Ohtani interpreter story reeks of coverup

Well, baseball fans. Here we go again. Another baseball scandal’s brewing and this time it involves one of the game’s biggest megastars.

The Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s longtime friend and interpreter, on Wednesday after questions arose surrounding $4.5 million in wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank account to a bookmaker. The Dodgers claim Mizuhara stole the money… but I’m not buyin it. 

And here’s why.

This wouldn’t be the first time a player was mixed up in illegal betting. Especially in baseball. Do the names Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose ring a bell? I’m not saying Shohei Ohtani should be added to that list, but this whole thing straight up stinks. It reeks of a coverup. 

You mean to tell me that Mizuhara, who’s been working with Ohtani since his NPB days with the Nippon Ham Fighters, suddenly decided to steal millions from him? No way. I think it’s way more likely that Ohtani either gave Mizuhara the money to cover his gambling debts or Mizuhara was placing bets for him. It seems to me like Mizuhara’s nothing more than a scapegoat. 

To be perfectly clear (and cut down on the number of angry emails), I really hope it turns out Ohtani isn’t mixed up in anything shady. I hope there’s a perfectly good explanation for all this, and that Mizuhara’s firing is the end of it. I hope. But I doubt it.

Call it gut instinct, call it being cynical, call it whatever you want. But I don’t believe for a second we’ve heard the end of this mess. I’d expect a full investigation by the Dodgers and MLB. And while there’s no doubt in my mind that’s what needs to happen, I worry about what we’ll learn from said investigation. 

At the end of the day, though, the truth will come out either way. And all we can do, as baseball fans, is hope for the best.