I can’t recall a recent baseball story that has captured the public imagination like the current one involving Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani, his former translator Ippei Mizuhara and gambling.
I won’t recite all of the facts here, but the story has a lot going for it that makes it fascinating, including any potential role Ohtani plays in the story besides being taken advantage of – he denies any involvement or knowledge in gambling and says the money was stolen. No officials have accused him of anything untoward.
But this episode is already generating less than ideal headlines with a federal criminal investigation underway, along with Major League Baseball’s own investigation – so we should know more soon about why his now former translator was able to access Ohtani’s bank account and was able to allegedly transfer $4.5 million to pay his bookie.
Beyond whether there is more to this story than what the facts currently suggest, we’re talking about something that has worried me for years: athletes and any connection to gambling. This is especially the case for baseball and its dark history with betting.
Baseball is no longer what it once was in the public discourse; World Series ratings are way down from their peaks and only about 10% of Americans say it is their favorite sport to watch.
That’s part of why this recent story concerns me as a fan of the game.
Ohtani is the type of player who transcends the sport and counteracts the downward trend in baseball’s national appeal more than anyone else. He is baseball’s biggest star. He has more Instagram followers (nearly eight million total) than any other player; in fact, it’s not even close with former teammate Mike Trout at a little over two million.
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