Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Curiouser and curiouser. After the Dodgers season opener was sullied by a pre-game bomb threat that turned out to be nothing, an even bigger bombshell was dropped on Wednesday afternoon as Shohei Ohtani’s legal team accused the superstar’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara of “massive theft” from the Dodgers’ DH. Mizuhara was summarily fired by the Dodgers, but this scandal will likely reverberate for days and weeks to come.
According to a report filed on March 20 in the LA Times, Lawyers for Ohtani have made this claim of fraud after the paper learned that Ohtani’s name had surfaced in the investigation of a man named Mathew Bowyer. Ohtani’s representatives looked into the actions of the interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in response to The Times’ queries, a source close to the matter said. The times article goes on to state that “Two sources told the newspaper that the money involved was in the millions of dollars.”
Obviously, this is a huge breaking story and the details are still murky, but the issue seems to revolve around the actions of Bowyer, who it seems to have run an illegal gambling scheme out of Orange County, where he lives. Sources claim that the interpreter Mizuhara had made numerous bets with Bowyer, though it is not clear exactly what sports were involved.
The reports states also that Bowyer’s attorney claims unequivocally that Ohtani was not directly involved with Bowyer in any way. Bass told The Times that Bowyer never had contact with Ohtani. “Mathew Bowyer never met, spoke with, or texted, or had contact in any way with Shohei Ohtani,” she said.
According to the Times report, Mizuhara was born in Japan, but grew up in Southern California. He first met Ohtani when working as an English interpreter for Ohtani’s former team in Japan, the Nippon Ham Fighters. Mizuhara has been at Ohtani’s side throughout the superstar’s meteoric rise to worldwide fame. And anyone who has followed the Dodgers during this Spring knows that the two have been practically inseparable.
Obviously, this is a blow that isn’t going to heal quickly. What this guy has allegedly done to one of the game’s nicest guys is truly despicable. We can only hope that he is brought to justice and the matter is swiftly resolved.
In the meantime, there are games to play….
Sigh.
