Ippei Mizuhara, 39, an interpreter and close friend of Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese baseball star, allegedly has been accused of illegal gambling and theft, which led to the Los Angeles Dodgers firing him.
Violation of California laws:
Ohtani just made his Dodgers debut in Seoul, South Korea, while Mizuhara was in Los Angeles, and the chat between Ohtani and Mizuhara has drawn suspicion. Berk Brettler LLP, a law company, commented: “In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”
The issue is even bigger considering that California prohibits all types of sports gambling.
Mizuhara and Ohtani have been collaborating ever since the hitter came to the US in 2017, and he was hired by the Dodgers when Ohtani signed a $700 million contract with the team.
The Dodgers didn’t want to comment much on the recent course of events, but they issued a statement, saying: “The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated. The team has no further comment at this time.”
However, as Associated Press reports, Mizuhara stated that he placed bets on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL, and college football. According to MLB regulations, the team members aren’t allowed to place bets on basketball and other sports through illegal and offshore bookmakers.
Mizuhara said: “I never bet on baseball. That’s 100%. I knew that rule … We have a meeting about that in spring training.”
Mizuhara’s history:
His sports career began in 2007 when he was hired as an interpreter by the Boston Red Sox, after which he was introduced to Ohtani and continued his professional development along with him. On Tuesday, March 19, Mizuhara said Ohtani had paid out his gambling debts. However, after the doubt that the player was a victim of theft was raised, the interpreter said that Ohtani didn’t know about any debts. He admitted that he made more than $1 million in debt by the end of 2022, and the losses further increased in the upcoming period.
He said: “I’m terrible (at gambling). Never going to do it again. Never won any money. I mean, I dug myself a hole and it kept on getting bigger, and it meant I had to bet bigger to get out of it and just kept on losing. It’s like a snowball effect.”
A similar thing happened in 1989 when the famous Pete Rose got a lifetime ban because of betting on the Cincinnati Reds while he was a manager and a player on the team. After that, the MLB agreed to prohibit all members of the team from gambling on baseball and other sports through illegal and offshore bookmakers.
If the members are caught betting on baseball, they risk a one-year ban. However, if they place their bets on other sports, it’s up to the commissioner.
Ohtani has become popular in the baseball world even though he isn’t very present in the media. However, he won’t be a Dodgers’ pitcher during the upcoming season, since he’s still recovering from the surgery of his right elbow. However, he might be able to play in the field as a designated hitter.