THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI: Episode 1

Summary

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The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani: Episode 1

Podcast: 30 for 30 / ESPN PTI
Hosts & Reporters: Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, with lead reporting by Tisha Thompson
Date: August 9, 2026
Theme: A deep investigation into the shocking sports gambling scandal entangling Shohei Ohtani, his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, and an audacious illegal bookmaking ring.

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Episode Overview

This first episode of "The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani" launches an investigative journey into how one of the brightest stars in sports, Shohei Ohtani, was swept up in a high-stakes gambling scandal — and how his closest confidant became a central figure in what is now considered an explosive moment in modern sports. With new details, personal insight, and step-by-step reporting, Tisha Thompson and her team peel back the layers of secrecy surrounding Ohtani, his finances, his friendship with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, and the world of illegal sports betting that threatens to topple reputations and careers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Celebrated Rise of Shohei Ohtani

• World Series Triumph: The episode opens with Ohtani's triumphant first season with the Dodgers, culminating in a 2024 World Series win. We hear the electric crowd as Ohtani speaks English publicly, a rare and celebrated moment.
  • Ohtani: “This is so special moment. I'm a speaker. So honored to be here and to be part of this team. Congratulations, Los Angeles. Thank you, friends.” [01:45]
• Unprecedented Talent:
  • Tim Keown: "It's really not hyperbole, guys, to say that Shohei Ohtani is the new Babe Ruth." [02:54]
  • Ohtani becomes baseball's first 50-50 club member (50 HR, 50 SB).

2. The Scandal Erupts

• Prelude: The picture-perfect season overshadows events months earlier, when Ohtani was drawn into an illegal gambling investigation.
  • Tisha Thompson: “It tied the money of one of the highest paid players in baseball history to a vast illegal sports betting operation…” [03:26]

3. The Investigative Trail Begins

• The Anonymous Tip:
  • Tisha Thompson receives a sealed court document listing luxury goods, casino chips, and financial records seized from the California home of bookie Matt Boyer.
  • “When my source tells me the name of that athlete, it's a name so big, so shocking, that all I write down is the letter O.” [06:06]
• ESPN Editorial Caution:
  • Elaine Tang: "...We're really worried about putting a rumor out there that then comes back to us as fact. We have to be really careful..." [07:57]

4. Inside the World of Illegal Bookmaking

• Bookie Profile: Matt Boyer turns out to cater to celebrities and millionaires, with suspected cartel ties via Owen Hanson ("The Cocaine QB").
  • David Purdom: "We had a source… who was telling us, be careful. Right. Because Owen Hansen was not known as a good person. He was known as a violent person around the betting community." [11:01]
• Why Bookies?
  • Sports betting is illegal in California; bookies offer credit and anonymity—even for athletes.
  • Purdom: “If you are an athlete betting with the DraftKings, there's a chance that we could find it. But if you can be betting with this illegal sportsbook over here, I would not be able to know it.” [12:57]

5. Baseball’s Deepest Taboo

• Historic Precedents:
  • The Black Sox scandal and Pete Rose’s lifetime ban show how serious MLB is about gambling.
  • "If they were to have found out that he [Ohtani] was betting on baseball, he would have been banned for life. And this is your biggest star banned for life." [15:04]

6. Ohtani: The Enigma

• Private Life:
  • Ohtani’s guarded persona, strictly controlled media access, and surprising social media reveal of his marriage highlight how little is public about his life.
  • Tim Keown: "He is the most guarded and protected athlete that I think I've ever been around." [15:41]
  • “The walls were so thick and so impenetrable that, I mean, anything seemed possible, right?” [28:25]
• Marketing Power:
  • Ohtani is omnipresent in Japanese advertising, earning $125M/year in endorsements.
  • Keown: “Everywhere is Ohtani.” [19:43]

