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

Shohei Ohtani had something planned for Friday, October 25, long before the Los Angeles Dodgers secured their spot in the World Series. Long before he made more MLB history. Long before Freddie Freeman’s historic grand slam decided a stunning game against the New York Yankees.

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

Ohtani’s former interpreter – and close confidante – admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from the MLB star to finance his mounting gambling debts.

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

Mizuhara now faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison; his sentencing was scheduled for October 25 at 2:00 PM PT – three hours before Jack Flaherty threw out the first pitch of Game 1.

However, last month the hearing was postponed until December – at Mizuhara’s request. That cleared Ohtani’s diary. His only appointment Friday night was a first date with the Yankees.

Mizuhara’s admission of guilt had already cleared Ohtani’s slate. Major League Baseball closed its investigation and reiterated the authorities’ findings: its biggest star was nothing more than a victim. Case ‘closed’.

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

Both statements rather undermined the mysterious web of debt and deceit that has ensnared the greatest player this sport has ever seen – perhaps since Babe Ruth.

By December 2023, the two-time MVP had signed the richest contract in team sports history when he joined the Dodgers on a 10-year deal worth $700 million. Within months, however, he found himself dealing with an illegal bookmaker, “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” and a Hollywood law firm whose clients range from Prince Andrew to Leonardo DiCaprio.

Ohtani remained tight-lipped except to protest his innocence. Through lawyers. And then via a 650-word statement in Japanese, in which the 30-year-old said he was “saddened” and “shocked” by the “lies” and betrayal of “trust.”

His words were translated into English by Dodgers staffer Will Ireton. That has been Mizuhara’s job since Ohtani joined Major League Baseball in 2018. He was his interpreter, but also, it is said, his trainer, driver and best friend.

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

That’s why the questions lingered even after Mizuhara was fired and Ohtani was formally cleared of any wrongdoing. The two-time star was acquitted in April, but the case cast a shadow over his first season. Some fans are still wondering: is there more to this story?

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

He reached uncharted waters last month and the ball that Ohtani sent over the fence was recently put up for auction. It sold for $4.39 million, breaking the previously highest price for any sports ball.

It was an eye-popping illustration of Ohtani’s value to the Dodgers – and his sport. Even if it was just a small change. At least compared to the figures that have been sloshing between his bank account and the gambling underworld in recent years.

Ohtani, authorities discovered, had no idea his old friend was making millions. And in November 2023, the two-way star was unaware 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.”

‘Hey Ippie (sic), it’s Friday 2 p.m. I don’t know why you’re not answering my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see it [Victim A] walking his dog,” it said. “I’ll just go over and talk to him and ask how can I contact you since you’re not responding? Please call me back immediately.”

By then, authorities said, transfers from Ohtani’s accounts had reached $500,000 at a time. The first fraudulent transfer – for $40,000 – appeared two years earlier, but agents became involved as early as 2018, when Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels.

He reportedly met Mizuhara in 2013. Five years later they joined a bank in Arizona. The interpreter helped Ohtani open an account and then posed as his friend to trick the bank into giving him access to the money.

Another major twist came in 2021, when Mizuhara met Mathew Bowyer at a poker game in San Diego. It didn’t take long before he started gambling with the illegal bookmaker. He soon found himself in debt.

By the end of 2022, the interpreter would owe more than $1 million. Soon he was reportedly in the red by $4 million. At one point, the interpreter changed the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account to link it to his phone number. That way, the bank would call him to verify the transfers.

Last October, Bowyer’s home was raided by federal agents, shortly before Ohtani signed the largest contract in baseball history. Mizuhara moved around Los Angeles with him and soon his troubles also followed Ohtani from the Angels to the Dodgers.

Ohtani’s name was reportedly found on two wire transfers to Bowyer totaling $1 million. The first explanation? He had made the payments to cover Mizuhara’s debts, initially estimated at around $4.5 million.

All the while, Los Angeles was preparing for the start of the 2024 regular season. The Dodgers’ opener – against the Padres – was held in the South Korean capital of Seoul. Before the match on March 20, a bomb threat was made against Ohtani. Police searched the Gocheok Sky Dome before concluding it was a hoax. But another fuse had blown in the Dodgers clubhouse.

The game continued and Mizuhara was in the dugout. But later that evening the interpreter confessed that he had a gambling addiction. Club director Andrew Friedman reportedly told his team that Ohtani had taken care of his friend.

But within hours, Mizuhara’s story began to unravel. Ohtani’s lawyers claimed that they “discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a grand theft and we have turned the case over to the authorities.”

The statement came via Berk Brettler LLP, a hotshot Hollywood law firm that has represented some of the biggest names in showbiz. It is claimed that Ohtani Mizuhara mumbled after asking what was said in the clubhouse.

The interpreter was fired by the Dodgers, and the following month Mizuhara was accused of stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani “to finance his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting.”

A few weeks later, it was alleged that Bowyer’s associate — to whom Mizuhara had wired money — was Ryan Boyajian, a cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” The irony.

Few athletes guard the privacy of their personal lives as closely as Ohtani. Now he’s forever tied to reality TV.

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

A look behind the scenes of Ohtani’s life is rare and that only makes this case even more mysterious. This also applies to his dependence on an interpreter. But the language barrier has never hindered Ohtani at the plate. Nor did he let this remarkable story derail his hopes of leading the Dodgers to victory.

The World Series wraps up in early November. A few weeks later, Mizuhara will learn his fate and this remarkable chapter of Ohtani’s career could finally close.