Shohei Ohtani’s era with the Dodgers had begun in December 2023 with a big announcement, amidst great fanfare and with world-class interest in baseball. The attention has once again fallen on him, but this time in the midst of controversy and possible accusations of illicit bets that the new Los Angeles player rejected in front of the massive presence of the media engrossed in a crowded and small Dodger press room. Stadium on Monday.
The pitcher did not answer questions and through a prepared text he gave his version of the events, with the help of his new translator, Will Ireton, he called Ippei Mizuhara, who was his friend of many years and was his interpreter, a “liar.” official.
Ireton will be Mizuhara’s replacement for now and has been part of the Los Angeles organization since 2016 to be the translator for pitcher, Kenta Maeda.
Ohtani gave his version of events in which he claimed that he has never been involved in sports betting and that Mizuhara had apparently used money from his account to pay off betting debts.
“I mean I’ve never bet on sports or used a sportsbook,” Ohtani said. “I am more than surprised. It’s really hard to verbalize how I feel right now. The season will start, so I will let my lawyers handle this matter from now on.”
Ohtani has not been charged with a crime, but his name was linked in a federal investigation involving Mathew Bowyer, who is allegedly an illegal bookmaker, as highlighted by the LA Times.
Ohtani’s tone was surprised to learn that Mizuhara had had conversations with the Dodgers and people around him.
Upon further questioning, he discovered that it was Mizuhara who was in debt and that he was not informed of everything that was happening as the former interpreter led the people around him to believe.
“This past weekend, there was a request from a media outlet in my camp asking about my potential involvement in sports betting,” Ohtani said. “I was never told that there was this request to the representatives of my camp. “He told the media outlet and a representative from my camp that I had made a payment on behalf of a friend to pay off his debt.”
Ohtani said he had no idea Mizuhara had a gambling problem and that he found out about it after the first game of the Spring Games in a meeting with him and the team in the clubhouse. During that meeting, according to Ohtani, Mizuhara spoke mostly in English and still managed to understand what was happening. Mizuhara had admitted to his gambling problem.
“Something was strange,” Ohtani recounted. “Before that meeting, Ippei told me to talk face to face at the hotel after the meeting… It wasn’t until we got to the hotel that I found out that he had a massive debt.”
To close the press conference, Ohtani said he felt shocked and could not “verbalize” everything that was happening, which he also learned about just “two days ago.”
“I never bet on baseball or any other sport and I never asked anyone to do it on my behalf and I never bet through a sportsbook,” Ohtani said. “Until a couple of days ago I didn’t know this was happening… Ippei stole money from my account and lied.”