More on Shohei OHTANI’s interpreter, IPPEI MIZUHARA’s SPORTS BETTING SCANDAL: Background/Timeline

Many questions remain to be answered in Mizuhara gambling scandal
ROBERT WHITING
MAR 21, 2024
URL https://robertwhiting.substack.com/p/many-questions-remain-to-be-answered

Seattle Mariners Bullpen Catcher, Justin Novak
Baseball Reference https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Justin_Novak

More on Shohei OHTANI’s interpreter, IPPEI MIZUHARA’s SPORTS BETTING SCANDAL: Background/Timeline

Background:
Mizuhara Ippei (born December 31, 1984) is a Japanese interpreter known for his work with Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels. He serves as a Japanese-English and English-Japanese interpreter during Ohtani’s media appearances and interactions with teammates. Previously, he interpreted for Hideki Okajima of the Boston Red Sox and English-speaking players of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Biography:
Early Life:
Mizuhara grew up in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, until the age of six when his father, Hidemasa, a Japanese chef, moved the family to the United States in 1991 to work as a chef in Los Angeles. Throughout his school years, he was active in soccer and basketball clubs. He graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2007.

As an Interpreter:
Mizuhara’s interest in Major League Baseball (MLB) was sparked by Hideo Nomo’s success with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In February 2012, he was hired by the New York Yankees as the exclusive interpreter for Hideki Okajima. However, Okajima’s contract was terminated due to a failed physical examination, resulting in the termination of Mizuhara’s contract.

Returning to Japan in 2012, he became the team interpreter for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, offering support for foreign players such as Brandon Laird and Chris Martin. Mizuhara earned the nickname “Ippei-chan” and was highly regarded by both Japanese and foreign players.

As Shohei Ohtani’s Exclusive Interpreter:
In 2017, when Shohei Ohtani transferred from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters to the Los Angeles Angels, Mizuhara joined the Angels as Ohtani’s personal interpreter. He provides support in both personal and professional capacities, including driving Ohtani and engaging in activities like playing catch with him.

Despite Ohtani’s unique schedule, Mizuhara ensures he is not isolated within the team. He actively participates in team activities and fosters camaraderie among players. In 2018, Ohtani gifted him an all-expenses-paid honeymoon ticket as a wedding gift.

During Ohtani’s rehabilitation in 2018 and 2019, Mizuhara provided emotional support, engaging in activities to help him relax. Even after Ohtani obtained his U.S. driver’s license in February 2020, Mizuhara continued riding in the passenger seat.

In 2021, Mizuhara accompanied Ohtani to the Home Run Derby and acted as a pitcher during the MLB All-Star Game pre-season event. He was recognized as the “MVI” (Most Valuable Interpreter) by the Angels on November 22 of the same year.

During the lockout following MLB’s labor agreement negotiations in the off-season of 2021, Mizuhara temporarily left the Angels but rejoined the team after the agreement was signed on March 10.

In the 5th World Baseball Classic in 2023, Mizuhara served as a team interpreter for the Japanese national team alongside Shingo Horie. He also acted as a liaison and interpreter for manager Hideki Kuriyama when Lars Nootbaar, the first Japanese-American to play for the national team, participated in the tournament. Nootbaar expressed gratitude to Mizuhara during the championship press conference, eliciting laughter from those present.

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“Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal: Piecing together the confusing timeline, based on what we’ve been told so far”
The scandal has already seen a change in the story from Ohtani’s camp
Jack Baer,. Staff writer Fri, Mar 22, 2024

URL https://sports.yahoo.com/shohei-ohtani-interpreter-scandal-piecing-together-the-confusing-timeline-based-on-what-weve-been-told-so-far-014454049.html

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18 U.S. Code § 1084 – Transmission of wagering information; penalties

URL https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1084

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Your Intro by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Hello welcome back um I’m just going to do a quick backgrounder on uh IE uh mizuhara um the now former uh Japanese interpreter for uh shoh Otani who was fired yesterday um I’m first going to start with the basics that we get from um Japanese sites um which is slightly

Different from the English language ones um give or take a few facts and um then I’m going to go through um just a rough timeline of what happened I think um Jack bear of uh Yahoo sports um probably did it best and I’ll go through that at the

