Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was recently reported to federal prison after stealing $17 million of Ohtani's money. Mizuhara infamously used Ohtani's money to place bets on sports games and ended up getting caught in June 2024. Now, the bookie Mizuhara used is revealing even more details in a tell-all interview.
Mathew Bowyer, the former bookie for Mizuhara, sat down with ESPN's investigation reporter Tisha Thompson. During the interview, Bowyer revealed the exact moment he realized that Shohei Ohtani wasn't the one placing the bets. It was when Ohtani was playing for the Los Angeles Angels before he signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bowyer explains how he saw a bet come in while watching the 31-year-old phenom on the mound during an Angels game. Mizuhara's former bookie admitted he wasn't sure if Ohtani knew or not.
“I thought Ippei was putting in bets either with or for Shohei Ohtani,” said Bowyer. “I'm at an Angels game [in Los Angeles], and [Ohtani] is on the mound. He's pitching and I'm on my website, of course. I'm watching bets. Bets are coming in, and he's pitching. So, that answered the question right there to me in my mind. That [the bets] were all Ippei.”
Bowyer does admit that he pondered in that moment whether or not Shohei Ohtani was still potentially involved. But in the grand scheme of things, he understood that the bets being made were coming from Ippei Mizuhara.
It's a bizarre situation that will be talked about for years. Since the incident occurred, the three-time MVP has gotten a new interpreter in Will Ireton. Ireton had worked as an interpreter for the Dodgers before, when he interpreted for former Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda from 2016 to 2019.
As for Shohei Ohtani, he's doing his best to put Ippei Mizuhara's betting scandal behind him. This season for the Dodgers, Ohtani owns a .278 batting average and .387 OBP while recording 141 hits, 45 home runs, and 85 RBIs. He's also pitched to a 4.18 ERA and 1.206 WHIP while totaling 44 strikeouts through 32.1 innings.
