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Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is set to address the media Monday amidst a Major League Baseball investigation into a gambling scandal involving his interpreter.
Shifting Story
Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter, was fired last week by the Dodgers after he was alleged to have stolen from Ohtani. The Dodger star’s lawyers accused Mizuhara of stealing from Ohtani in order to fund bets that he was placing illegally. The allegation came after Mizuhara claimed that he asked Ohtani to pay off gambling debts he had incurred.
Mizuhara first began working with Ohtani in 2013, when Ohtani played for the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League. Ohtani requested that Mizuhara continue being his translator when he mobed to MLB and joined the Angels in 2018. Mizuhara subsequently followed Ohtani to the Dodgers this offseason.
"This all started in Southern California with an alleged illegal bookmaker and in the process Shohei Ohtani's information came up..
They found these wires from this bank account that had his name on it" @JeffPassan #PMSLive https://t.co/dRFH1q0GYM pic.twitter.com/G96gL2I5NM
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 21, 2024
Major League Baseball and the Internal Revenue Service have both launched investigations into Mizuhara, who placed bets with a former California bookmaker, Matthew Bowyer. Bowyer is under investigation by the IRS as well, but hasn’t been charged with a crime. Sports betting is illegal in California.
MLB has announced that they will conduct a formal investigation into the gambling scandal around Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
But now, more details about Mizuhara’s murky past are coming to the surface.https://t.co/LMfyCP0UlO pic.twitter.com/oSPhVU9qjC
— Front Office Sports Today (@FOS_Today) March 25, 2024
According to CNN, Bowyer never had any contact with Ohtani, but took bets from Mizuhara. Further, it was detailed that Mizuhara placed bets regularly, but never on baseball.
“He was making regular payments for a significant amount of time.“
Gambling Scandal Overshadowing Opening Day
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts weighed in on Ohtani and his interpreter’s looming gambling scandal. He explained that it’ll be good for Ohtani to address what’s occurred and provide better context about the situation.
Roberts believes that the recent news hasn’t affected Ohtani or the team’s focus as MLB Opening Day rapidly approaches.
The Dodgers recently finished up a two-game series with the Padres to open the MLB season. The series, which the two teams split, marked the first MLB games played in South Korea. Ohtani went 3-10 with two runs batted in, showing no signs of affect from the scandal.
A look back at last night's win in Seoul. pic.twitter.com/zNDWbcFA2l
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 21, 2024
Looking Forward
Ohtani will speak to the media on Monday, with the presser scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET, but the Dodgers are looking toward the regular season. Los Angeles will take on the Cardinals in the official start of the season on March 28 and Ohtani is listed on the opening day roster. The Dodgers are looking to pursue a second World Series championship in the last five seasons. They are coming off of a disappointing 2023 playoff performance that saw them be swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Division Series.
