The Los Angeles Dodgers fired Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter and close buddy after claims of unlawful gambling and embezzlement against the athlete.
Ippei Mizuhara, 39, was fired from the team on Wednesday following allegations in the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an unlicensed bookmaker.
The Dodgers are in Seoul, South Korea, this week for Ohtani’s debut, and Mizuhara was in the dugout during the team’s season-opening victory.
Mizuhara was seen regularly chatting with Ohtani, who was the Dodgers’ designated hitter, seemingly discussing his at-bats over a tablet computer.
“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,” law firm Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement on Wednesday.
Sports gambling is illegal in California, even as 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of it.
Mizuhara is a familiar face to baseball fans as Ohtani’s constant companion, interpreting for him with the media and at other appearances since Ohtani came to the US in 2017.
He even served as Ohtani’s catcher during the Home Run Derby at the 2021 All-Star Game.
When Ohtani departed the Los Angeles Angels in December to sign a 700 million dollar (£547 million) 10-year contract with the Dodgers, the team recruited Mizuhara.
In a statement, the Dodgers stated that they were “aware of media reports and are gathering information”.
“The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated,” the statement read.
Before Thursday’s series finale against the San Diego Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated there was no intention for Ohtani to sit out.
“We are here to play baseball. We did an excellent job focused on the baseball game yesterday, and we will do the same today.”
Roberts confirmed that Mizuhara met with the team on Wednesday, but declined to elaborate.
He replied he didn’t know where Mizuhara was and that a different interpreter would be utilized.
“I can’t comment on anything related to that meeting,” he stated, adding, “Shohei is ready. I know he is preparing.”
Security at the Gocheok Sky Dome was beefed up on Thursday, with police and canines inspecting the passageways hours before the game began.
The Ohtani interpreter news comes just a day after a suspected bomb threat against Ohtani.
Police say they discovered no explosives.
On Tuesday, Mizuhara told ESPN that his bets were on international football, the NBA, the NFL and college football.
Major League Baseball (MLB) rules restrict players and team personnel from wagering on baseball, even if it is legal, as well as betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookies.
“I’ve never bet on baseball,” Mizuhara told ESPN.
“That is absolutely correct. I knew the rule… We have a discussion about it throughout spring training.”
The Associated Press could not immediately reach Mizuhara for comment.
Mizuhara was born in Japan and migrated to Los Angeles in 1991 so that his father could work as a chef.
He attended Diamond Bar High School in eastern Los Angeles County before graduating from the University of California, Riverside, in 2007.
Mizuhara was employed by the Boston Red Sox after graduation to work as an interpreter for Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima.
In 2013, he returned to Japan to provide translation services for English-speaking Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players.
That’s where he met Ohtani, who joined the squad that year.
After Ohtani signed with the Angels in 2017, Mizuhara was hired as his personal interpreter.
According to ESPN, Mizuhara told the media this week that he is paid between $300,000 (£235,000) and $500,000 (£390,000) annually.
ESPN reported it spoke with Mizuhara on Tuesday night, and the interpreter indicated Ohtani settled his gambling debts at Mizuhara’s insistence.
Following Ohtani’s lawyers’ assertion that the player was a victim of theft, ESPN reports that Mizuhara changed his account on Wednesday, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookies.
Mizuhara stated that by the end of 2022, he had incurred more than one million dollars (£780,000) in debt, and his losses continued to rise.
“I’m terrible (at gambling). Never going to do it again. Never won any money,” Mizuhara said.
“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.”
It would be the biggest gambling scandal for baseball since Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation for MLB by lawyer John Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team.
The MLB gambling policy, posted in every locker room, prohibits players and team employees from wagering – even legally – on baseball and also bans betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.
Betting on baseball carries a one-year ban from the sport.
The commissioner has the ability to impose penalties for illicit betting on other sports.
Ohtani’s popularity has grown across the world, despite the fact that the two-way player has remained primarily media-shy.
The news of his recent marriage to Mamiko Tanaka startled followers from Japan to the United States.
While he had surgery on his right elbow last September and will not pitch this season, he will be used as a designated hitter and may play in the field.
