The Ohtani Gambling Saga

[82Ninety42011]

On the bright side, if found guilty, he will still be able to play baseball in a Bureau of Federal Prisons league. Or, after his visa is cancelled and he is deported he could go to Mexico, Japan, or the middle east.

Him and Bauer could form a hell of a 1-2 punch for the Mexico Red Devils

 

[PBandJ]

So the translator was stealing millions from his account, and Ohtani didn't notice at all?

Right. Yeah.

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

Missed the presser. Did Shohei give out his Sweet 16 picks?

 

[qwerty]

Thought it was just 2 x $500k transfers with his name, the rest was borrowed from his friends and family?

Regardless, the story beats thinking a guy who made $70M just last year would be stupid enough to be in debt to an illegal bookie for a measly $4M with everything he has to lose. Not to mention he deferred 97% of his new contract and was so busy pitching and hitting everyday, so where would he have the time to watch and bet on all these sports?

Or was it the guy who translates barely once a week who had all the time in the world and who also lied about his schooling and work experience? I mean, it's really not a difficult question once you put a little bit of thought into this other than jumping to obvious conclusions.

 

[#37]

Thought it was just 2 x $500k transfers with his name, the rest was borrowed from his friends and family?

Regardless, the story beats thinking a guy who made $70M just last year would be stupid enough to be in debt to an illegal bookie for a measly $4M with everything he has to lose. Not to mention he deferred 97% of his new contract and was so busy pitching and hitting everyday, so where would he have the time to watch and bet on all these sports?

Or was it the guy who translates barely once a week who had all the time in the world and who also lied about his schooling and work experience? I mean, it's really not a difficult question once you put a little bit of thought into this other than jumping to obvious conclusions.

I think the story to watch here is what happens next to the 'illegal' bookie Matthew Bowyer.

 

[DueDiligence]

Thought it was just 2 x $500k transfers with his name, the rest was borrowed from his friends and family?

Regardless, the story beats thinking a guy who made $70M just last year would be stupid enough to be in debt to an illegal bookie for a measly $4M with everything he has to lose. Not to mention he deferred 97% of his new contract and was so busy pitching and hitting everyday, so where would he have the time to watch and bet on all these sports?

Or was it the guy who translates barely once a week who had all the time in the world and who also lied about his schooling and work experience? I mean, it's really not a difficult question once you put a little bit of thought into this other than jumping to obvious conclusions.

Wouldn't be the first time a star athlete had a gambling problem. Logical or not Ohtani could have done some stupid things because gambling is an addiction.

 

[John Price]

in this professionals opinion last night's press conference should put the drama to an end. Ohtani clearly separated himself from ippei and vowed strongly to fight these very false allegations.

 

[Nemec]

So the translator was stealing millions from his account, and Ohtani didn't notice at all?

Right. Yeah.

Didn't Jack Johnson's parents steal 20M from him without his knowledge?

 

[BSHH]

Regardless of the actual outcome (and count me in among the skeptical crowd), I do find it extremely surprising how much Ohtani has to rely on interpreters. He works and lives in the USA for several years now. Before he certainly had English lessons at school (which is mandatory here in Germany upon first grade, and I cannot believe this is handled all differently in Japan). Of course, now the almighty manipulative interpreter ideally fits his narrative of being misled and deceived, but Ohtani didn't talk too much English before.

The same phenomenon applies to many Latin American players, who often started playing in the USA as teenagers. I just don't get how one can be and obviously wants to be so isolated from the country he lives in and most of his teammates. And with all due respect to this wonderful language, English is not terribly difficult to learn - at least not a basic, yet functional part of it.

Gruß,
BSHH

 

[John Price]

Stephen a Smith went on a similar rant he has an interpreter so he doesn't misspeak

It's the same why ichiro always had one even though he spoke perfect English and was known for cussing on the base paths

'I screwed up': ESPN's Stephen A. Smith slammed for remarks about Japanese MLB star

“With all the violence being perpetrated against the Asian Community, my comments — albeit unintentional — were clearly insensitive and regrettable," he said.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

in this professionals opinion last night's press conference should put the drama to an end. Ohtani clearly separated himself from ippei and vowed strongly to fight these very false allegations.

Yeah and OJ vowed to find the real killers

 

[Voight]

Didn't Jack Johnson's parents steal 20M from him without his knowledge?

Thats more plausible than an interpreter. You typically trust your parents and I believe Johnsons parents either had access to his account or had power of attorney.

Unless his interpreter had one of those two things, its impossible he could've gone to the bank and made the wire transfers without Ohtani knowing. I know they were super close and by eachothers side for years but giving him access to his account would just make Ohtani look really really dumb.

 

[John Price]

The more I think about it the more it appears Ohtani is a victim being treated very unfairly. I hope more people understand.

"How could an interpreter control his money and take 4.5 mil?"



