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© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Ohtani to speak to media for 1st time since illegal gambling, theft allegations against interpreter
By BETH HARRIS LOS ANGELES©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
34 Comments
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Asiaman7
Who’s going to interpret?
SaikoPhysco
My guess is that he will say that he didn't know about the money transfers... and that the person who initially told the press that they knew about the transfers only did it to protect Ippei but was not aware of the depth of the problem. Being "nice guy" Ohtani he will wish Ippei luck in dealing with this and will show support for him. And lastly he will apologize for the whole thing and tell people he will continue to work very hard at being the best baseball player possible.
quercetum
Do people actually think he doesn’t know about it?
dbsaiya
He better have his lawyer sitting next to him instead of giving an off the cuff interview to ESPN like Ippei did.
Yrral
Japanese are naive about American law, American laws have teeth it and can bite you in the butt,it do matter whether you rich or poor the law is the law
William77
I am just sorry for this Ohtani.
Why should he explain himself to the press for a misbehaviour conducted by another person?
Go figure.
Yrral
Majority of the sport press on radio do not believe Othani and think have something to hide
3RENSHO
Why are overhead televisions in the Dodgers clubhouse tuned to horse racing?
Yrral
Throwing yourself on the sword in Japan may work,but it do not work in America,
u_s__reamer
Throwing yourself on the sword in Japan may work,but it do not work in America,
Americans have money not swords and they let the money do all the talkin'. Ohtani will be on a fast learning curve to find out it's the best justice system money can buy as the world has ruefully learned to its disgust over the last 4 years. Whatever mistakes Ohtani has made in his dealings with Mizuhara's murky affairs, we all hope he can come out smelling roses and get on with his game.
kohakuebisu
"Ippei told me "Dave the Bookie" was the cheapest place to buy the baseball gloves I've sent to all the elementary schools in Japan".
dmhondz
He needs to come clean, get their story straight and stop hiding behind his US lawyers. That is not how it is done in Japan. Man up, tell them he is innocently helping a friend in trouble who was integral in his MLB career. Face some sanctions if any and then bow and try to earn back some lost trust.
indigo
Ohtani contract will be canceled soon...
HopeSpringsEternal
Ohtani has everything on the line regarding his reputation and goodwill, so let's hope he can speak with conviction and confidence of an innocent person.
shogun36
well……that isn’t Japan.
just bowing isn’t gonna cut it in this situation.
as soon as the IRS Gets involved, ish gets real, quick
Yrral
He should just ask to go before a grand jury,it would not come out good,grand jury are sitted in America,to hear people like Othani involving criminals behavior
NOMINATION
Illegal gambling is a crime in Japan too. Stop grouping an entire Nationality for the acts of 2.
Quo Primum
It's in the article.
Because watching horse races on TV isn't illegal. Neither is betting on the races.
Absolutely. I would be shocked if he didn't have a lawyer there. And I'm sure the law firm that earlier insisted he was a victim of theft will make sure there's a lawyer sitting there.
Something tells me that Ohtani is getting a seriously fast crash-course in American law here.
Seigi
Welcome to America, Ohtani! This is it!
DudeDeuce
The better question is why do you feel the need to bring a political discussion into a story about baseball and gambling when there are plenty of articles to do so?
Asiaman7
The article was updated after my post.
tigerjane
Japan has a famous motto, "Silence is Golden." America has a motto in the legal system, "Anything you say can be used against you."
Ohtani should say or do nothing without a lawyer beside him and or he could be another Pete Rose.
DudeDeuce
Go read the title of the article as well as reading the entire article. Whoever started talking about politics first is the one deflecting. Just to break it down for you, Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese athlete playing a sport in the U.S. called baseball. His interpreter is under investigation for gambling on sports illegally. You can search past articles to get caught up and what you missed.
Mocheake
Well, they've had a few days now to get their story as straight as possible as to who was doing what and when. This ought to be interesting but not as interesting as the real opening day coming up.
3RENSHO
"Because watching horse races on TV isn't illegal. Neither is betting on the races."
Sports and betting...sort of belong together, don't they?
Gene Hennigh
Yeah, he's guilty, all right. Just look at that face. I can tell he's guilty
Next conspiracy theory, please. Yeah, he's guilty, too. Just look the way he looks. He's guilty. No doubt.
Next conspiracy theory. . .
Quo Primum
At first I strongly believed Ohtani didn't do anything wrong, but now I'm having doubts.
From what I've read and heard, Mizuhara was paid about $250,000 to $300,000 a year.
And from what else I've read and heard, no bookie -- not even an "illegal" one -- would extend $4 million or $5 million in credit to someone making what Mizuhara earned.
But they might extend that sort of credit to someone of Ohtani's means ...
Mr Kipling
Not in baseball. Sports gambling is forbidden, and not just baseball. Apparently there are posters in MLB locker rooms to remind them.
Mr Kipling
BINGO!
kaimycahl
@Yrral true perhaps Japanese do not know US law why should they, I don't know Japanese law but you are dead wron. You know very little about US law! It does matter if you are rich or poor look at the scales of justice, that right there tells you who has the most amount of gold carries the most amount of weight. Rich people have the means to get excellent attorneys who are very good with case law, poor people get a court appointed public defender who usually tells the people to take a plead deal. In this case Ohtani will probably say he had no idea of what was going on he was just concentrating on baseball. I think Ohtani is caught up with guilt by association and this Ippei guy was a IFFY a guy who could speak Japanese spent sometime in Japan and had a gift for gab and because he was Japanese with ties to living in the US it was his way of creating a environment that made him a good candidate to move into those circles in Japanese baseball. The problem is they did not check his background the guy was a fraud. I hate to say this but Japanese are so trusting of people especially foreigners but this Ippei guy was no foreigner because of who he SAID he was and what he DID made him go unchecked and he followed it back to the US. Now we are hearing many things that are not checking out he did not attend UCR never attended the University and the BOSOX are saying the same. Why wasn't this guy checked? This tells me he was always a gambler and when he got state side his gambling got worse because he had more money to play with.
Japanese are naive about American law, American laws have teeth it and can bite you in the butt,it do matter whether you rich or poor the law is the law
Yrral
Othani to speak at 5.45 pm EST
Yrral
I know enough about law,that Othani is exposed legally,he is a foreigner,that do not know the language and the legal consequences,that why he in trouble,not me
Yrral
Their is no guilt by association,but an active co conspirator