Do you still believe in Shohei Ohtani? I’m not sure

Bill Plaschke March 27, 2024

It still doesnt feel right.

It still doesnt make sense.

No matter how much Shohei Ohtani and his advisors attempt to clean it up, something in all this gambling garbage still stinks.

When a smiling Ohtani strides on to the Dodger Stadium field for their home opener Thursday, I want to believe.

What to know about the Shohei Ohtani interpreter gambling scandal

I want to believe the games greatest player is as pure as his image.

I want to believe the beloved global superstar is as honorable as he seems.

I want to believe the legendary Ohtani magic, for which the Dodgers just paid $700 million, is real.

But I just cant. Not completely. Not yet. Maybe one day, but not now.

The gambling controversy that has engulfed Ohtani in the past week has taken too many weird twists and wrong turns for me to feel completely confident in its ultimate destination.

This could be nothing. This could be everything. So much is still unknown. So much is still so confusing. Leak by agonizing leak, the uncertainty chips away at the aura of an icon who was once thought to be untouchable.

The doubt is ugly. The disbelief is unsettling. I dont feel great about writing this. Im guessing many Dodgers fans arent feeling so great about living it.

Does Shohei Ohtani have a gambling problem, or a money management problem, or neither, or both?

Is Shohei Ohtani devious enough to throw his closest colleague under the bus to save himself, or was he simply naive enough to allow that colleague to fleece him for millions?

Ohtani has spoken, but has taken no questions.

The season has started, but this isnt ending.

There remains a cloud over Ohtanis previously pristine presence, and as much as everyone wants to believe otherwise, its not dissipating anytime soon.

How the saga of Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter unfolded and why its not over

The storm hit last week when Ohtanis name was linked to a federal investigation into illegal sports gambling.

The Times reported

his name appeared on nine wire transfers of $500,000 each, with the money allegedly going to suspected Orange County bookmaker Mathew Bowyer.

In an interview with ESPN that was arranged by an Ohtani spokesman, Ohtanis longtime translator Ippei Mizuhara said that Ohtani

had

sent the money to cover Mizuharas gambling debts. The spokesman even gave ESPN a quote from Ohtani in which he said he knew about the payments.

The story was repeated by Mizuhara and club executives to the entire Dodger team during a meeting in the Dodgers’ clubhouse in Seoul after their opening night win over the San Diego Padres.

Early the next morning, however, Ohtanis representatives completely changed course, claiming that Ohtani was unaware of the transfers and accusing Mizuhara of a massive theft.

Mizuhara was promptly fired by the Dodgers, and, at a Monday afternoon news conference

duringin

which he did not take questions, Ohtani repeated the claim that he was fleeced.

He was stealing money from my bank accounthe was lying to everyone, Ohtani said in Japanese, later adding, I of course have never had anything to do with sports betting and I absolutely have never sent money to a bookmaker. Honestly, I dont think shock is the right word. Ive spent the last week in something beyond that, which I cant express in words. Its hard to put that into words right now.

I can put it into several words.

I am queasy with the notion that Mizuhara could mastermind a heist of at least $4.5 million without Ohtani or his accountants or his bankers or

somebody 

noticing the money was missing.

I am skeptical at the idea that any bookie would extend $4.5 million in credit to an ordinary gambler, and then collect that money without confirming its source to ensure that the money was not being stolen.

Above all, I am incredulous at the notion Mizuhara could give a completely plausible Ohtani-approved explanation of the payments in one interview, then, seemingly hours later, be called a liar and accused of theft by the same Ohtani representatives.

Minus buffer of Ippei Mizuhara, Dodgers engaging more directly with Shohei Ohtani

It doesnt add up. Furthermore, its amazing that Ohtanis crisis management teams some of the same people who

representedrepped

the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Danny Masterson would not have realized it doesnt add up.

By the way, why does Ohtani still employ agent Nez Balelo? If Ohtani truly felt he had been robbed by his interpreter and was truly unaware of the missing money, he should have already fired the guy who is paid to protect him, no? Hmmm.

Somebody is lying somewhere. Somebody is hiding something. I dont know who is doing what, and Im surely not alone.

Although sports gambling is still illegal in California, its one of only 12 states where its still a crime and that doesnt seem to be the biggest issue here.

The biggest concern is that a player who is essentially a minority owner of the Dodgers has been linked to payments to an illegal bookmaking operation totaling

at least

$4.5 million amid swirls of changing narratives and conflicting stories.

When your name is associated with that much cloaked money in that sort of rutted environment, what else is involved? How many different nasty elements can seep through the cracks and engulf you in your recklessness? If your highest paid player is that careless with $4.5 million, how much can you trust him to be the caretaker of your four million fans?

Its interesting that when Major League Baseball last week announced its investigation into the matter, it cited, allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara.

Read that again. The statement didnt just mention Mizuhara. It cited both of them.

Neither man has been charged with a crime. Ohtani has not been accused of placing any bets, on baseball or otherwise, and in his prepared statement he said he has, never bet on anything or bet for anyone on a sporting event or asked someone to bet for me.

Yet Mizuhara is ruined, and Ohtani is tainted, and it could be months before the truth finally emerges.

There are no winners here. There is only a loss of innocence, a summer of purgatory and the sad cynicism surrounding a man previously known in Japan as,

kanpeki no hito.

The perfect person.

Maybe one day, but not now.