It's not inconceivable that Ippei broke his trust and betrayed him like Triple H did to Shawn Michaels. Ippei had a lot of control of his money. It makes sense. Ohtani is focused on baseball. Most athletes have other people handling their finances. Why is Ohtani an exception?

 

[DueDiligence]

Regardless of the actual outcome (and count me in among the skeptical crowd), I do find it extremely surprising how much Ohtani has to rely on interpreters. He works and lives in the USA for several years now. Before he certainly had English lessons at school (which is mandatory here in Germany upon first grade, and I cannot believe this is handled all differently in Japan). Of course, now the almighty manipulative interpreter ideally fits his narrative of being misled and deceived, but Ohtani didn't talk too much English before.

The same phenomenon applies to many Latin American players, who often started playing in the USA as teenagers. I just don't get how one can be and obviously wants to be so isolated from the country he lives in and most of his teammates. And with all due respect to this wonderful language, English is not terribly difficult to learn - at least not a basic, yet functional part of it.

Gruß,
BSHH

Relying on interpreters is a convenient way of collecting one's thoughts before they have to answer by buying time after they hear the question or an easy excuse if the answer comes out "wrong" in that the translation got mixed up..

 

[Terry Yake]

ippei having access to ohtani's money isn't really the issue for me. it's that no one, including ohtani himself, noticed millions of dollars going missing?

the only way the "ippei stole from me" angle would make sense is if ippei lied about where the money was going. or if ohtani simply hides his earnings under his bed

 

[Unholy Diver]

ippei having access to ohtani's money isn't really the issue for me. it's that no one, including ohtani himself, noticed millions of dollars going missing?

the only way the "ippei stole from me" angle would make sense is if ippei lied about where the money was going. or if ohtani simply hides his earnings under his bed

maybe he has so much money that he wouldn't notice a few million one way or the other

 

[BKarchitect]

Although is seems outrageous to us normies…it’s definitely not inconceivable to me that a professional athlete superstar in his 20’s who is already incredibly wealthy and has basically guaranteed generational wealth headed his way every single year wouldn’t exactly be all that familiar with what his bank account is sitting at nor really care…

 

[95Tal]

Reliance on an interpreter after having been in the U.S. for several years for Ohtani doesn't surprise me, as by all accounts he is a very private person, which means he isolates himself, which in turn negatively affects fluency. Maybe he has a strong textbook knowledge of English, but without immersion in the culture his ability to speak suffers. I've met people in the U.S. like that who don't deviate from their cultural lane and either can't speak English or are too embarrassed.

There was mention of Ichiro speaking perfect English, but I don't think that's entirely accurate. His pronunciation is that of someone who certainly knows the language but who hasn't done a lot of actual speaking. I imagine Ohtani would sound similar to this:

 

[kingsholygrail]

Him and Bauer could form a hell of a 1-2 punch for the Mexico Red Devils

Bauer was never convicted of anything or even charged.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Didn't Jack Johnson's parents steal 20M from him without his knowledge?

All because he gave them power of attorney. I don't think Ohtani gave his interpreter that level of access. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some access though. The investigation will be able to figure out what happened and we'll know soon enough. Either Ohtani has done something beyond stupid and sacrificed his career or he's fine.

 

[82Ninety42011]

Bauer was never convicted of anything or even charged.

You are correct doesn't change the fact he just pitched for the Mexico Red Devils this past week.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Reliance on an interpreter after having been in the U.S. for several years for Ohtani doesn't surprise me, as by all accounts he is a very private person, which means he isolates himself, which in turn negatively affects fluency. Maybe he has a strong textbook knowledge of English, but without immersion in the culture his ability to speak suffers. I've met people in the U.S. like that who don't deviate from their cultural lane and either can't speak English or are too embarrassed.

There was mention of Ichiro speaking perfect English, but I don't think that's entirely accurate. His pronunciation is that of someone who certainly knows the language but who hasn't done a lot of actual speaking. I imagine Ohtani would sound similar to this:

It would take me way more than just a few years to speak Japanese fluently so I don't fault Ohtani on that front.

The reason is that I'm afraid to make a mistake, and that is a serious flaw when learning a foreign language.

 

[petrishriekandgo]

Check out my cartoon about Ohtani and the gambling scandal:
@offthebartoons

 

[Cas]

To be honest, it's not uncommon for professional athletes to be really, monumentally stupid about money (and many other things).

 

[Voight]

ippei having access to ohtani's money isn't really the issue for me. it's that no one, including ohtani himself, noticed millions of dollars going missing?

the only way the "ippei stole from me" angle would make sense is if ippei lied about where the money was going. or if ohtani simply hides his earnings under his bed

Exactly. Why didn't his money manager/financial adviser/accoutnant whoever helps with his finance notice this or say anything? Regardless of how rich he is millions of dollars missing is it a bit of a big deal for those types of guys.

This isn't some shoddy investment opportunity his interpreter had him invest in. This is money wired from his bank account.