Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani will face the media on Monday to address the gambling controversy swirling around his friend and former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
The Dodgers confirmed that Ohtani would speak about the issue on Monday.
Lawyers representing Ohtani claim that Mizuhara racked up $4.5 million in illegal gambling debts and then stole money from Ohtani to pay them off.
Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers last week as reports of his gambling excesses began to take shape. Specifically, the Mizuhara is accused of betting on sports games other than baseball with a bookie named Matthew Bowyer.
Ippei Mizuhara, the translator for Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels, stands in the dugout during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 22, 2022, in Anaheim, California. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
California remains one of 12 states where sports gambling is illegal.
Mizuhara initially admitted to placing bets on sports other than baseball but claimed he did not know the bets were illegal. Next, Mizuhara said that Ohtani wired him the money to cover the $4.5 million in gambling debts he had run up. However, Mizuhara informed ESPN last Wednesday that Ohtani did not know about the gambling debts and had not wired the money.
Speculation about Ohtani’s involvement in the controversy has run rampant, given what appears to be some troubling inconsistencies in the sequence of events. Chiefly, people want to know how Ohtani could not notice $4.5 million missing from his account. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, many want to know why a representative for Ohtani set up a lengthy interview for Mizuhara last Tuesday in which the former translator claimed that Ohtani was knowingly paying off his gambling debts. The rep initially confirmed that to be the case, only for both Mizuhara and the rep to later go back on that claim and say that Mizuhara had stolen the money.
This picture taken on March 16, 2024, shows Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (R) and his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara (L) attending a press conference at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul ahead of the 2024 MLB Seoul Series baseball game between Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
Other discrepancies have emerged about Mizuhara’s background. In his bio, he claims to have served as an interpreter for Hideki Okajima when he played for the Boston Red Sox in 2010 and claims to have studied at the University of California-Riverside. However, UC Riverside says he never attended their school, and the Red Sox claim Mizuhara never worked as Okajima’s interpreter while in Boston.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts is happy to see Ohtani address the controversy head-on.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Roberts said. “I’m happy he’s going to speak, speak to what he knows, and give his thoughts on the whole situation. I think it’ll give us a little bit more clarity.”