The Los Angeles Dodgers have terminated their relationship with Ippei Mizuhara, the 39-year-old interpreter and close friend of Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani.

This decision came after allegations surfaced that Mizuhara was involved in illegal gambling activities and misappropriated funds from Ohtani.

Reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN brought to light Mizuhara’s purported connections to an illegal bookmaking operation. The dismissal occurred while the Dodgers are visiting Seoul, South Korea this week for Ohtani’s debut with the team. Ironically, Mizuhara was present in the Dodgers’ dugout during their season-opening victory.

Sports gambling is illegal in California.

“In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,” law firm Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement Wednesday.

Mizuhara has been a constant presence by Ohtani’s side since the superstar arrived in the U.S. in 2017, acting as his interpreter during media interactions and public appearances. Their close relationship was on full display when Mizuhara even caught for Ohtani during the 2021 All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby. So when Ohtani departed the Los Angeles Angels to ink a massive $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers in December, it was unsurprising that the club also brought Mizuhara into the fold.

In response to the allegations, the Dodgers released a terse statement indicating they are “aware of the media reports and are in the process of gathering information.”

“The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated,” the statement said. ‘The team has no further comment at this time.”

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball and also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers. “I never bet on baseball,” Mizuhara told ESPN. “That’s 100%. I knew that rule … We have a meeting about that in spring training.”

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Mizuhara for comment on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Mizuhara, a native of Japan, relocated to the Los Angeles area in 1991 when his father took a job as a chef. He attended Diamond Bar High School in eastern Los Angeles County and later graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2007.

After college, Mizuhara’s first baseball interpreting job was with the Boston Red Sox, where he translated for Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima. In 2013, he returned to Japan to serve as an interpreter for English-speaking players on the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. It was during this stint that Mizuhara first crossed paths with a young Ohtani, who joined the Fighters that same year.

When Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017, the team brought Mizuhara on board as Ohtani’s personal interpreter. According to ESPN’s report, Mizuhara revealed this week that his annual compensation has ranged from $300,000 to $500,000.

According to ESPN’s report, in their conversation with Mizuhara on Tuesday night, the interpreter initially claimed that Ohtani had paid off Mizuhara’s gambling debts at his request. However, after Ohtani’s attorneys issued a statement portraying the player as a victim of theft, ESPN says Mizuhara changed his account on Wednesday, asserting that Ohtani was unaware of the gambling debts and had not transferred any funds to bookmakers.

Mizuhara revealed that by the end of 2022, he had accumulated over $1 million in gambling-related debt, and his losses continued to mount from that point onward.

“I’m terrible (at gambling). Never going to do it again. Never won any money,” Mizuhara said. “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.”

This could be the biggest MLB gambling Scandal since Pete Rose.

By Vincent Quezada

Photo courtesy of MLB