End um and I’ll put the links down below so um eepe U mizuhara um he was born December 31st 1984 and is a Japanese interpreter he’s known for interpreting for sh otan the Dodger and he was um serving As an interpreter for all his media appearances and interactions with

Teammates and previously uh he interpreted for Hideki okajima the when when okajima was with the Red Soxs and also he was an interpreter for uh the uh foreign players uh for the Hokkaido um nipan ham Fighters up in Hokkaido so uh IE is actually from hokido he’s from

Tomakomai um he lived there until he was six years old and then he moved to the United States in 1991 um when his father hiasa um mahara a Japanese Chef um moved over to LA to work there um so he went to school in Los Angeles he played soccer basketball

And he graduated from University UC Riverside in 2007 so you would say he was a first generation Japanese American I guess right anyways As an interpreter he became interested in MLB um when uh hideo Nomo um started with the Los Angeles Dodgers he was Don nura’s uh

Client at the time and in February 2012 he was hired by the New York Yankees and he was an exclusive interpreter for Hideki okajima um but when okajima failed the physical during his provisional contract he had some sort of abnormality in his left shoulder the contract was terminated and

So as a result miso’s contract was also terminated and so in 2012 he went he came back to Japan and he was the team interpreter for um the Hokkaido for the nip onam Fighters up in Hokkaido and um he did he was interpreter for the foreign players um at that time there

Was uh Brandon leair and Chris Martin and uh he was uh I I think he had a great reputation he was very responsive he was there for the players and also for the players families who were up there and uh I think what was the nickname they

Called it I Chan which is kind of an affectionate term and so he was also um close to Yohi o there there’s another team member um a player for the nipon fighters and he often played catch with them or practice so all all in all really really great reputation you know

The foreign players really liked him the Japanese players and the reporters in the Press um so um as far as becoming Shi otani’s exclusive interpreter um that was in the offseason of 2017 then because shohi Otani was then still member of the nipon fighters and then he

Was uh he joined the Los Angeles Angels so uh he was asked to join uh the angels as otani’s personal interpreter and in addition to interpreting you will read and you’ll find out that he did a lot more than interpreted he was supporting Otani in both his personal professional

Life you know driving him around uh playing catch and everything else so he had said in an interview he said Otani has a has a very unique schedule uh sometimes there’s no one around to play catch with him in those cases he said I’d step up and play catch with him um

Bob Whiting had also uh written um way early on and indicated at the time when Otani was single um basically the guy would really he had it was U it was hard to believe he would he would he would practice baseball he would study BL baseball um

Wouldn’t he wouldn’t go out he wasn’t summoned for partying not even eating or dining out and um I think he had said in in an interview that his hobby at the time was studying English on the weekends um so yeah uh if you have somebody like u a around uh yeah he’s

Basically your um Lifeline in any event um when uh when eepe joined uh he heard previous Japanese players who had joined the MLB kind of got isolated in the clubhouse you know where the players hang out so his Focus was to make sure that Otani didn’t end up isolated

Socially in the same way and one of the things that mahara noticed was he said a lot of some of the players uh the Angels players they were playing a certain uh mobile phone game it was called um Clash Royale I think and so uh he got Otani to

Download it and it joined him I mean this is like three years later you know at the time when when he was interviewed um in 2021 um mahara and others said yeah they’re still playing the game and everything I just hope it wasn’t the case that mizuhara also introduced Otani

To something like uh DraftKings um that was the um sports betting app that um allegedly or supposedly mizuhara initially got hooked on um we’ll talk about that later anyways in 2018 um eepe am mizuhara he married um he married he got married a Japanese woman and um I

Think the same year what what uh oton gave him a wedding gift he gave him an all expenses paid honeymoon um ticket as a wedding gift um so that was cool I think they’re um 2018 I think Mis Ohara he saw Otani every day I mean from

Spring from January to to Mid November November 14th uh accompanying him to the Universal Studios uh Hollywood during the All-Star break and everything and so from 2018 to the spring of 2019 um Otani was undergoing rehab and preparations for his return Mahar would kind of joke

Around with Otani and and play The Clash Royale smartphone game um to kind of help him relax and um the clubhouse men manager said you know hey maharo epe has been helping Otani a lot and that’s why he thinks that uh shohi is in really good mental state and

So about February 2020 um even after Otani got his US driver’s license um he continued to they said he continued to ride in the passenger um uh seat uh mahara did so when Otani drove and in 2021 when there was a home run derby when Otani was in there there

