In the clubhouse after the Los Angeles Dodgers won their season opener in Seoul last month, Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, made a stunning admission to the team: He was a gambling addict, and Ohtani had paid his debts to a bookmaker.
Ohtani, who is not fluent in English, listened but failed to fully grasp what Mizuhara said.
He knew enough to grow suspicious, however, and he wanted answers.
A couple of hours later, around midnight, Ohtani finally had the chance to pull Mizuhara into a conference room in the basement of the Fairmont Ambassador Hotel in Seoul.
With just the two of them there, Mizuhara leveled with his boss: He had accrued enormous debts to the bookmaker and had been stealing the baseball star’s money to pay them off.
Persons:
Shohei Ohtani’s, Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani, Mizuhara
Organizations:
Los Angeles Dodgers
Locations:
Seoul, Fairmont