Pablo Torre Finds Out: The Secret World of Baseball Interpreters — and Shohei Ohtani

Podcast: Pablo Torre Finds Out
Host: Pablo Torre (with Parakeet Cortez, Tim Rohan, and guests)
Date: July 11, 2024

Episode Overview

In this probing episode, Pablo Torre embarks on an investigative journey into the enigmatic yet vital role of baseball interpreters—focusing on Japanese stars in Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular emphasis on Shohei Ohtani and the scandal involving his interpreter, Ippei Mitsuhara. Through original reporting and interviews, Pablo explores the immense trust, responsibilities, and unique intimacy that define the interpreter-player relationship, while unpacking the factors that let one interpreter access, and allegedly steal, millions from baseball’s biggest star.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Opening: The Ohtani-Mitsuhara Scandal in the Spotlight

• Setting the Stage:
  • Shohei Ohtani, LA Dodgers superstar, lost his longtime interpreter Ippei Mitsuhara to a high-profile gambling and theft scandal.
  • Pablo frames the investigation: “Shohei Ohtani is the biggest star in baseball... He's been doing amazing, amazing without, you know, his interpreter, Ippei Mitsuhara.” (01:45)
• News Recap:
  • A $4.5 million gambling debt and subsequent federal investigation; Ohtani’s camp claims he was a victim of theft.
  • Public assumption: Surely Ohtani must have known about millions vanishing? Immediate reaction: “I expected it to play out in the obvious manner, which is Ohtani knows about this... the way it played out was, oh, Ohtani's... he doesn't know any of this.” — Parakeet Cortez (03:05)

II. The Role of Japanese Baseball Interpreters: Isolation, Intimacy, and the “Sports Au Pair”

• Unveiling the Job:
  • Pablo and Tim Rohan (investigative reporter) reveal the rarely-seen demands of Japanese interpreters: constant companionship, logistical support, cultural guidance, life management far beyond translation.
  • “A Japanese baseball player in America will spend more time with their interpreter than with their own wife. We're talking about roughly 300 out of 365 days together...” — Pablo Torre (12:08)
• Vetting Gap:
  • Tim struggles to get interpreters to speak on record; their isolation from media and a culture of discretion is palpable.
  • Tim reads polite refusals:
    • “I've made it a policy to avoid baseball related media engagement in which I'd speak for myself. I respectfully and quite regretfully ... decline your offer to chat...” — Masa Hoshino (07:24)
    • “I'd rather keep my distance from this mess. My hope is that the dust settles soon so that we all can enjoy the game we love.” — Kenji Nemura (08:08)
• A “Shotgun Marriage” Industry:
  • Hiring is often rushed, driven by scarcity of candidates and intense, unrelenting demands.
  • Example (Jeff Cutler, interpreter for Hideki Okajima):
    • Chosen after a less-than-hour-long interview.
    • Team only checks English proficiency, rest is a leap of faith.

III. Responsibilities: More Than Words

• Manager, Assistant, Friend, and Family:
  • "Maybe 1% is actually interpreting. The rest is more of a manager type of role, assistant type of role..." — Jeff Cutler (15:41)
  • Interpreters organize housing, help with banking and logistics, support player and family, even handle labor emergencies and personal events.
  • “Some interpreters apparently have even had to organize baby showers. Others have driven the player and his wife to the hospital during labor.” — Pablo Torre (16:20)
• No Uniform MLB Standards:
  • Unlike Spanish interpreters (whose CBA standards are detailed), Japanese interpreters operate under vague guidelines.
  • “Guess how many words MLB spends on Japanese interpreters?” “None. Zero.” (14:08)

IV. Case in Point: Ohtani’s Naïveté Meets Mitsuhara

• Young Star, Outsized Trust:
  • Ohtani’s psychological background: hyper-focused on baseball, coddled financially, lacking fundamental adult experience.
  • Telling story:
    • Mom worried he'd be financially illiterate, so she set up a bank account and deposited $1,000/month. “About a year later... the money's still there... Shohei hadn't touched the account.” (27:07)
• Financial Innocence, Professional Risks:
  • Ohtani came to MLB at 23, giving up a potential $200M+ by arriving before he could sign a top dollar deal. (28:22–30:20)
  • “He theoretically punted on 200, $250 million.” — Dylan Hernandez (30:08)
• How Mitsuhara Became Essential:
  • Mitsuhara first met Ohtani as a team interpreter for others, then, sensing the opportunity, reached out to offer his services when Ohtani moved to MLB.
    • “Ippei reaches out to Ohtani and asks him, hey, ... do you need an interpreter?” — Tim Rohan (34:17)