Was a preseason event for the M MLB allstar game um mahara actually played catcher you know and at the in the red there was a red carpet show the same day and so uh there was a lot of attention on um who Otani who was still single who who who

Would he appear with and um he appeared with his uh male interpreter on the red carpet and uh anyways on November 22nd of that year 2021 he was selected as the mvi um most valuable interpreter by the uh angels and during the lockout after the uh MLB’s labor agreement negotiations in offseason of

2021 uh he temporarily left the Angels because of the contract you get between the players and the club staff um but you know that was a technical he he rejoined the team after the agreement was signed on March 10th um had a few friends or friend son who was also affected similarly yeah

Um and uh in the there was the fifth of WBC World baseball class last year in 2023 Otani was in it and uh so mahara also served as a team interpreter for the entire Japanese national team along with uh another uh interpreter or public relations guy named shingo jier um and

He was also the liazon and interpreter for Hideki Kurama um who’s a manager when um it was Lars um Nota he’s the first Japanese American to play for the national team was invited to the tournament and at the championship press conference uh Nota also uh expressed his gratitude

To mahara he said um I’m glad I was able to play with the manager coaches and great teammates I’m also grateful to epe for inviting me and misar is also in charge of interpretation um oh yeah there was a there’s a scene you can probably find it when he’s interpreting

For uh do and or something like that and he’s say he says himself like I’m I’m uh grateful to eay and everyone kind of understood the joke and and burst out laughing and so uh so he uh following the trade in December of last year 2023 uh to the

Los Los Angeles Dodgers he also followed that you know when Otani went to Dodgers he went along so let’s get back to what happened two days ago so u e um Mahar he was uh released or terminated by the Dodgers on March 20th of 2024 right after the opening game between the uh

Dodgers in the Padres in so South Korea U finished right and um a lot of the US media Outlets reported you know at that time yeah uh that this was because um he was allegedly involved in elal gambling and um furthermore they cited that there

Was at least four and a. half million US Dollars and in Japanese yen is about oh god with the exchange rat it’s a killer it’s 680 million yen um was transferred from um CH otani’s bank and um subsequently U you also hear uh more in a second statement from otani’s lawyer

Accusing mahara of uh quote stealing a large amount of otani’s funds for the purpose of gambling at bookmakers um and then and we’ll we’ll address this later in the timeline but in an interview with ESPN on the 19th of March maharo said you know he wasn’t aware of

Any illegal it and he stressed you know sh is not involved in gambling at all and that when he initially asked Otani to pay off its gambling debts uh in the first statement he said Otani was obviously not happy with the case and he said he’ help he’d help me so he

Wouldn’t do this again again anyways um yeah so basically mizuhara was was pretty popular among the fans as well because of his pretty close and positive relationship with Otani uh he did a lot of all around support other than interpreting uh play catch with him in the bullpen and during

The pregame warm-ups and uh like I said before in the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby he was he was otani’s catcher um and that’s a hard job um we also know um there’s another um Justin Novak uh he was with the Padres but he returned to the

Mariners but when his his first job he was interpreter for um boy I forget his name anyways he he Justin was in the bullpen often and I don’t know I if you still see him but um certainly last year I would see uh Justin Novak playing Justin uh is a UVA

Graduate and um I think he was uh 2018 um I think in 2014 or 2015 and when he was a freshman with UVA um that’s when they were won the college World Championships anyways I’ll try to get a link U for him so um as far as the

Closeness I there might be limits on February 3rd um this year um Connie was at some Festival um and you know seen first time since he transferred uh was traded to the Dodgers and so he was on stage with mizahar at a talk show and then the interviewer kind of asked you

Know how’s your relationship with eepe and kind of joked around and he kind of said you know in Japanese he goes we’re in a business relationship so we’re not friends and he was laughing you know we’ve just been getting along yeah I I would say they’re pretty close okay so

Um now we’re talking about the timeline because I think it’s important because you have these basic Bob Whiting had described it as 180 degree um uh a a change of story um recanting what they had said maybe a day or ear day or two earlier so uh one of the sources I’m

Looking at is uh Jack byer’s article in Yahoo sports sh Otani interpreter Scandal uh piecing together the confusing timeline based on what we’ve been told so far um and the scandal’s already seen a change in the story from otani’s camp and this was published on Friday uh March 22nd oh that’s today

