara faces is 30 years in prison.
Mizuhara was abruptly fired by the team after the scandal surfaced last month, catalyzed by an IRS Criminal Investigation of an alleged illegal bookmaker. Major League Baseball opened a separate investigation.
According to the criminal complaint, the Mizuhara case stemmed from a broader probe of illegal sports bookmaking organizations operating in Southern California and the laundering of proceeds through casinos in Las Vegas.
Holliday joins O’s
The Baltimore Orioles called up 20-year-old infielder Jackson Holliday, baseball’s top-ranked prospect, hours before Wednesday night’s game at Boston. He started at second base and batted ninth. The lefthanded batting Holliday went down swinging his first time up and finished 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and an RBI groundout in Baltimore’s 7-5 win.
Holliday, son of seventime All-Star and 2007 NL batting champion Matt Holliday, was the No. 1 pick in the 2022 amateur draft out of high school in Oklahoma and breezed through the minor leagues, narrowly missing out on a spot on the Orioles’ opening-day roster last month.
Padres win series
Dylan Cease pitched six strong innings, Jurickson Profar had a go-ahead double and a two-run homer among his three hits, and Jake Cronenworth also homered as the Padres beat the Cubs 10-2 on Wednesday to take two of three in the series at Petco Park.
Oh Brother
The Naylor brothers turned National Siblings Day into quite a family affair.
Josh Naylor and his younger brother and Cleveland teammate, Bo, hit home runs in the same inning on Wednesday night as the Guardians rallied for a 7-6 win in 10 innings over the Chicago White Sox.
Josh Naylor connected for a solo homer with one out in the fourth off Chicago’s Erick Fedde, and Bo smashed a two-run shot to center field two batters later.
It was the second time the Naylors have homered in the same inning, having done it on July 14 last season at Texas.
And if that wasn’t enough, both Naylors delivered RBI hits in the 10th inning — Josh a game-tying double and Bo a game-winning single as the Guardians improved to 9-3, the club’s best start since 2002.
“What a night for them, homer in the same inning and then game-tying and then game-winning hits,” said Guardians first-year manager Stephen Vogt. “I just can’t imagine doing that with your brother. It is so cool.”
Before the Naylors connected last season, the last brothers to homer in the same inning were B.J. and Justin Upton for Atlanta in 2013.
The Naylors are also the 13th pair of brothers to homer in the same game as teammates. They joined a list with the Uptons, Jeremy and Jason Giambi; Wilton and Vladimir Guerrero; Tommie and Henry Aaron; Paul and Lloyd Waner; Edgar and Adrian Gonzalez; Billy and Cal Ripken; Billy and Tony Conigliaro; Adam and Andy LaRoche; Jose and Bengie Molina; Matty and Jesus Alou; and Matty and Felipe Alou.
Thursday rain outs
• The scheduled game between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers was rained out and rescheduled as part of a Saturday doubleheader.
• The finale of the Cincinnati Reds series with the Milwaukee Brewers was postponed because of heavy rain in Cincinnati. The game will be made up as the first game of a split doubleheader on Aug. 30.