Ohtani and Mizuhara at Dodgers Spring Training. (Photo Courtesy Wall Street Journal)
Opening Day for the MLB will start Thursday for 30 MLB teams. One player people are looking forward to seeing play is Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is considered by many to be the best baseball player in the world for the past three seasons. He has even been called the Babe Ruth of baseball due to his pitching, hitting, and leadership.
During the 2023 off-season, Ohtani became the highest-paid professional baseball player in history, by signing a 700-million-dollar contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani also got married and has received many great endorsements.
Through the lights of fame, Ohtani has been in the spotlight for the past week in a negative way. ESPN came out with an article that uncovered that 4.5 million dollars of wire payments came from Ohtani’s bank account and that it went to a Southern California bookmaking operation.
Ippei Mizuhara, who at the time was Ohtani’s interpreter, told ESPN on March 19th that the money was for repaying his gambling debts, and he asked Ohtani for the money. Mizuhara said on the record that Ohtani himself transferred it to the sports bookie. Mizuhara also told his story to the Dodgers clubhouse after a game that day.
Ohtani’s law firm issued a statement reading, “We discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities”. That same day, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired Mizuhara.
On March 22nd, the MLB announced that they would open an investigation into the matter surrounding Ohtani and his former interpreter. The MLB is expected to request an interview with all parties, including Ohtani and Mizuhara.
On March 25th, Ohtani held a press conference at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles to speak on the situation surrounding him. Ohtani told the world, “I am very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this," Ohtani added. “I never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the booker, and that Mizuhara is lying," Ohtani continued. “I never bet on baseball or any other sport," Ohtani concluded.
The IRS has confirmed that Ippei Mizuhara and Matthew Bowyer, who owned the sports booking operation, are under criminal investigation.
At the end of the day, the truth always comes out. Baseball fans and the world deserve the truth about how this situation happened and how Ohtani did not know this situation was going on.
Have an opposing viewpoint to this opinion? Let us know. All views are welcome. Send your thoughts to our Editorial Staff – Editor Dylan Hicks dhicks@student.dean.edu or Dean Daily Faculty Advisor, Professor John Rooke jrooke@dean.edu