Right so um really I don’t know if we want to go through the entire thing but um I’ll address some of it uh he starts out with the MLB opened its uh season Wednesday morning with its biggest supporter Shi Otani leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win then came the

Scandal specifically otani’s longterm um longtime interpreter and friend eepe mohara was fired by the Dodgers after being reported to have stolen millions of dollars from the two-way phenomenon to cover scambling that the story stunned the baseball world by dropping out of no nowhere Wednesday and only got more

Confusing as details emerged a lengthy ESPN report laid out what was clearly a bizarre situation behind the scenes all centered on the claim that Otani had agreed to cover mahar’s debts uh and Otani spokesman reportedly claimed that to be the case to ESPN only to reverse course one day later and get the

Sluggers legal team involved so yeah there you have it it should be noted that everyone involved in the story has said Otani does not gamble including mohara and the alleged illegal bookmaker involved in the story MLB players are allowed to gamble on sports that are not baseball but not through illegal means I

Think I discussed this in the earlier video um covering uh Robert whiting’s articles um it also there’s also uh you have to consider the state you’re in California which um does not allow this um online gambling or offer betting ESPN cited sources in the gambling operation that claimed um Bard delt directly with

Mahara for bets on soccer and other non-baseball sports um so what Jeff does is he says in the interest of clarity here’s the story chronologically is it was La out in the ESPN report plus some background information we’re going to go over the dates um before I do um one of

The things like we looking at is want you to think about the size of the the gambling debt $4.5 million now uh depending on whom you ask epe mizuhara was either earning $500,000 a year or $300,000 a year as an interpreter um that’s certainly a pretty penny but

You are hearing comment today from people in the sports betting World um people who were um in the world of um bookmaking and they say there is no way any bookmaker worth their salt would extend would allow any client uh like uh mizuhara to get in that deep to owing

400 you know $4.5 million so what’s being insinuated is that the only way that you could get that deep into debt would be if the actual client was Otani you know but um not someone who’s making only 300 or $500,000 a year okay so here’s the timeline um

2013 Z indicated Otani and mahara they both met in Japan um when we say Otani and mahara go way back we mean all the way back to the start of otani’s professional career in Japan in 2013 Otani plays his rookie year for the uh Hokkaido nipon Fighters and he meets

Mizar who began working as an interpreter for American player Chris Martin That season so 2018 Otani moves to the MLB and brings mizahar with him with great Fanfare Otani signs with the Los Angeles Angels who hire motani to work as otani’s interpreter over the next six years Otani wins rookie of the

Year and two MVP awards while while mad translates for him and acts in a number of other capacities including the Home Run Derby catcher and workout partner so 2021 that’s only three years ago mohara meets Boer he is the uh the man who is uh charged was charged as an illegal

Bookmaker um mahara who had allegedly been placing bets on Draft Kings um meets Matthew Boer U Matthew is sp mat h e w not a Double T Boyer is spelled b w y r the bookmaker at a poker game in San Diego he later claimed to have believed

It was legal to place bats with Boyer which he supposedly did a lot so so between September and October 2023 $1 million is sent to Boer under otani’s name so Bank record shows otani’s name on Two $500,000 wire transfers wire transfers sent to an associate of Boyers this description

Section of the transfer read quote loan one ESPN Source claims that Boer allowed people to believe Otani was a client to help his business mahara later claims this was done after Otani agreed to cover $4.5 million of his gambling debts Otani allegedly quote wasn’t happy but

He said he would help to make sure mahara wouldn’t do it again Otani was also said to have logged into his own computer and sent the wires under Mizu hara’s supervision and so pay attention the physical act of logging into your computer to your bank account your

Password and a wire because there is something we’re going to cite later um us code what is it h 1084 and otherwise called the the wire the wire act okay anyways here quote from this report asked why Otani didn’t simply give the money instead of paying Boyers associate directly mizar said

Otani didn’t trust him with the money he didn’t want me to gamble it away maharo said Mahar said he told Otani that he would pay him back so last October 2023 boer’s home is raided um boer’s home is raided by federal authorities with a search warrant inventory showing the agency’s