7. The Paper Trail Emerges

• David Fletcher Connection:
  • Ohtani’s teammate linked to Boyer, but says he never bet with him.
• Hard Evidence:
  • Under cloak-and-dagger conditions, Thompson views wire transfer records from Ohtani’s Bank of America account to Matt Boyer: $500,000 twice, with the word “loan” and unique routing numbers.
  • “According to the screenshots I just saw, Shohei Ohtani's bank account sent wire transfers to Matt Boyer's illegal bookmaking operation. …totaling a million dollars. I've got it. The direct link between Shohei and the bookies operation.” [23:00]
• Enter Ippei Mizuhara:
  • Source claims “Ippei is prepared to say he was the one gambling and that Shohei was paying his debts.” [24:15]

8. Ippei Mizuhara: The Constant Companion

• Not Just an Interpreter:
  • Ippei handles Shohei’s daily life, serves as confidant, catcher, driver, and more; they're inseparable.
  • Tim Keown: “To call him an interpreter is almost laughable because that was almost the least important part of his job.” [27:35]
• An Impossibly Close Relationship:
  • "There was no Ippei without Shohei... The only time that Shohei seemed to be by himself... was when he was in the batter's box or on the mound.” [28:05]
• Suspicions & Theories:
  • Was Ippei covering for Ohtani, acting as a proxy, or telling the truth about whose debts they were?
  • Elaine Tang: “We didn't quite know what to make of the Ippei connection... We didn't know the truth." [28:33]

9. Crisis Communication and Admission

• Confronting Team Ohtani:
  • ESPN contacts Shohei’s agent, quickly hearing from publicist Matt Hiltzik (known for handling scandals).
  • Hiltzik’s dramatic promise: “You're going to get a really good fucking story. You're going to get the truth about what happened.” [30:35]
  • He confirms: Shohei’s account wired millions to Boyer’s operation, but someone else placed the bets (implied: Ippei).
  • “He says, you have good sources. I tell him I want to interview Shohei Ohtani. He says, maybe I have to see, but I can give you someone else.” [30:51]
• Cliffhanger:
  • Tisha secures an interview with Ippei Mizuhara, setting the stage for episode two.
    • Ippei (to Tisha): “I mean, Epei Mizuhara. And you do have permission to record me.” [30:53]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:47] Shohei Ohtani (World Series stage): “This is so special moment. I'm a speaker. So honored to be here and to be part of this team. Congratulations, Los Angeles. Thank you, friends.”
• [02:54] Tim Keown: “It's really not hyperbole, guys, to say that Shohei Ohtani is the new Babe Ruth.”
• [07:57] Elaine Tang: “We're really worried about putting a rumor out there that then comes back to us as fact.”
• [11:01] David Purdom: “Owen Hansen was not known as a good person. He was known as a violent person around the betting community.”
• [15:41] Tim Keown: “He is the most guarded and protected athlete that I think I've ever been around.”
• [15:04] David Purdom: “If they were to have found out that he was betting on baseball, he would have been banned for life.”
• [19:43] Tim Keown: “Everywhere is Ohtani.”
• [27:35] Tim Keown: “To call him an interpreter is almost laughable because that was almost the least important part of his job.”
• [28:33] Elaine Tang: “We didn't quite know what to make of the Ippei connection... We didn't know the truth.”
• [30:35] Matt Hiltzik, via Tisha Thompson: “You're going to get a really good fucking story. You're going to get the truth about what happened.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:49 — Ohtani’s World Series celebration speech
• 03:21 — Introduction to the gambling scandal
• 06:06 — The investigative tip about “the letter O”
• 11:01 — Bookie Matt Boyer’s dangerous criminal connections
• 12:57 — Why athletes may use illegal bookies
• 14:15 — Historical context: Black Sox and Pete Rose
• 15:41 — Ohtani’s notorious privacy
• 19:43 — Ohtani’s superstar commercial status in Japan
• 23:00 — Evidence: Ohtani’s $1M wire transfers
• 24:15 — Ippei Mizuhara named as the person behind the bets
• 27:35 — The unusual and close role of interpreter Ippei
• 30:35 — Confirmation and crisis communication from Ohtani’s camp
• 30:53 — Ippei agrees to be interviewed: setup for episode 2

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Final Thoughts

This episode launches a gripping sports true crime saga: personal loyalty, massive money, the murky underworld of sports gambling, and the precarity of reputation for global icons. Anchored by first-hand investigation and careful editorial restraint, it sets the stakes for fans, the Dodgers, and MLB—while leaving listeners wondering who really betrayed whom.

