Ohtani's interpreter fired for stealing money

[bmags]

As I said though…I’d rather they sweep this under the rug

[southsider2k5]

Good lord, can we not bring in the Bauer hurt feelings?  Please?

[nrockway]

21 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Phil Mickelson II.  Now we know why he wanted to defer all that money...to keep everyone away from it.

Joking.  I hope, for baseball's sake.

Embezzlement sounds about right...and Ohtani almost has that Tiger Woods-esque image before everything came crashing down from his hidden life.

I think for baseball's sake and its future longevity, he is a gambler and gets banned for life and the league completely reassesses its vice-peddling policies before something Black Sox esque happens. maybe the Supreme Court realizes it made a mistake with Murphy v NCAA and gambling in its entirety moves back to the reservation. This is the tip of the iceberg, I'm convinced non-NIL college athletes are already throwing games. you're a 19-year-old and all you have to do is miss a three pointer or walk the guy and you win 500 bucks, why wouldn't you? ethics? right now it's the Puigs and Ippeis of the world, next it will be a minor league pitcher with a small signing bonus or an umpire throwing a game.

however, I don't think he was actually gambling I think he just paid off his buddy's debt and didn't consider the legal ramifications of it because "hey gambling is legal now!" and it seems reasonable to assume he's not going to tell his lawyers or accountants that he's going to pay a bookie millions of dollars. the conflicting "stories" is what's perhaps most interesting. one thinks this story isn't going away and the truth will eventually come out, but I get the impression that Ohtani was trying to do right by his buddy who essentially wipes his ass for him and did everything for him not relate to baseball. 

[Bob Sacamano]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

Good lord, can we not bring in the Bauer hurt feelings?  Please?

Sorry

[nrockway]

6 hours ago, Milkman delivers said:

I’m not a gambler. I don’t care about others gambling, but this kind of thing seems like the natural endpoint of all these leagues, teams, and individual players/celebrities getting in bed with the casinos/websites. Now the leagues will have to walk a tightrope when these incidents come up. They will have to decide who gets punished and who doesn’t, which will lead to conspiracy theories like the above posts. There will be accusations of hypocrisy. And you know what, they deserve it. Can’t have your cake and eat it too.

the hypocrisy was blatant from the very beginning. for most of this sport's history, gambling was pretty much the only thing that would actually get you blackballed from the sport. now the commentators cheerfully teach children about parleys and betting lines while grown men sob and scream in the stands because they've just lost their house over a ball game. have to hope that new laws are actually created to reign this in. on the federal level I mean. 

[South Side Hit Men]

2 hours ago, nrockway said:

the hypocrisy was blatant from the very beginning. for most of this sport's history, gambling was pretty much the only thing that would actually get you blackballed from the sport. now the commentators cheerfully teach children about parleys and betting lines while grown men sob and scream in the stands because they've just lost their house over a ball game. have to hope that new laws are actually created to reign this in. on the federal level I mean. 

Gambling a top 2-3 factor in terms of interest in the sport over time. MLB owners banking millions each year directly, much more indirectly, off of direct sports gambling with sports books and bookies, plus the enormous Rotisserie / Fantasy market.

MLB Investigations, suspensions and enforcement of rules are nearly always based on whether the people in charge (MLB Owners - Guggenheim for Bauer / Ohtani) wants to renege on a player’s contract. Typically the same procedure for most business, civil, and criminal proceedings in most societies.

[caulfield12]

55 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Gambling a top 2-3 factor in terms of interest in the sport over time. MLB owners banking millions each year directly, much more indirectly, off of direct sports gambling with sports books and bookies, plus the enormous Rotisserie / Fantasy market.

MLB Investigations, suspensions and enforcement of rules are nearly always based on whether the people in charge (MLB Owners - Guggenheim for Bauer / Ohtani) wants to renege on a player’s contract. Typically the same procedure for most business, civil, and criminal proceedings in most societies.

Hard to forget with it plastered over their batting helmets...that was a new one for me.

Like if the Cubs had Ameritrade or whatever...as long as they don't start promoting political candidates in August/September.

Edited March 22 by caulfield12

[bmags]

lmao reporting is that one of the reasons there was such confusion and backtracking is they were initially still relying on the interpreter to tell ohtani what was happening as they were explaining it.

[southsider2k5]

25 minutes ago, bmags said:

lmao reporting is that one of the reasons there was such confusion and backtracking is they were initially still relying on the interpreter to tell ohtani what was happening as they were explaining it.

That is just wild.

[Tony]

Just like with Pete Rose, the issue is obviously "Was Ohtani throwing games?" That's what all this goes back to, and of course would be a mega deal if it were true. 