Cash casino chips banking documents a money counting machine multiple computers portable storage devices and cell phones I believe these Federal authorities were actually the IRS December 2023 Otani signs with the Dodgers so he obliterates Otani does the record for the largest MLB contract with a 10-year $700 million deal with the Los Angeles

Dodgers and it defers 680 million to be paid after the the life of the contract this saves the Dodgers a lot of cash um January 2024 um about three months ago feds noticed otani’s name in boer’s operation amongst with all the documents and things that they received They seized

And those same Federal authorities learned that otani’s name is on the wire payment payment plur March 19th of this year boy that was 3 days ago mizuhara speaks with ESPN ESPN eventually gets wind of the story and he con and contacts otani’s Camp while the store earlier this week

Flew over to South Korea to play in the MLB opening day game against the Padre crucially uh spokesman tells ES PN that Otani transferred the funds to cover Mizu hara’s gambling debt and then makes mizuhara available for a 90minut interview in which She lays out the supposed story so quote misar apparently

Said obviously he referring to Otani wasn’t happy about it and he said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again this is what mizar said he decided to pay it off for me I want every want to know Shi had zero

Involvement in I want people to know I did not know this was illegal I learned my lesson the hard way I will never do sports betting ever again that’s what he said later otan Camp claims this was all done after the players Handler spoke with him while relying on mizuhara to

Translate oon supposedly remained in the dark about the situation so now we get to March 20th which is two days ago so much happens okay he writes it might be best to go through this via a lightning round at 10 points one Otani helps lead the

Dodgers to a season opening 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres two after the game Dodgers officials call a clubhouse meeting and tell players a negative story is coming later in the day mizuhara apologizes and admits he has a gambling addiction to the players three Otani starts asking questions per the latter ESPN

Report four an ESPN reporter ask the Otani Camp about mahar’s allegation that Otani was present and helped move the funds and that he was going to be paid back five Otani spokesman contacts otani’s attorneys who then disavow mizar’s account those attorneys six at Burke bradler LLP released a

Statement quote in the course of responding to recent media inquiries we discover that show has been the victim of a massive theft and we’re turning the matter over to the authorities seven mizar agrees to another interview with ESP ESPN but says he was told he could not comment when

Asked if he has been accused of that he declines to say who told him to say that eight Mahar then recants his story claiming that Otani had no knowledge of his gambling activities or debts and that Otani did not make the wire transfer nine the story is broken by the

Los Angeles Times which received the statement and 10e Mizu Mizu Hara is fired so yesterday March 21st no comment from Otani and then following the Dodgers 1511 loss to the Padres yesterday Otani is guarded at his locker by team PR officials and he leaves the locker room without speaking to

Reporters so Jeff writes the entire sequence of events leaves plenty of questions for example it’s unclear when the second mahara interview on the 20th occurred in relation to the later events but the exact order doesn’t change the story on Tuesday otani’s Camp said the player was helping misahara with his

Gambling debts on Wednesday the same camp said mahara made made it all up and he’s a thief it’s worth noting that using a wire this is what I’m going to talk about using a wire quote which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or

Wagers this is a definition of 18 us code 1084 transmission of wagering information penalties well this is explicitly listed in the US criminal code as a violation that can result in a fine or imprisonment for up to two years which might very well explain the about face after mizuhara said Otani sent the

Wire transfer MLB also strictly forbids any relationships with illegal gambling the change of the story naturally led to a torrent of conspiracy theories about otani’s involvment in the gambling but the details reported independent of mizar’s account all line up with the idea that The Interpreter was the one

Who was illegally gambling also it’s doubtful otani’s name would be on those wires if the whole plan was to hide his secret gambling habit he concludes with of course course that doesn’t mean something more wasn’t going on behind the scenes and I will put into the link

Below when I referred to 18 us code section 1084 transmission of wagering information penalties um a I’m just going to read a whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility like your laptop or mobile phone for the transmission in Interstate

Or foreign Commerce of bets or wages or information assisting in the placing of bets or Wagers on any sporting event or contest or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or Wagers or for information assisting in the placing of

Bets or Wagers shall be fined under this title or imprison not more than two years or both so there’s um a lot more in there but I just wanted to I just felt it was useful to read um part one of this I’ll put the links below anyways that’s all I

Have um kind of as a followup from the the previous video sorry it went on for so long um if you like this as long as it was uh please like subscribe if you have any requests put them down in the comments below thanks and have a good day