Shohei Ohtani was alone. All the spotlights in Dodger Stadium were focused solely on him, the superhuman of baseball. It looked as if an alien was climbing out of the spaceship – and that’s how it was staged: The extraterrestrial Shohei Ohtani, who excels in two important positions in a sport designed for specialists – batsman and thrower – will be the mankind in this stadium in the future on a hill above the Los Angeles skyline. The Dodgers gave him the richest contract in US sports history, $700 million for ten seasons, plus an additional $65 million per year through advertising contracts. The 29-year-old strolled across the perfectly trimmed lawn at Sunday’s Dodgers roster introduction, and he did it completely alone.
That was an important detail because Ippei Mizuhara, the Japanese superstar’s interpreter, usually walks behind him everywhere. Although that’s an inadequate description: Mizuhara was nothing less than the connection between the world and Ohtani. He kept his private life so secret that people wondered what his dog’s name was (Dekopin), and not even the Dodgers or former teammates with the Angels (he played for the local rival for six years before the move) knew Ohtani is in a relationship with former basketball player Mamiko Tanaka; Like the rest of the world, the club found out about the wedding during the winter break via an Instagram post. When Ohtani had something to say, Mizuhara spoke.
Only: Mizuhara is gone. Nobody knows where exactly he is at the moment, with every new piece of information this case becomes a little more mysterious. It’s about illegal sports betting worth millions, lies and deception and also about the fact that the spotlight is suddenly focused on aspects of Ohtani’s life that he would have preferred to keep invisible.
The Los Angeles Times had received a tip two weeks ago that federal authorities were investigating an illegal sports betting ring in the US state of California – and had discovered movements from Ohtani’s account there. The Times-Research showed: nine payments of $500,000 each last year, a total of $4.5 million. A real scandal; On the one hand, sports betting is prohibited in California, and on the other hand, baseball professionals are not allowed to bet on games in the North American professional league MLB and are only allowed to bet on events in other disciplines under the strictest conditions.
A few weeks ago the usual picture: Ohtani with translator Ippei Mizuhara (left).
(Photo: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP)
Ohtani’s first reaction, via manager Nez Balelo: no comment, Ohtani knew nothing about investigations. The second, about crisis communications manager Matthew Hiltzik, who also represented Johnny Depp and Alec Baldwin in their scandals, for example: Ohtani had paid off his friend’s gambling debts. Mizuhara confirmed this in an interview with US sports broadcaster ESPN.
Ohtani is a talent of the century
The third reaction came from Ohtani himself, at a press conference on Monday he read an eleven-minute statement: Mizuhara had transferred the money to bookmaker Mathew Bowyer without his knowledge; So he stole from Ohtani and lied to him. During a conversation in the hotel in Seoul, when the Dodgers were in the South Korean capital preparing for the new season, Mizuhara confessed everything to him. “I am shocked and very sad that someone I completely trusted could do something like this. At the hotel he said that he was heavily in debt and that he had paid the bookmaker from my account,” said Ohtani: “I have never bet on baseball or any other sports, and never instructed anyone to do it on my behalf.”
Three things are important in understanding fall height. First: Ohtani is a talent of the century, a celebrity in Lionel Messi spheres – everything he does is news; For example, which model of his German car sponsor he chose after coming to Dodgers training in different models for five days. He is the face of a league that wants to move the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas by 2028 at the latest; Before the nationwide sports betting ban fell in 2018, US professional sports had avoided the city like Ohtani had avoided public insights into his private life.
There is an explanation, but many unanswered questions
This is the second aspect: The connection between professional sports and the betting industry has proven to be tolerable (people who bet watch these games and thus ensure higher ratings and better-paid TV contracts), but is considered fragile; the suspicion: Professionals could get inside information from other disciplines through relationships with other athletes. The penalties are therefore draconian, even for seemingly minor violations: professional football player Jameson Williams was suspended for more than a third of the games last season because he was still connected to the WiFi of his club Detroit Lions while betting on other sports using his cell phone.
Celebrity in Lionel Messi spheres: Presentation of an Ohtani mural in Los Angeles.
(Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)
A scandal involving the most famous figure is therefore the worst possible case, and that leads to point three: Ohtani’s statement is by no means resolved, on the contrary: there are 700 million questions. One: Didn’t anyone around Ohtani notice nine transfers of this amount? A second: Why was it first said that Ohtani had helped his friend out of his predicament – and now that Mizuhara had lied and cheated on him? Third: why bookmaker Bowyer gave a loud shout Times-Sources say that Ohtani is one of his customers?
Just like the new baseball season, this scandal is just getting started. The Dodgers open the season this Thursday in their home arena against the St. Louis Cardinals. They are the big favorites for the title, even if Ohtani will not pitch this season due to elbow surgery. However, it is likely as a so-called Designated hitter (a batsman who does not have to play defense) can be used. It should have been a big day – for Ohtani, the Dodgers, the MLB. But now it will be about what Ohtani was never supposed to be about: something that has nothing to do with baseball.