Without proof of that...does anyone really care? I mean we're all reading the story because it's around the greatest player in the sport, and it's a scandal, but if Ohtani was making huge bets on sporting events through a bookie...why should I care? 

[southsider2k5]

8 minutes ago, Tony said:

Just like with Pete Rose, the issue is obviously "Was Ohtani throwing games?" That's what all this goes back to, and of course would be a mega deal if it were true. 

Without proof of that...does anyone really care? I mean we're all reading the story because it's around the greatest player in the sport, and it's a scandal, but if Ohtani was making huge bets on sporting events through a bookie...why should I care? 

The first question is was the betting on baseball.  If not, I am not sure it matters when it comes to MLB.  That's pretty much their only real rule.

[Milkman delivers]

54 minutes ago, Tony said:

Just like with Pete Rose, the issue is obviously "Was Ohtani throwing games?" That's what all this goes back to, and of course would be a mega deal if it were true. 

Without proof of that...does anyone really care? I mean we're all reading the story because it's around the greatest player in the sport, and it's a scandal, but if Ohtani was making huge bets on sporting events through a bookie...why should I care? 

The biggest legal issue is that these are bets made through a bookie, not through like Draft Kings or some s%*#. That’s nothing to overlook, especially in the millions of dollars. Although I understand where you’re coming from.

[Tony]

20 minutes ago, Milkman delivers said:

The biggest legal issue is that these are bets made through a bookie, not through like Draft Kings or some s%*#. That’s nothing to overlook, especially in the millions of dollars. Although I understand where you’re coming from.

So if it wasn’t on baseball, say it WAS Ohtani making these bets but it was on the NFL. 

Why do I care? It’s his money and it’s not like he’s buying illegal weapons. I’m not saying people are wrong if they care, go nuts…I’m just missing the real intrigue. 

[Milkman delivers]

5 minutes ago, Tony said:

So if it wasn’t on baseball, say it WAS Ohtani making these bets but it was on the NFL. 

Why do I care? It’s his money and it’s not like he’s buying illegal weapons. I’m not saying people are wrong if they care, go nuts…I’m just missing the real intrigue. 

I assume these bets were made through an illegal bookie, not through a sports book. That’s the real difference.

[Balta1701]

8 minutes ago, Tony said:

So if it wasn’t on baseball, say it WAS Ohtani making these bets but it was on the NFL. 

Why do I care? It’s his money and it’s not like he’s buying illegal weapons. I’m not saying people are wrong if they care, go nuts…I’m just missing the real intrigue. 

 

Just now, Milkman delivers said:

I assume these bets were made through an illegal bookie, not through a sports book. That’s the real difference.

I'm pretty sure that the fact the IRS is in on this already is both the reason why this won't fully go away any time soon and why some semblance of the truth is going to come out, because the government has lots of ways to work on this. Money transfers, failure to pay taxes on $4 millions of earnings would leave a long paper trail. 

https://abc7.com/irs-investigating-shohei-ohtanis-interpreter-ippei-mizuhara-and-alleged-bookmaker-heres-what-we-know/14556859/

 

Also worth noting - Sports Gambling is still illegal in California, so the Los Angeles player or interpreter doing this, whoever it was, was also violating state law. As Tex is in a state where Marijuana is currently illegal and other states have legalized it, I'd assume that situation is comparable. 

[Tony]

18 minutes ago, Milkman delivers said:

I assume these bets were made through an illegal bookie, not through a sports book. That’s the real difference.

 

15 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

I'm pretty sure that the fact the IRS is in on this already is both the reason why this won't fully go away any time soon and why some semblance of the truth is going to come out, because the government has lots of ways to work on this. Money transfers, failure to pay taxes on $4 millions of earnings would leave a long paper trail. 

https://abc7.com/irs-investigating-shohei-ohtanis-interpreter-ippei-mizuhara-and-alleged-bookmaker-heres-what-we-know/14556859/

 

Also worth noting - Sports Gambling is still illegal in California, so the Los Angeles player or interpreter doing this, whoever it was, was also violating state law. As Tex is in a state where Marijuana is currently illegal and other states have legalized it, I'd assume that situation is comparable. 

Guys, I get all of that. I’m not confused by the case. He used a bookie, which is illegal. I understand. 

Again, how does that impact what I think of Ohanti? Does anyone think he is a bad person because of this? Ideal situation? No. Not a great look. But if Ohtani decided he wanted to use a small portion of his mega contract to lay big money on an NFL Sunday with a bookie? 
 

I just don’t care. 

[Milkman delivers]

1 minute ago, Tony said:

 

Guys, I get all of that. I’m not confused by the case. He used a bookie, which is illegal. I understand. 

