Ohtani, the two-way Japanese star, revealed on Instagram early Thursday that he was married. Much of the relationship remains shrouded in mystery. "She is a Japanese woman," Ohtani said through an interpreter. "I don't really feel comfortable talking about when I got married exactly, but she's a normal Japanese woman."
Tanaka, a 5-foot-11 forward, spent four seasons in the Women's Japan Basketball League with the Fujitsu Red Wave. She signed with the Red Wave in 2019, and the team finished the regular season with a 13-3 record. The Red Wave's most successful season during Tanaka's tenure came in 2021. They finished the regular season 17-3, including an 11-1 home record to secure a postseason berth. They won the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, but were swept in the final.
"Our social atmosphere has often made it difficult for us to openly say we like Japan," said Lee Jong-Sung, a sports culture expert at Seoul's Hanyang University. "I think Ohtani would perhaps be the first Japanese athlete who we can say we like. Maybe, some even consider him an honorary Korean citizen."
I got tickets as well. The Cubs were handing out tickets a few weeks ago and I scored two!We've got a trip to Chicago set up for late June, and it turned out the Dodgers are playing there during our visit. Wife wanted to see Ohtani play and someone there has gotten tickets for the game.
Watching a different interpreter sitting next to Ohtani, it suddenly occurred to me that I had never seen Mizuhara take notes even during formal news conferences. I remember being taught to "write down numbers and proper nouns," but Mizuhara may have been blessed with an outstanding memory. He translated even lengthy questions by U.S. reporters with apparent ease, sometimes "embellishing" or "editing out" to ensure clarity. When Ohtani was injured and his mobility was hampered, Mizuhara brought him food and took him to physical therapy appointments. During the Home Run Derby preceding an All-Star Game, he even served as Ohtani's catcher. Mizuhara's role far exceeded that of an interpreter. He was perhaps able to translate without taking notes because he was fully confident of his unshakable relationship of mutual trust with Ohtani.
Yes, I don't think Ohtani had any involvement in gambling. Meanwhile, a new Shohei Ohtani mural was unveiled in Little Tokyo on Wednesday before the Los Angeles Dodgers won their first game against the St. Louis Cardinals.Strange that Mizuhara claimed Ohtani was involved with the money transfer initially. But the guy has no credibility so I'd be inclined to believe Ohtani's story.
Ohtani's lawyers initially alerted the federal authorities about the alleged theft, and Ohtani pledged publicly to cooperate with the federal investigation and one being conducted by Major League Baseball. According to one of the people briefed on the investigation, the federal authorities interviewed Ohtani in recent weeks to learn more about his relationship with Mizuhara. By quickly pleading guilty, Mizuhara would increase his chances of receiving a more lenient sentence, as federal prosecutors and judges often look more favorably upon defendants who make the government's job easier by expeditiously admitting their guilt. Little is known about where Mizuhara has been since the Dodgers fired him. Upon returning to California from South Korea, Mizuhara was stopped by law enforcement officials after getting off the plane, the three people said. It's unclear what Mizuhara told the authorities in their interaction, but he was not arrested. Mizuhara has hired Michael Freedman, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who specializes in white-collar criminal defense. Freedman declined to comment.
That shouldn't be a surprise. His face is plastered on every available surface in Japan.I didn't know that Ohtani makes more from endorsements than from baseball.
Federal prosecutors have said Mizuhara -- Ohtani's long-time friend and confidant -- plundered millions from the Los Angeles Dodgers ace's bank account to fund an "insatiable appetite" for gambling. Mizuhara is expected to formally enter his guilty plea in the coming weeks, with arraignment scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on 14 May. "The extent of this defendant's deception and theft is massive," United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement on Wednesday.
The complaint revealed that between December 2021 and January 2024, Mizuhara placed approximately 19,000 bets ranging in value from USD10 to USD160,000 at an average of around USD12,800 per bet. During that period, Mizuhara had winning bets worth USD142.3 million, and losing bets of USD182.9 million -- leaving him with losses of roughly USD40.7 million. The complaint detailed that contact information on Ohtani's bank account was later changed to link it to Mizuhara's phone number and to an anonymous email address connected to Mizuhara. Mizuhara also would allegedly falsely identify himself as Ohtani to trick bank employees into authorizing wire transfers. Bank recordings of telephone calls captured Mizuhara impersonating Ohtani as he sought to make wire transfers.
Japanese or American?The number of dudes on Twitter who are clinging to the idea that Ippei is the fall guy for Ohtani, is depressing.