Shohei Ohtani, his translator, and the $180 million betting scandal hanging over baseball’s biggest superstar as he seeks World Series glory

Shohei Ohtani had something planned for Friday, Oct. 25, long before the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a spot in the World Series. Long before he made MLB history. Long before Freddie Freeman’s historic grand slam clinched a heady curtain raiser against the New York Yankees.

It’s a 30-mile drive from Dodger Stadium to Santa Ana, California, where Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud back in June.

Ohtani’s former translator — and close confidante — has admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from the MLB star to cover his gambling debts.

He is believed to have made 19,000 bets between December 2021 and January 2024 – an average of almost 25 a day. He won $142 million but lost over $180 million.

Mizuhari now faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison; his sentencing was set for Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. PT — three hours before Jack Flaherty throws the first pitch in Game 1.

However, last month the hearing was postponed to December – at the request of Mizuhara. This cleared Ohtani’s diary. Until Friday night, his only meeting was his first date with the Yankees.

Mizuhara’s guilty plea has already wiped Ottani’s slate clean. Major League Baseball closed its investigation and reiterated the authorities’ conclusion that its biggest star was nothing more than a victim. The case is “closed”.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, said they were “glad that Shohei and the team can put this whole thing behind them and move forward in their pursuit of a World Series title.”

Both statements rather downplayed the mysterious web of debt and deceit that has entangled the greatest player the sport has seen since, perhaps, Babe Ruth.

In December 2023, the two-time MVP signed the richest contract in team sports history when he joined the Dodgers on a 10-year, $700 million deal. However, within months he was linked to an illegal Real Housewives of Orange County bookmaker and a Hollywood law firm whose clients included Prince Andrew to Leonardo DiCaprio.

Ohtani remained silent except to protest his innocence. Through lawyers. And then through a 650-word statement in Japanese, the 30-year-old said he was “upset” and “shocked” by the “lie” and betrayal of “trust”.

His words were translated into English by Dodgers employee Will Ireton. This has been Mizuhara’s job since Ottani joined Major League Baseball in 2018. He was his translator and also, it is claimed, his trainer, chauffeur and best friend.

They shared a locker, ate at the same table and sat next to each other on a bench. They have been compared to “peanut butter and jelly.”

That’s why questions remained even after Mizuhara was fired and Ohtani was officially cleared of any wrongdoing. The two-way star was acquitted in April, but the case cast a shadow over his first season. Some fans still wonder: Is there more to the story?

Ohtani was involved in another record deal earlier this week. The Japanese superstar is the only player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.

Last month, he reached uncharted waters, and the ball that Ohtani threw over the fence was recently put up for auction. It sold for $4.39 million, surpassing the previous highest fee for any sports ball.

It was a stunning illustration of Ohtani’s value to the Dodgers — and his sport. However, these were small changes. At least compared to the figures fluctuating between his bank account and the criminal world of gambling in recent years.

Authorities discovered Ohtani had no idea his old friend was sinking his millions. And back in November 2023, the two-sided star had no idea that he was also being watched. Mizuhara received a message that exposed the dark thread running through this strange case. It was from “Bookmaker 1”; Ohtani was identified only as “Victim A.”

“Hi Yippy (sic), it’s 2 o’clock Friday. I don’t know why you’re not answering my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see (victim A) walking the dog,” it read. “I’ll just go over and talk to him and ask how can I contact you if you don’t answer? Please call me back immediately.”

At the time, authorities said, transfers from Ohtani’s accounts reached $500,000 at a time. The first fraudulent transfer – for $ 40,000 – appeared two years earlier, but agents did not connect the dots until 2018, when Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels.

He reportedly met Mizuhara in 2013. Five years later, they went to a bank in Arizona together. The translator helped Otani open an account and then posed as his friend to trick the bank into giving him access to the funds.

Another turning point came in 2021 when Mizuhara met Matthew Boyer while playing poker in San Diego. Soon he started playing in an illegal bookmaker. He soon found himself in debt.

It is noted that at the end of 2022, the translator owed more than 1 million dollars. Before long, he was reportedly $4 million in the red. At some point, the translator changed the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account to link to his phone number. In this way, the bank will call him to verify the bank transfers.

Last October, federal agents raided Boyers’ home shortly before Ohtani signed the biggest contract in baseball history. Mizuhara moved with him across Los Angeles, and soon his troubles followed Ottani from the Angels to the Dodgers as well.

Ohtani’s name was reportedly found in two wire transfers to Boyer totaling $1 million. Initial explanation? He made payments to cover Mizuhara’s debts – initially thought to be around $4.5 million.

All this time, Los Angeles was preparing for the start of the 2024 regular season. The first game between the Dodgers and the Padres took place in Seoul, the South Korean capital. Before the game on March 20, Ohtani was threatened with an explosion. The police checked the Gocheok Sky Dome before concluding that it was a hoax. But inside the Dodgers’ clubhouse, a different spark was ignited.

The game went ahead and Mizuhara was sitting in the dugout. Later that night, the interpreter admitted to having a gambling addiction. Club executive Andrew Friedman reportedly told his team that Ohtani was covering for his friend.

Within hours, however, Mizuhara’s story began to unravel. Otani’s lawyers claimed that they had “found that Shohei was the victim of a grand larceny and we are taking the matter to the authorities”.

The filing came through Berk Brettler LLP, a famous Hollywood law firm that has represented some of the biggest names in show business. Ohtani is said to have growled at Mizuhara after asking what was said in the clubhouse.

The translator was fired by the Dodgers, and the following month, Mizuhara was charged with stealing more than $16 million from Otani “to fund his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting.”

A few weeks later, it was alleged that Boyer’s partner, to whom Mizuhara wired the money, was Ryan Boyajian, an actor on The Real Housewives of Orange County. Irony.

Few athletes guard the secret of their personal life as carefully as Ohtani. Now he is forever tied to the reality show.

Ohtani announced his marriage to former basketball player Mamiko Tanaka on Instagram during spring training. None of his teammates even knew he had a girlfriend.

Glimpses behind the curtain of Ohtani’s life are rare, and that only adds to the mystery of this case. As well as his dependence on the translator. But the language barrier never hindered Ohtani at the plate. Nor did this remarkable story dampen his hopes of leading the Dodgers to glory.

The World Series will end in early November. In a few weeks, Mizuhara will learn his fate, and this interesting chapter in Ohtani’s career may finally close.