Oh boy, did you hear about Ippei Mizuhara? The guy who’s been Shohei Ohtani’s right-hand man, his interpreter, got the boot on Wednesday. Yeah, the Los Angeles Times spilled the beans about some “massive theft” allegations. Mizuhara supposedly dipped into Ohtani’s pockets to settle up with an illegal bookie in California. But hold up, Mizuhara’s side of the story? He told ESPN that Ohtani was all in, paying off over $4.5 million in debts willingly. This saga’s just getting started, folks.
Five Must-Know Facts About Mizuhara
1. The Beginning
Back in 2013, Mizuhara and Ohtani’s paths crossed. He was the go-to interpreter for the English-speaking players over at the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. “Seeing Shohei for the first time, I was gobsmacked. The kid was something else,” Mizuhara reminisced to Sports Illustrated in 2021.
2. The MLB Leap
Fast forward to 2017, Ohtani’s making his big move to the MLB, signing with the Angels. And who’s by his side? Yep, Mizuhara, his trusty interpreter. “More than friends, they’re like brothers,” Jared Walsh, the then-Angels first baseman, gushed to ESPN in 2023. Sounds cheesy, but it’s the real deal.
3. Lockout Loyalty
Remember the 2021-22 MLB lockout? No one from the MLB could chat with the players. Mizuhara did something wild. He quit the team just so he could keep in touch with Ohtani. Then, as soon as the lockout was lifted, bam, he was back on the team.
4. Beyond Words
Mizuhara’s gig was more than just translating. The dude was Ohtani’s catcher during the 2021 Home Run Derby. Even ran errands for him, like grocery shopping when Ohtani was laid up with injuries in 2019 and 2020. Talk about going the extra mile.
5. Dodger Days
When Ohtani decided to join the Dodgers, Mizuhara didn’t skip a beat; he was right there with him. But not without a heartfelt shoutout to the Angels fans on Instagram. “Gonna miss you guys,” he wrote. “Being part of the Angels family was a blast.”
Oh, and there’s a twist. Mizuhara was rumored to have worked for the Red Sox as Hideki Okajima’s translator. But the Red Sox were like, “Nope, never happened,” in a statement this week. The plot thickens, eh?
And there you have it. The rollercoaster ride of Mizuhara and Ohtani. Baseball’s never dull, that’s for sure.