Next episode: Tisha’s exclusive interview with Ippei Mizuhara promises new revelations.

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Transcript

[Preeti Varathan]

Hi everyone. This is Preeti Varathan from 30 for 30 podcasts. You're about to listen to season 17 of our show, the Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani. This season we're taking you inside one of the most explosive stories in modern day sports from the reporter who uncovered it. Shohei and Ippei were one of the most famous bromances in professional sports. They were seen together nearly all the time. They were labeled best friends, even said to be like brothers. Until it all fell apart because of 19,000 bets and the wild world of sports gambling. It's a story you might have heard about, but as it turns out, what was reported in the news is just the beginning. If you like what you hear, check out the main 30 for 30 podcast feed or search the Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Hello, welcome the 2024 World Series champion Los Angeles Dodger.

[Tisha Thompson]

It's November 2024 and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in their home stadium celebrating their World Series win. The players line up on the podium. Team manager Dave Roberts takes the mic and introduces some of the stars.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Let's hear it Friday. Friday. Friday. Friday.

[Tisha Thompson]

And then he calls out the name everyone's waiting for.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Who wants to hear from Shohei O.

[Tisha Thompson]

Shohei Ohtani just finished his first season with the Dodgers. He's a head taller than a lot of his teammates and he's wearing a T shirt and backwards ball cap when he gives a shy grin as he takes the mic.

[Shohei Ohtani]

This is so special moment.

[Tisha Thompson]

Movie this is one of the first times that Shohei has spoken publicly in English without an interpreter.

[Shohei Ohtani]

I'm a speaker. So honored to be here and to be part of his team. Congratulations, Los Angeles. Thank you, friends.

[Tisha Thompson]

That's all he says. And the crowd absolutely loves it. By any measure, SH's first season with the Dodgers was extraordinary.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Here's a 2 1. There's a drive. It's a bullet. Shohei Ohtani arrives in October. A three run home run Otani sets on the air. Back it goes. Go. One of a kind player. One of a kind season. Soh Otani starts the 5050 club.

[Tisha Thompson]

Many believe he could become the best baseball player of all time.

[Tim Keown]

It's really not hyperbole, guys, to say that Shohei Ohtani is the new Babe Ruth.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Ohtani, right field. Forget about it. A massive shot. Wow.

[Tisha Thompson]

It's the kind of success that helps overshadow what happened just months before at the start of this season when Shohei was caught up in a scandal that could have ended it all we're going

[Shohei Ohtani]

to turn to the scandal. Rocky Major League Baseball Shohei Ohtani is set to address the media today.

[Tisha Thompson]

The scandal has the potential to be one of the biggest sports scandals that we've ever seen, certainly one of the biggest baseball scandals that we've ever seen. Our team at ESPN broke the story. It tied the money of one of the highest paid players in baseball history to a vast illegal sports betting operation. But when it was over, he would walk away and someone else, someone close to him, would confess to a shocking crime, disappearing in disgrace. Joel o' Donnell and in this moment at the World Series celebration, you could almost forget it ever happened.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Thank you friends.

[Tisha Thompson]

But two years later, I still have so many questions. So I'm going to travel the country, chase down leads, and try to understand how one of sport's most complicated friendships detonated into one of the biggest scandals in baseball history.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Here's the pitch to Otani Shoes Otani, possibly the greatest player that's ever played the game. Federal investigation questions about wire transfers. $4.5 million to a Southern California bookmaker and he has no idea of it.

[Tisha Thompson]

I'm ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson from 30 for 30 podcasts. This is the betrayal of Shohei Ohtan. Episode one the letter O

[Preeti Varathan]

this episode is presented by Gusto. When you run a small business, you don't just do the job. You're also the hiring manager, the payroll department, and the benefits team. Usually all before lunch. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all in one remote, friendly and incredibly easy to use, so you can pay, hire, onboard and support your team from anywhere. Try gusto [e-mail] 3430 and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free [e-mail] 3431 more time. Gusto.com 30 for 30 this episode is

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[Tisha Thompson]

