HORRIFYING reports emerge of Ippei Mizuhara controlling Shohei Ohtani’s life during stint with Angles and Dodgers

Ippei Mizuhara blames extra finances and his role as Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter for his gambling addiction and charges.

HORRIFYING reports emerge of Ippei Mizuhara controlling Shohei Ohtani’s life during stint with Angles and Dodgers

Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani [Image Credit: Imago]

Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is found guilty of fraud and gambling addiction and stole $16 million from the two-way star. In the latest reports, Mizuhara noted why he did what he did in an attempt to lessen his sentence to the judge.

In a recent discussion on Foul Territory, Scott Braun talked about how several reports suggest Mizuhara controlled Shohei Ohtani’s life. Reports from teammates, front offices, and staff noted that Ohtani behaved completely differently from when he was with Ippei Mizuhara.

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Apparently, Ohtani seemed more reserved and quiet with Mizuhara and much more lively without him. As the Japanese superstar is not fluent in English, Mizuhara took advantage of the situation to limit Ohtani’s access to his friends and teammates. 

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He even impersonated Ohtani and wired $200,000 from a bank account. He was caught in the sports betting scam and blamed the bookkeeper and Ohtani for his addiction. Ippei was apparently struggling with finances when he met the bookkeeper.

I truly admire Shohei as a baseball player and a human being and I was committed to devote my life so Shohei can be the best version of himself on the field. I want to say I am truly sorry for violating his trust in me.

Ippei Mizuhara as per Danielle Jennings of People.com.
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Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani [Image Credit: Imago]

Furthermore, being Ohtani’s only friend and employer from Japan made his life miserable according to his letter to the U.S. District Court Judge John W. Holcomb. He said it was extremely difficult for him to be Ohtani’s assistant 24/7 which further fueled his needs for money.

Ippei Mizuhara blames being Shohei Ohtani’s translator in gambling case

In a lengthy letter to the judge, Ippei Mizuhara mentioned in detail how life had been treating him as superstar Shohei Ohtani’s translator. He said that usually a player coming from another country brings in multiple supporters for need, but he had been the only one to do so for Ohtani.

Ippei Mizuhara
Ippei Mizuhara (Image via Imago)

Mizuhara further pushed on saying he had to sacrifice his own life including his family to cater to Ohtani’s care. Furthermore, he had to live within a given proximity to answer and help Ohtani’s. 

Ippei Mizuhara blames his role as he had to manage everything from meetings, translating, assisting in baseball practices, grocery shopping, and even pet care. He even had to take random errand calls and felt like he was on call 24/7.

Furthermore, living in close proximity raised the rent, and his salary did not suffice. With the Los Angeles Angels, he was getting $85,000, but he had a massive raise to $500,000 with the LA Dodgers.

I felt like I was getting severely underpaid, but I was afraid to speak up for myself, as I was on a one-year contract every year…All of these extra expenses were taking a huge toll on me, and I was living paycheck to paycheck. There were months when I had to borrow money from family and friends to make ends meet.

Ippei Mizuhara as per Ian Miller of The Outkick.

However, it was not enough for Mizuhara. He already had a gambling addiction and with increasing costs, he said he had no choice but to steal from Ohtani. Mizuhara apparently impersonated Ohtani 24 times to wire millions from his accounts.

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In the letter to the judge, he pleaded for a lighter sentence by revealing why he did all this. With so much evidence it seems unlikely for Ippei Mizuhara to get a lighter sentence. Further details of the proceedings will be revealed later.