Japanese Major League Baseball player Shohei Ohtani might be the best in today’s game.
He’s a two-way player which means he’s a pitcher and a batter. In 2021 for the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels, he was the first player in MLB history to have more than 10 home runs, over 20 stolen bases, and over 100 strikeouts. For this, he was awarded MLB’s Most Valuable Player. Last season, he led the American League in home runs with 44. He is the first Japanese player in MLB history to lead the league in jersey sales. Last season, he signed a ten-year $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers that’s the largest in sports history.
Ohtani doesn’t speak much English and prefers to talk to English speakers through an interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Mizuhara has been with Ohtani since he was a Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighter. Mizuhara also served as Ohtani’s conditioning coach, throwing partner, and confidant. now, Mizuhara is gone over a gambling scandal.
An investigation by ESPN uncovered $4.5 million in wire payments from Ohtani’s bank account to a Southern California bookmaking operation that is under federal investigation. This sort of gambling is illegal in California. You can’t even play Draft Kings in California. As Scooby might say, Rut-Roh!
Mizuhara told ESPN and the Dodgers, who is his employer, that he asked Ohtani to repay the massive debt for him. But wait. Ohtani’s law firm issued a statement saying, “We discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.” They’re claiming that Mizuhara gained access to Ohtani’s bank account and transferred the funds himself.
Ohtani and the Dodgers better hope that’s what happened. They better hope that Mizuhara wasn’t gambling for Ohtani. They better hope Mizuhara isn’t taking the fall for Ohtani. They better hope these guys were so close that Ohtani trusted him with his financial information. They better hope Ohtani didn’t replay a gambling debt for him as that may be illegal. They better hope that Ohtani wasn’t gambling, especially on baseball games because that could ban him from Major League Baseball for life. That is, if MLB remains consistent.
Pete Rose is still banned from Major League Baseball for gambling. MLB banned him for life after discovering in 1989, his last year as a manager and three years after he was a player, for gambling on baseball. It wasn’t until 2004 that Rose admitted he bet on baseball games and even on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. That’s probably also the last time anyone has bet on the Reds to win a game.
It was easy for MLB to ban Rose because he wasn’t in the game anymore. He’s a historic player who’s undeniably hall of fame worthy if it wasn’t for the gambling scandal. Fans have been arguing since 1989 about whether or not Rose should be in the Hall of Fame.
Banning Shohei Ohtani will not come easy. It’ll piss off the Dodgers, the rest of the league, fans, and might start another war with Japan.
If proof comes out that Shohei Ohtani was gambling, what will MLB do? Ohtani is only 29 and the Dodgers believe he has at least ten years left of baseball in him. Will MLB ban him for life or simply suspend him for a season, or maybe only for a few games? Will MLB look the other way? Will MLB deny it? Will MLB say, “Well fuck…let’s go ahead and let Pete in the Hall of Fame so Ohtani can keep playing”?
Ohtani is a huge star. He sells tickets. He sells jerseys. He sells viewership. He is the most popular player in all of baseball.
I hope Ohtani is innocent and if we’re going to make bets, I’ll place a wager on this story changing again.
Creative note: I think this idea might be obvious. I would not be surprised if this joke doesn’t pop up in another cartoon. In the middle of drawing it, I saw a story of Jimmy Kimmel making a comparison of Ohtani and Rose and I was afraid he was making the same joke, but it turned out he wasn’t. Whew. But even though I think it’s kinda obvious, one editor has already written me saying it’s “genius.” I don’t know about that but now I feel better.
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CLAYTOONZ 
This will not be a short ride? If Mizuhara placed bets for Ohtani, how will we ever know? A confession would be needed. I think it best to wait. Speculation hurts everyone.
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You have to ask questions. If you don’t, then you’re part of the coverup. Asking questions is what journalists do.
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You are in a pisition to ask and possibly get answers. Most people are not.
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Speculation may hurt everyone, but I think a coverup is very likely. There is more than enough money around and protecting Ohtani to do it pretty easily, especially since he doesn’t talk directly to reporters in English and Japan loves him.
When almost no one wants there to be trouble for Ohtani, it’s easy to look the other way. How long could Tiger Woods cover up his affairs? Had he kept to 1 or 2 affairs we probably never would have known about it. How long did the Donald cover up all his business or personal stink?
Also, it’s very common in Japan for an underling to take the blame for his Superior. So I, at least, will be always skeptical of Ohtani’s innocence and it’s not just because I’m a Giant’s Fan!
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I’m reminded of what Eric and Don Jr. said on CNN when asked about a potential conflict of interest when all of the Trumps wouldn’t disclose their financial records or divest themselves of potential conflicting interests like both President Bushes did “Just trust us”, they said – That worked out Great!
I also remember Laura Ingraham said, “Shut up and Dribble” to LeBron James when he wanted to talk about Social Injustice. That wasn’t a non-sequitur. Some people don’t want you to ask questions, but I think it’s pretty important to do so.
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