V. The Mechanics of the Scandal

• From Trust to Betrayal:
  • Details from the federal complaint reveal how Mitsuhara:
    • Positioned himself as accountant/manager by default, sitting in on all financial meetings and becoming critical to Ohtani’s professional life.
    • Used his access to set up and control Ohtani’s payroll account.
    • Lied to banks, impersonated Ohtani, changed account contact information, wired millions to cover gambling losses.
• Staggering Gambling Addiction:
  • In three years, Mitsuhara placed 19,000 bets (about 25 bets a day); net loss = about $40 million.
    • “Now he won $142 million...” (43:58)
    • “He lost 182 million...” (44:00)
    • “He's not a player, he's an interpreter...” (44:19)
• Systemic Blindness:
  • Ohtani’s agent and advisors failed to recognize or question the unusual financial arrangements, deferring responsibility to Mitsuhara as the indispensable intermediary.
    • “Ippei told the agent that Shohei wants that account private, and he doesn't want anyone monitoring it. And the agent apparently didn't ask any questions, and he didn't ask Shohei directly.” — Tim Rohan (45:03)
    • “Presumably hearing from Ippei is the same to them as hearing from Shohei.” — Pablo Torre (45:23)

VI. The Professional and Ethical Fallout

• Cultural, Structural, and Personal Flaws:
  • The interpreter’s role is so close, so trusted, and so unchecked, that abuse is both almost impossible to anticipate—and, once it happens, difficult to prevent.
  • The job is emotionally and logistically overwhelming; most interpreters last only 3 or 4 years before burning out.
    • “Most people can't handle that kind of intimacy, that kind of responsibility for more than, like, three or four years.” — Pablo Torre (end)
• Open Questions:
  • Did Ohtani knowingly look away? Or was he genuinely that isolated? Both explanations seem plausible given the structure and culture described.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “A Japanese baseball player in America will spend more time with their interpreter than with their own wife.” — Pablo Torre (12:08)
• “I'd rather keep my distance from this mess... My hope is that the dust settles soon...” — Kenji Nemura, former interpreter (08:08)
• “Maybe 1% [of my job] is actually interpreting. The rest is more of a manager type of role...” — Jeff Cutler (15:41)
• “All my interpreters have done something similar with my car... that was part of my initiation.” — Jeff Cutler on damaging Daisuke Matsuzaka’s car (19:58)
• “My idea of fun is getting a good night’s sleep and playing well the next day.” — Shohei Ohtani, via Dylan Hernandez (26:09)
• “He theoretically punted on 200, $250 million.” — Dylan Hernandez (30:08)
• “If Shohei wanted to get to the Baseball Hall of Fame, maybe it was worth $200 million to him...” — Tim Rohan (31:03)
• “He’s not a player, he’s an interpreter.” — Tim Rohan (44:19)
• “No job in sports entails this kind of servitude and also this kind of power.” — Pablo Torre (end)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–03:45 — Banter, episode setup, Ohtani and Mitsuhara scandal introduced
• 06:06–08:30 — Tim Rohan’s difficulty getting interpreters to talk, culture of secrecy
• 09:28–12:08 — Jeff Cutler describes being hired, “shotgun marriage” metaphor
• 12:08–16:20 — Roles and responsibilities, “maybe 1% is interpreting”
• 18:51–20:26 — Catching for Matsuzaka, daily life intimacy, trust anecdotes
• 22:19–30:20 — Ohtani’s background, naïveté, financial decisions, the story of his mother’s training-wheels banking
• 31:28–34:17 — How Mitsuhara became Ohtani's interpreter (shift from general team to personal), relationship origin story
• 35:21–39:41 — The bank account, Mitsuhara’s omnipresence, celebrity status; the mechanics of access and trust
• 40:49–45:49 — How Mitsuhara committed theft; how others (agent, staff) failed to check
• End — Pablo’s reflections: why both betrayal and absolute loyalty are plausible in such a cloistered setup

Final Thoughts & Episode Tone

The episode is lively, gently irreverent, but deeply empathetic—balancing Pablo’s signature curiosity and wit with a sobering analysis of structural flaws in MLB and the human cost of unchecked trust. The discussion blends humor (“Not as bad as you would think... [the cardigan smells]”—Parakeet, 01:18) with pathos and insight.

Pablo and his team illustrate how the interpreter-player relationship, a product of both necessity and neglect, can make or break lives and reputations—leaving listeners to ponder where loyalty ends and accountability begins.

If you haven’t listened, this episode will give you a nuanced understanding of the human, cultural, and logistical forces shaping one of sports’ most opaque and consequential jobs—and why Shohei Ohtani’s story is not just about baseball, but about faith, vulnerability, and the limits of institutional safeguards.