Again, how does that impact what I think of Ohanti? Does anyone think he is a bad person because of this? Ideal situation? No. Not a great look. But if Ohtani decided he wanted to use a small portion of his mega contract to lay big money on an NFL Sunday with a bookie? 
 

I just don’t care. 

To be clear, I don’t care either. Gambling is ubiquitous now, and I know a few guys I would consider degenerates. The problem is that the government cares.

[Balta1701]

2 minutes ago, Tony said:

 

Guys, I get all of that. I’m not confused by the case. He used a bookie, which is illegal. I understand. 

Again, how does that impact what I think of Ohanti? Does anyone think he is a bad person because of this? Ideal situation? No. Not a great look. But if Ohtani decided he wanted to use a small portion of his mega contract to lay big money on an NFL Sunday with a bookie? 
 

I just don’t care. 

Not a great look? Violating state law, potentially violating some federal laws (wire fraud, we'll see about obstruction) are things you probably should care about since if Ohtani did anything crossing certain lines himself that could actually cost him part of his playing career while in prison. 

If he didn't do any of that, and its the silly sounding story that his interpreter presented, then fine, but I'm happy to let the good people at the IRS and the State of California do their work before I buy that.

[southsider2k5]

47 minutes ago, Tony said:

So if it wasn’t on baseball, say it WAS Ohtani making these bets but it was on the NFL. 

Why do I care? It’s his money and it’s not like he’s buying illegal weapons. I’m not saying people are wrong if they care, go nuts…I’m just missing the real intrigue. 

He committed a federal crime with his wire in that case.

[Tony]

53 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

He committed a federal crime with his wire in that case.

 

1 hour ago, Balta1701 said:

Not a great look? Violating state law, potentially violating some federal laws (wire fraud, we'll see about obstruction) are things you probably should care about since if Ohtani did anything crossing certain lines himself that could actually cost him part of his playing career while in prison. 

If he didn't do any of that, and its the silly sounding story that his interpreter presented, then fine, but I'm happy to let the good people at the IRS and the State of California do their work before I buy that.

Then you guys have a blast clutching your pearls over Ohtani betting on the Chiefs in Week 13. Go nuts. 

Until there is more meat to this story, where Ohtani bet on baseball…don’t care 

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/shohei-ohtani-interpreters-firing-menacing-143106861.html

 

On a grander scale, for you, the sports consumer, it might feel like the slippery slope of gambling and sports fandom is giving way.

 

Yet going on six years in this post-PASPA world, the blinking red lights of major league sports’ loving embrace of gambling can’t be ignored.

 

The guardrails can’t make all that disappear – especially when the game’s participants skew younger and grew up in an environment where having action on a game is not only verboten, it’s incessantly encouraged.

That doesn’t mean all the action is dirty, or salacious, for the general public or the stars with nine-figure net worths. We’re going on three or four decades where the clubhouse March Madness pool adds a jolt of energy to the spring training slog – and if you want to know the stakes, just add a few zeroes to the $10 you might be playing with this March.

But the occasional pool or friendly wager – and sports’ leagues promotion of that via bracket challenges or the acknowledgement of fantasy sports popularity – is one thing. That teams and leagues are signing partnerships with seemingly any online book that asks is quite another.

Edited March 23 by caulfield12

[oldsox]

On 3/21/2024 at 3:34 PM, Pal said:

Big hole in that is, why is a schmuck interpreter getting that level of credit? Would be the dumbest bookie in history.

Yes, the books would never extend that much credit to the schmuck.  America loves to take down its heroes, even if they are Japanese.

[South Side Hit Men]

I don't see Ohtani retiring from baseball to play in the NBA G-League, before returning to the Dodgers in August 2025

[hi8is]

The dumbest take on this one I’ve seen is as follows:

”Ohtani and his interpreter are lovers. His recent marriage is just a cover to divert attention from what is really going on here. They were in bed on this gambling thing and they were in bed in every other way too.”

Found this gem in the most recent Athletic’s article comments. 😆

I lose faith in humanity more by the day.

[ScootsMcGoots]

On 3/22/2024 at 9:15 PM, Tony said:

 

Then you guys have a blast clutching your pearls over Ohtani betting on the Chiefs in Week 13. Go nuts. 

Until there is more meat to this story, where Ohtani bet on baseball…don’t care 

I think the problem stems from, if he made the bet, and then influenced the outcomes of games in some way by paying officials or other players. That's where we as fans of the game should probably care. If he didn't influence the game in any way through the bet making (or his interpreter...whatever the situation is), then you're right, who cares. But...we are talking about the 700 million dollar man here.