The Takes: How I Know Ohtani is Caught in a Lie
Listen, I teach 2nd graders as a profession. It takes a bullshitter to know a bullshitter. That’s why teachers can call a kid out for lying about throwing a pencil or calling another kid fat.
That’s why it is MIND BOGGLING to me that some people are just rolling with this Shohei news that this was a “theft”.
Sit down Ohtani, it’s time for class.
Let’s start with the facts. We like facts. Here they are, laid out for you to gobble up.
It is a FACT that in January of 2024, Ohtani was notified that the IRS was investigating him for sending $4.5 MILLION to an illegal bookie. This was over 9 payments of $500,000 each.
It is a FACT that on March 19, a “representative” for Ohtani announced that Ohtani GIFTED this money to his interpreter and great friend Ippei Mizuhara to “cover Mizuhara’s gambling debt”.
It is a FACT that once this news came out, Mizuhara sat down with ESPN’s Tisha Thompson for an interview in which Mizuhara “went into incredible detail about his gambling and his debt”.
It is a FACT that on March 20 (5am CST) the Dodgers played a regular season game in Korea, video below with Shohei and Mizuhara.
It is a FACT that AFTER THE GAME on March 20, Mizuhara addressed the entire team to apologize that he is a gambling addict and that there will be a story emerging about his massive debt.
It is a FACT that later that afternoon on March 20, a “representative” for Ohtani announced that Ippei Mizuhara is a LIAR, everything he said in his interview was FALSE, and that he instead STOLE the money from Ohtani.
I mean… come on. The “representative” for Ohtani and his “camp” admitted that they have known about this since January, and that Ohtani gifted this money. Within 24 hours, the SAME REPRESENTATIVE said “NO! WAIT! He didn’t GIFT the money… That would look bad since he would be supporting a gambling addict at an illegal bookie… What I meant was that Ippei STOLE the money! We contacted the authorities! It’s in their hands now!”
If it’s true that Ippei stole the money, why the fuck did you not call the police in JANUARY WHEN THE IRS TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS!?
It makes no sense. There are so many possible scenarios here, but there are only 2 that make sense, and 1 that Ohtani is pushing.
Scenario 1: What Ohtani is NOW Claiming
So as of today, Ohtani is claiming this was a mastermind theft. That Mizuhara has been lying to Ohtani this whole time.
Ohtani claims that Mizuhara did ask him for the money, and Shohei agreed since his friend needed a loan. But Mizuhara did not say it was for gambling, it was for “something else”.
Oh, come on… FOR SOMETHING ELSE? Go fuck yourself, dude, that’s bullshit.
Ohtani is close to being a billionaire, yes, but he knows the value of money for fucks sake.
He grew up in Japan with his mother, Kayoko, and his father, Toru.
Kayoko played badminton, a sport where the absolute BEST earn about USD 150,000 a year. Not bad, but she wasn’t an outstanding player. I will assume her salary was around $70,000 and that’s generous.
Toru played amateur baseball in Japan. An average PROFESSIONAL salary is about $250,000 a year, so let’s assume (generally) that his dad as an amateur made $50,000.
Why does any of this matter Zabe? Why are you doing so much research into Japanese sports professions?
BECAUSE OHTANI KNOWS THAT A NORMAL LOAN DOESN’T REQUIRE 9 INSTALLMENTS OF $500,000
Ohtani is trying to say that he just figured this was a normal loan. What fucking normal loan is that? Total BS.
To be fair, Ippei Mizuhara is not a great guy, he is a liar.
He claims that he is a 2007 graduate of the University of California, Riverside. The University has stated that there is no record of his attendance at their school.
That’s fucking wild man. He could have gone under a different name, but that’s sketchy as fuck too.
He also has long claimed that he was the translator for previous Japanese baseball players. Mizuhara stated that he translated for Hideki Okajima for the Red Sox and Yankees.
The Red Sox have come out and claimed that Mizuhara has never been an employee of the team, and the Yankees never had Okajima on their roster, since he failed a physical for them. How could they have hired his translator?
Ippei isn’t trust worthy, but Ohtani isn’t ignorant and stupid, come on now.
Scenario 2: MLB’s Doomsday Scenario
Everyone in baseball is pushing for this not to be the truth. I get it, they don’t want their sport to be tainted, and Ohtani is the face of baseball and by himself bringing the MLB a fuck ton of money through Japanese exposure and sponsorships.
But it’s gross that everyone will shut down this option as a possibility….
Ohtani bet on baseball. Ippei is a fall guy.
Why do I assume baseball? Because he is using an illegal bookie. Sports betting is legal in many of the US states, and the MLB does ALLOW players to create legal sportsbook accounts (FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, Bet MGM, etc.)
The only rule - can’t bet on baseball.
So why would Ohtani have a bookie? To bet on baseball!
I’m not saying this is what I believe, but it has to be something considered and investigated, not just shut down immediately. Baseball is a cheating sport. A team won multiple World Series by banging on trash cans and wearing buzzers for pitch recognition at the plate, and they received ZERO punishment. So what if Ohtani bet that the Angels were going to be AL Champions, that’s fun.
Pete Rose has to be PISSED about this also, so fucking funny this is trying to be dusted under a rug and he’s withheld from the Hall because of it.
Scenario 3: Ippei is Scummy and Shohei is a Good Friend
This is the only scenario in my head that makes the most sense, and it backs up what Ohtani’s team originally announced.
Ippei is a degenerate gambler. He touted being Ohtani’s translator as clout. A bookie knew he would be good for it since he could just get a loan from his best friend Shohei, and pay back his debt.
So, Ippei started losing more, and more, and more, until this bookie said it was time to pay up. Or else.
Ippei goes to Ohtani and says “Look, these guys are going to kill me unless I give them $4.5 Million. I fucked up. I’m a gambling addict and I need help. Please help me.”
Ohtani, pissed, said, “Fine, I don’t want you to die” (but in Japanese) and sat down and paid off his debt.
When Ippei told the team on the 20th what was happening, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to Shohei and probably said “Hey there was a guy named Pete Rose that did shit with gambling, and he is banned. You’re going to be banned too unless you say you had no part in this”
That’s how we are where we are.
There still is one thing that doesn’t make sense. Why doesn’t Ippei just make a fucking Draft Kings account? He is allowed to. MLB allows him to. Just can’t bet on baseball!
So, either he was betting on baseball, or maybe there is a step in the legal sportsbook process that Ippei can’t complete.
You have to supply a Social Security Number. Ippei was born in Japan and moved here with his family when his dad was hired as a chef in L.A. in 1991 when Ippei was only 7.
Maybe something fell through the cracks and Ippei never became a citizen, thus never getting an SSN that you NEED to open a legal sportsbook account. Just thoughts, folks.
Either way, Ohtani switching his truth and saying one thing happened, no wait this other thing happened is such a bad look. Lying, and lying worse than a 7-year-old in Mr. Zabran’s class.
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