The Los Angeles Dodgers have dismissed Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter and close friend after claims of illegal betting and theft from the Japanese baseball player.
Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter, was let go from the team on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged connections to an illegal bookmaker. The team is currently in Seoul, South Korea, as Ohtani makes his Dodgers debut, and Mizuhara was present in Los Angeles’ dugout during their season-opening victory.
Mizuhara was regularly seen conversing with Ohtani, who was the Dodgers’ designated hitter, seemingly discussing his at-bats over a tablet computer.
The law firm Berk Brettler LLP stated on Wednesday that Ohtani had been the victim of a significant theft, which they are turning over to the authorities, in response to recent media inquiries.
Even as 38 states and the District of Columbia permit some form of sports betting, it is illegal in California.
Mizuhara is well known to baseball fans as Ohtani’s constant companion, interpreting for him with the media and at other events since Ohtani arrived in the U.S. in 2017. He even served as Ohtani’s catcher during the Home Run Derby at the 2021 All-Star Game. When Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels to sign a $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December, the club also hired Mizuhara.
The Dodgers acknowledged media reports and stated that they are gathering information.
The team confirmed that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated and added that they have no further comment at this time.
Mizuhara told ESPN that his bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL, and college football. MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from betting on baseball, even legally, and also ban wagering on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.
Mizuhara assured ESPN that he never bet on baseball and was aware of the rule. He stated, “We have a meeting about that in spring training.”
The Associated Press was unable to immediately reach Mizuhara for comment on Wednesday.
Mizuhara was born in Japan and moved to the Los Angeles area in 1991 so his father could work as a chef. He attended Diamond Bar High School in eastern Los Angeles County and graduated from the University of California, Riverside, in 2007.
After college, Mizuhara was hired by the Boston Red Sox as an interpreter for Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima. In 2013, he returned to Japan to translate for English-speaking players on the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, where he first met Ohtani, who joined the team that same year.
After Ohtani signed with the Angels in 2017, the team hired Mizuhara to work as his personal interpreter. ESPN reported that Mizuhara claimed this week that he has been paid between $300,000 and $500,000 annually.
ESPN reported that on Tuesday night, Mizuhara stated that Ohtani had settled his gambling debts at Mizuhara’s request. However, following the statement from Ohtani’s attorneys declaring the player was a victim of theft, ESPN reported that Mizuhara changed his story on Wednesday and claimed that Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.
Mizuhara stated that he accumulated over $1 million in debt by the end of 2022 and his losses continued to grow from that point.
“I’m awful at gambling. I won't do it again. Never made any money,” Mizuhara remarked. “I created a problem for myself which kept getting worse, and I had to make larger bets to try to get out of it but just kept losing. It’s like a snowball effect.”
It would be the most significant gambling scandal in baseball since Pete Rose accepted a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation for MLB by lawyer John Dowd discovered that Rose made numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team.
The MLB gambling policy, displayed in every locker room, forbids players and team staff from betting — including legally — on baseball and also prohibits betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers. Betting on baseball results in a one-year ban from the sport. The punishment for betting on other sports illegally is at the discretion of the commissioner.
Ohtani’s fame has spread globally, even as the two-way player has mostly avoided the media. The announcement of his recent marriage to Mamiko Tanaka surprised fans from Japan to the U.S. Although he had surgery on his right elbow last September and will not pitch this season, he will be utilized as a designated hitter and there is a chance he could play in the field. He went 2 for 5 with an RBI in his first game, the season opener against the San Diego Padres in Seoul.
