As Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, grapples with legal issues stemming from his gambling scandal, many still question how much the two-way baseball player knew before the situation became public.
Before the 2024 regular season began, Ohtani held a press conference where no media questions were allowed. He stated that he has “never” bet on sports and called Mizuhara’s claim that Ohtani was voluntarily paying off his massive gambling debt a “complete lie.”
However, disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who served prison time for betting on games he officiated, isn’t convinced that Ohtani was unaware of Mizuhara’s gambling addiction.
During an appearance on OutKick’s “Hot Mic,” Donaghy was asked if there’s any way Ohtani didn’t know.
“Heck no,” he responded. “I think Major League Baseball was smart to sweep this under the rug as quickly as possible. You look at what he’s done for baseball globally and the fans he’s attracted, the last thing they want is for him to be involved in betting on his own games. I think they were very smart to get that under the rug quickly and have this other guy take the fall.”
Donaghy also expressed disbelief that Mizuhara never bet on baseball, considering investigators found he placed about 19,000 bets between December 2021 and January 2024, averaging 25 per day.
Mizuhara bet an average of $12,800 per bet, with amounts ranging from $10 to $160,000.
“When you look at the amount of bets he was placing, obviously he had some type of addiction,” Donaghy said. “It’s not like he could just turn it off during baseball season. There’s no doubt in my mind that he not only bet on baseball but also on Ohtani’s games, and I think Ohtani knew what he was doing.”
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MLB and Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Donaghy’s statements.
Pete Rose, MLB’s all-time hits leader with an infamous gambling past, also weighed in when the scandal first broke.
“Well, back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, I wish I’d had an interpreter. I’d be scot-free,” Rose said in a video posted to social media shortly after the news broke.
Mizuhara is expected to plead guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. He’s likely to enter the plea within the next few weeks.
“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is massive,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “He took advantage of his position of trust to exploit Mr. Ohtani and fuel a dangerous gambling habit. My office is committed to vindicating victims and ensuring wrongdoers face justice.”
Estrada added that Mizuhara became Ohtani’s “de facto manager” due to his significant role in Ohtani’s life, which gave him access to Ohtani’s bank accounts and allowed him to withdraw money to finance his gambling habits.
Federal authorities found Mizuhara stole an estimated $17 million, which he will be required to repay as a condition of the plea agreement.
“I never bet on baseball or any other sports or asked someone to do that on my behalf,” Ohtani said through a new interpreter before the Dodgers’ final spring training game. “I’m very saddened and shocked that someone I trusted has done this.”
Ohtani is now the highest-paid player in MLB after signing a historic 10-year, $700 million contract in free agency to join the Dodgers.
