LOS ANGELES, California: Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers take center stage on Thursday (Friday in Manila) as Major League Baseball’s new season gets underway on US soil against the backdrop of a gambling scandal that has engulfed its brightest star.
When the Dodgers won the race to sign Japanese superstar Ohtani last December on a lavish $700-million deal — the richest contract in the history of North American sport — the move was widely hailed as a blockbuster coup.
Ohtani scandal looms over baseball ahead of opening day
A two-time American League Most Valuable Player, Ohtani’s once-in-a-generation combination of elite pitching and hitting has seen him compared to the legendary Babe Ruth since his arrival in the major leagues in 2018.
The skyrocketing euphoria among Dodgers fans was given another jolt when the team acquired pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani’s highly rated Japan teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, further proof that the franchise is determined to make a serious run at the World Series.
But fast-forward three months, and some of the breathless giddiness that greeted the Dodgers’ December shopping spree has dissipated as they prepare to host the St. Louis Cardinals in Thursday’s home opener.
The Dodgers launched their regular season with two games in Seoul against San Diego, splitting the series 1-1 last week.
The results, however, were a footnote to the scandal that erupted around Ohtani after his longtime friend and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was accused of swindling him out of millions of dollars to pay off gambling debts.
Ohtani’s camp issued a statement saying the superstar had been the victim of a “massive theft” by Mizuhara, who was promptly fired by the Dodgers last week.
Yet details of the scandal remained murky, clouded by contradictory statements given by Mizuhara, who initially told ESPN that Ohtani himself had signed off on payments to an illegal bookmaker totaling $4.5 million.
Twenty-four hours later, Mizuhara changed his story, insisting that Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling debts and did not transfer the money from his account.
Major League Baseball announced a formal investigation on Friday as pundits across US media wondered out loud whether Mizuhara had in fact been placing bets on Ohtani’s behalf — something that could lead to a career-ending ban if the bets involved Ohtani’s own team.
In his first public comments on the controversy on Monday, Ohtani denied ever betting on sport, accusing Mizuhara of transferring money without his knowledge and describing himself as “beyond shocked” at the betrayal of trust.
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