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Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2024 10:58:22 GMT
Reporter Thompson: ``The interview (with Mr. Mizuhara) lasted 90 minutes.''
Mr. Mizuhara did not deny sports gambling or debts totaling approximately 700 million yen. Mr. Mizuhara's explanation at this time regarding the transfer of money from Otani's account to the bookmaker was...
Reporter Thompson: ``When he (Mr. Mizuhara) said, ``I want you to come up with some money,'' Otani didn't react very well.However, (Otani) said, ``I'll help (Mr. Mizuhara), I'll pay him.'' I'll give it to you.''
Thus ends reporter Thompson's 90-minute interview with Mr. Mizuhara.
Under these circumstances, after the Dodgers' opening game, a lawyer representing Ohtani issued a statement saying, ``Mr. Mizuhara has been the victim of large-scale theft.''
In response to this, reporter Thompson called Mizuhara again, and his tone changed dramatically.
Reporter Thompson: ``I asked Mr. Mizuhara, ``What happened?'' But he was completely different from the first interview, and he didn't give any details.That's why I asked him. ``Did you lie to me?'' Then he (Mr. Mizuhara) said ``Yes.''
The answer has completely changed since the first interview, in which he said that ``Otani himself manipulated the remittance.'' In the second interview, Mizuhara significantly revised his explanation, saying, ``Otani knows nothing about remittances.''
Reporter Thompson confirmed with multiple sources that a meeting attended by Dodgers executives was held after the opening game, and that ``Ohtani first learned of the money transfer.''
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Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2024 22:39:52 GMT
MLB announced on the 22nd (23rd Japan time) that it will begin an investigation into a series of reports regarding Ippei Mizuhara, a former interpreter for Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani.
"Major League Baseball released a statement saying, "Earlier today, the Investigation Department began an investigation into the news media coverage of Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara."
It is said that Mr. Mizuhara was asked to shoulder the debt that had ballooned to $4.5 million (approximately 680 million yen) due to illegal gambling. However, Otani's attorney later released a statement calling the money missing from Otani's bank account a ``huge amount of theft.'' Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers on the 21st.
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Post by Admin on Mar 24, 2024 3:37:53 GMT
For years, the Los Angeles Angels media guide lists Mizuhara as having graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2007, and that he spent spring training in 2012 working for the New York Yankees as an interpreter for Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima. Also, multiple news reports noted that Mizuhara served as Okajima’s interpreter in 2010 with the Boston Red Sox — where he reportedly got his first major-league opportunity.
However, as first reported by NBC Los Angeles, the university disputed the notion that Mizuhara had ever attended the school, much less having graduated. “Our university records do not show a student by the name of Ippei Mizuhara having attended UC Riverside,” a school spokesman told The Athletic.
UC Riverside did not respond when asked if it was possible Mizuhara attended the school under a different name, or if anyone with a similar name ever attended. Spokespeople representing Ohtani declined to comment when asked if they had believed Mizuhara’s biography during his tenure with Ohtani.
Meanwhile, multiple news reports show that Okajima failed a physical on Feb. 17, 2012, before spring training, when he was released by the Yankees. Mizuhara could have worked with Okajima before the official start of camp, during the month or so when players on minor-league deals might arrive early to work out. But the Angels media guide has stated annually since 2019 that Mizuhara “served as an interpreter for Hideki Okajima during Yankees Spring Training in 2012.”
Earlier this week, the Red Sox released a statement insisting that Mizuhara has never worked for the team.
“We are reaching out to all of you because of reports in various outlets stating that Ippei Mizuhara worked for the Red Sox as an interpreter, which is incorrect,” read a message from the club distributed to media members on Friday. “Mizuhara was never employed by the Boston Red Sox in any capacity and was not an interpreter for Hideki Okajima during the pitcher’s time with the team. Please know that we have thoroughly checked our files to ensure we are providing accurate information.”
Mizuhara and Okajima could not be reached for comment.
Mizhuara’s connection to Okajima seems to have been exaggerated over time. Multiple news reports have linked Mizuhara to Okajima over different periods. That includes a Nippon.com story from 2021 that said Mizuhara was Okajima’s interpreter during the 2010 season with the Red Sox. But in addition to the Red Sox’s denial, archives from the Boston Globe in April and May 2010 name Ryo Shinkawa as Okajima’s interpreter. The team’s media guide from 2010 lists two people as team interpreters that season, but not Mizuhara.
Searches on two different news databases did not bring up results featuring Mizuhara before 2018, when Ohtani first signed with the Angels.
In devising a media guide, the standard protocol requires trust between the media relations department and the rest of the employees, according to interviews with media relations staffers from other clubs, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. The media relations department does not have the time to vet the resume claims of each employee, the staffers said. A media relations staffer will often send a proposed biographic thumbnail for pre-approval to the employee, or ask the employee for biographical information in publishing the guide.
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Post by Admin on Mar 24, 2024 17:59:35 GMT
On the 25th, Nippon Television's ``Shinshō Hoso Bankisha!'' featured the illegal gambling allegations of Ippei Mizuhara, a former interpreter for U.S. Dodgers player Shohei Otani.
A lawyer for Matthew Bowyer, the bookmaker that Mr. Mizuhara contacted, broadcast a video of his interview conducted remotely.
When asked about the alleged money transfer from Otani's account, ``Was the money stolen from Otani, or did Otani send the money himself?'', the lawyer replied, ``I haven't seen the wire transfer documents. I don't know exactly what happened."
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Post by Admin on Mar 25, 2024 21:48:57 GMT
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