MLB opened its season Wednesday morning, with its biggest superstar, Shohei Ohtani, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win. Then came the scandal.
Specifically, Ohtani's longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Dodgers after being reported to have stolen millions of dollars from the two-way phenom to cover his gambling debts. The story stunned the baseball world by dropping out of nowhere Wednesday and only got more confusing as details emerged.
A lengthy ESPN report laid out what was clearly a bizarre situation behind the scenes, all centered on the claim that Ohtani had agreed to cover Mizuhara's debts. An Ohtani spokesman reportedly claimed that to be the case to ESPN, only to reverse course one day later and get the slugger's legal team involved.
It should be noted that everyone involved in the story has said Ohtani does not gamble, including Mizuhara and the alleged illegal bookmaker involved in the story. MLB players are allowed to gamble on sports that are not baseball, but not through illegal means. ESPN cited sources in the gambling operation that claimed Bowyer dealt directly with Mizuhara for bets on soccer and other non-baseball sports.
In the interest of clarity, here's the story chronologically, as it was laid out in the ESPN report, plus some background information.
2013: Ohtani and Mizuhara meet in Japan
When we say Ohtani and Mizuhara go way back, we mean all the way back to the start of Ohtani's professional career in Japan. In 2013, Ohtani plays his rookie year for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and meets Mizuhara, who began working as an interpreter for American player Chris Martin that season.
2018: Ohtani moves to MLB, brings Mizuhara with him
With great fanfare, Ohtani signs with the Los Angeles Angels, who hire Mizuhara to work as Ohtani's interpreter. Over the next six years, Ohtani wins Rookie of the Year and two MVP awards while Mizuhara translates for him and acts in a number of other capacities, including Home Run Derby catcher and workout partner.
2021: Mizuhara meets Bowyer
Mizuhara, who had allegedly been placing bets on DraftKings, meets Mathew Bowyer, the bookmaker, at a poker game in San Diego. He later claimed to have believed it was legal to place bets with Bowyer, which he supposedly did. A lot.
September-October 2023: $1 million is sent to Bowyer under Ohtani's name
Bank records show Ohtani's name on two $500,000 wire transfers sent to an associate of Bowyer's. The description section of the transfers read "loan." One ESPN source claims that Bowyer allowed people to believe Ohtani was a client to help his business.
Mizuhara later claims this was done after Ohtani agreed to cover $4.5 million of his gambling debts. Ohtani allegedly "wasn't happy" but said he would help to make sure Mizuhara wouldn't do it again. Ohtani was also said to have logged onto his own computer and sent the wires under Mizuhara's supervision:
Asked why Ohtani didn't simply give him the money instead of paying Bowyer's associate directly, Mizuhara said Ohtani didn't trust him with the money.
"He didn't want me to gamble it away," Mizuhara said.
Mizuhara said he told Ohtani he would pay him back.
October 2023: Bowyer's home is raided
Bowyer's home is raided by federal authorities, with a search warrant inventory showing agent-seized cash, casino chips, banking documents, a money-counting machine, multiple computers, portable storage devices and cellphones.
December 2023: Ohtani signs with the Dodgers
Ohtani obliterates the record for largest MLB contract with a 10-year, $700 million deal with Los Angeles that defers $680 million to be paid after the life of the contract.
January 2024: Feds notice Ohtani's name in Bowyer's operation
Those same federal authorities learn that Ohtani's name is on the wire payments.
March 19: Mizuhara speaks with ESPN
ESPN eventually gets wind of the story and contacts Ohtani's camp, while the star is in South Korea. Crucially, a spokesman tells ESPN that Ohtani transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara's gambling debt, then makes Mizuhara available for a 90-minute interview in which he lays out the supposed story:
"Obviously, he [Ohtani] wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again," Mizuhara said. "He decided to pay it off for me."
"I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again."
March 20: So much happens
OK, it might be best to go through this via lightning round:
Ohtani helps lead the Dodgers to a season-opening 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
An ESPN reporter asks the Ohtani camp about Mizuhara's allegation that Ohtani was present and helped move the funds and that he was going to be paid back.
Ohtani's spokesman contacts Ohtani's attorneys, then disavows Mizuhara's account.
Ohtani's attorneys at Berk Brettler LLP release a statement: "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."
Mizuhara agrees to another interview with ESPN but says he was told he could not comment when asked if he has been accused of theft. He declines to say who told him that.
Mizuhara then recants his story, claiming that Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling activities or debts and that Ohtani did not make the wire transfers.
The story is broken by the Los Angeles Times, which received the statement.
Mizuhara is fired.
It's unclear when the second Mizuhara interview occurred in relation to the later events, but the exact order doesn't change the story. On Tuesday, Ohtani's camp said the player was helping Mizuhara with his gambling debts, and on Wednesday, that same camp said Mizuhara made it all up and was a thief.
That change of story, naturally, led to a torrent of conspiracy theories about Ohtani's involvement in the gambling, but the details reported independent of Mizuhara's account all line up with the idea that the interpreter was the one who was illegally gambling. Of course, that doesn't mean something more isn't going on behind the scenes.
It’s also worth noting that using a wire “which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers” is explicitly listed in the U.S. criminal code as a violation that can result in a fine or imprisonment for up to two years, which might explain the about-face after Mizuhara said Ohtani himself sent the wire transfer.
This probably wasn't what the Dodgers and MLB were envisioning for the immediate aftermath of Ohtani's debut in Dodger blue.
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