Shohei Ohtani is one of the best players in major league baseball. Currently playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani is known for being both an amazing hitter and pitcher. In fact, he was the first player in major league history to be named an All-Star as both a position player and pitcher. Recently, Ohtani has been getting a lot of attention, but not just for his skill.
Shohei Ohtani’s close friend and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday, March 20th, due to alleged ties to illegal gambling and debt. According to CBS Sports, Mizuhara and Ohtani’s relationship dates back to 2013, when Shohei was 18 and Ippei was 28 years old. In 2018, when Ohtani moved to the MLB, he brought Mizuhara. As years went on, their relationship continued to grow. Mizuhara started doing things for Ohtani, like running errands, driving him places, and they started to become very good friends.
In 2021, Mizuhara started to get into the gambling scene when he met Mathew Bowyer, a bookmaker in Southern California. By late 2023, Mizuhara’s sports betting debt had exceeded 4 million dollars. He finally turned to his good friend Ohtani to help cover some of the debt he was facing. Mizuhara used Ohtani’s account to make multiple transfers paying off the debts, so there were multiple transfers made to Bowyers from Ohtani.
In March of this year, word began to spread that Ohtani’s name had appeared on wire transfers to Bowyers. The MLB and Ohtani’s team began to investigate and speak on the matter. Mizuhara originally made a statement explaining, “I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting…I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way.” Although Mizuhara had made this claim, Ohtani’s lawyers denied the claim and wanted to release their own statement.
On March 20th, Ohtani’s lawyers released a statement saying, “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.” Ohtani remained silent on the subject until March 25th, when he came out with his own statement. He explains that he has never bet on baseball or any sport in his life. “In conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.” So although it was originally believed that Ohtani did have knowledge of the gambling and debt, he eventually explained that this was not the case.
Shohei Ohtani is still playing and so far he is seen to have no known involvement in the scandal. Additionally, Mizuhara hasn’t been charged with anything or arrested. It could be months before any new information is released on the case, but investigations are still currently underway.
