Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter together have become a common image in Major League Baseball since 2018.
The game's biggest star and his interpreter have largely been inseparable, with Ippei Mizuhara following Ohtani everywhere, including sitting next to him in the dugout during all games.
Their relationship is now in the spotlight again, but for the wrong reasons. Mizuhara was fired on Wednesday after bombshell reports from The Los Angeles Times and ESPN found he had millions of dollars in gambling debt with a bookmaker currently under federal investigation. Additionally, Ohtani was initially said to have helped to pay off his debts by Mizuhara.
However, not long after Ohtani's camp set up Mizuhara for interviews, they recanted the story, saying that Ohtani had no awareness of the debt and did not pay off the millions owed. Instead, he had been the victim of a theft.
MORE: Why Dodgers fired Mizuhara
Here's how the story changed in the span of 24 hours.
Ippei Mizuhara gambling allegations timeline
2018
Ohtani signs with the Angels and moves to the United States to begin his MLB career. Mizuhara is hired to be Ohtani's interpreter.
Over the years, Ohtani and Mizuhara became friends as Mizuhara traveled with Ohtani everywhere and served as his translator not just during media, but in talking with players and coaches. He also helped relay scouting reports to him.
2021
Mizuhara reportedly began placing bets with Southern California bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, according to ESPN. Mizuhara told ESPN he met Bowyer in a poker game and took on credit from Bowyer to place bets later in the year. He worked with Bowyer to place bets on international soccer and non-baseball sports.
"I never bet on baseball," Mizuhara told ESPN. "That's 100 percent. I knew that rule. ... We have a meeting about that in spring training."
While Bowyer knew the name on the wire transfer, he reportedly did not question anything. ESPN added he allowed people to believe he was working with Ohtani.
2022
By the end of 2022, Mizuhara had amassed over $1 million in betting losses, according to ESPN. It reportedly only continued to get higher from there.
"I'm terrible [at gambling]. Never going to do it again. Never won any money," Mizuhara told ESPN. "I mean, I dug myself a hole and it kept on getting bigger, and it meant I had to bet bigger to get out of it and just kept on losing. It's like a snowball effect."
2023
Ohtani reportedly agrees to pay off Mizuhara's gambling debt, which had reached at least $4.5 million.
In addition, Bowyer's home was raided by authorities in October. They seized money, casino chips, computers, cell phones, watches, luxury handbags and more. Bowyer is reportedly being investigated by the same attorney office handling a federal money laundering and illegal gambling case in Las Vegas.
2024
Federal authorities began to investigate Mizuhara's gambling in January, according to ESPN, as they looked into Bowyer's bookmaking.
In records of the wire transfers, ESPN found the name "Shohei Otani" next to several bank accounts, as well as the word "loan."
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Hoping to clear up the situation, Ohtani made Mizuhara available for a 90-minute interview to ESPN. Mizuhara reportedly told the outlet his story.
Mizuhara and Ohtani's spokesperson both said the same thing: that Ohtani had transferred money to clear Mizuhara's gambling debt in 2023. The debt had reportedly reached at least $4.5 million.
"Obviously, he [Ohtani] wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again," Mizuhara told ESPN. "He decided to pay it off for me.
"I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. 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."
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
The Dodgers held a team meeting after their season-opening win, explaining to the team that Ohtani loaned money to cover Mizuhara's gambling debts. However, Mizuhara was not accused of theft at that time.
ESPN was reportedly ready to publish the story on Wednesday, when Ohtani's spokesperson got back in touch with ESPN. This time, the spokesperson said Ohtani had been "the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities."
The spokesperson told ESPN that Ohtani wasn't fully aware of the situation until after the game Wednesday because Mizuhara was "able to control information to Ohtani in his position as the interpreter," adding that Ohtani and his representatives did not realize until Wednesday that money was missing from his account.
The spokesperson denied Mizuhara's story and said Ohtani neither knew of Mizuhara's gambling debt not transferred money to Bowyer's associate.
During the Dodgers' season-opener in Seoul, Ohtani and Mizuhara could be seen talking in the dugout as normal.
In the afternoon in the United States, ESPN and The Los Angeles Times release their reports over the gambling allegations. Mizuhara was fired within hours.
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Ohtani is seen in the dugout without Mizuhara, who was let go by the team. After Los Angeles' 15-11 loss to the Padres, Ohtani did not speak to the media. Instead, he reportedly told Japanese reporters outside his locker to "have a good night" and left.
Friday, March 22, 2024
MLB said in a statement that they have opened a formal investigation into the incident.