I started working on this story a year before Shohei won that World Series when a source sent me a tip. At first, the tip seemed to have nothing to do with baseball or any sport. It was information from a federal court document still under seal. A list of items that had been seized from a house in California. It included the kinds of things you might expect from a federal raid. Computers, hard drives, and cell phones. But There were also $40,000 Breitling watches, handbags from Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and casino chips. Lots and lots of casino chips. Why were the feds interested in it? Because all of these things were taken from a house owned by a man named Matt Boyer. The feds also seized a cash counting machine, sports betting records and receipts for offshore bank wires. And that's when I say to myself, I think Matt Boyer is a bookie. A person who takes bets, pays them out when they win and collects when they lose. My source confirms it. Matt Boyer is a bookie, but he isn't just any bookie. According to my source, his clients include celebrities, millionaires, and seemingly one of the most famous athletes in the world. When my source tells me the name of that athlete, it's a name so big, so shocking, that all I write down is the letter O.

[Elaine Tang]

You tell me the name of the athlete involved and that the feds are involved in an investigation. And that is why we have to be so careful.

[Tisha Thompson]

This is my editor, Elaine Tang.

[Elaine Tang]

We're really worried about putting a rumor out there that then comes back to us as fact. We have to be really careful about going out and saying, like, hey, like, do you think is Shohei Ohtani gambling with a bookie?

[Tisha Thompson]

This tip was so potentially damning, we needed to tread really carefully because it could turn into a very grown up version of that kid's game telephone, where someone whispers something to someone and then they whisper it to someone else. And by the time it comes back to you, it's totally different from what you said. I couldn't just ask sources questions like, hey, does Shohei gamble? Even if the answer was no, they might tell someone else in the clubhouse that ESPN was asking if Shohei gambled. And then that person says to someone else, hey, I heard Shohei gambles. I call several someones later. That person then says to me, oh, yeah, I have heard he gambles. All I have done is confirm a rumor that I started, a rumor about Shohei Ohtani paying millions of dollars to an illegal bookie.

[Elaine Tang]

I think it was the amount of money involved as well as the caliber of the athlete that feels really loaded and, you know, extremely damaging if true, right? To the athlete, their reputation, their career.

[Tisha Thompson]

It's a very serious allegation. I want to learn everything I Can about what? Someone could get themselves into betting with a bookie. So I head to the sports betting epicenter of the country. We are in Las Vegas, baby. I'm in Las Vegas to meet with the reporter I think knows more about bookies and sports betting than anyone else in the business.

[David Purdom]

What do you think the biggest moneymaker is for the casino penny slot? That's correct.

[Tisha Thompson]

This is ESPN's David Purdom. I met him in a casino just off the Vegas Strip. We sit down in a room near the sportsbook, watching as people place bets. Do they put the sports book in the back on purpose? I wanted to talk to Purdom about the tip I received because he has a massive Rolodex of sources in the sports betting world. Had you ever heard of Matt Boyer before?

[David Purdom]

No, I had not never heard of him.

[Tisha Thompson]

We gave you Matt Boyer's name and you called sources. You do the David Purdom magic and disappear for 12 hours and came back with info.

[David Purdom]

Right. I usually go to. You start with your guys that you know have had this. And when they didn't know, I had to expand and I did and found some people that knew of him. And then when we found out that he was coming to Vegas a lot, I talked to people here and they knew of him.

[Tisha Thompson]

A source warned Purdom that Boyer was connected to a man with a dangerous reputation, a guy named Owen Hanson, a former USC football player who became known as the Cocaine qb. When I got the original tip, Hansen was in prison for bookmaking and drug trafficking and was rumored to have ties to the cartel.

[David Purdom]

We had a source who was involved with running money for that group, and he was telling us, be careful. Right. Because Owen Hansen was not known as a good person. He was known as a violent person around the betting community. And when there was ties to Boyer, there was concern.

[Tisha Thompson]

Over the next few weeks, we gathered more sources and confirmed Boyer was running a huge sportsbook operation in Southern California. Is California more prolific with bookies than other parts of the world?

[David Purdom]

Massive, massive bookmaking operations in California.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Why?

[David Purdom]

Because there's no legal sports bet.

[Tisha Thompson]

Sports betting is now legal in 39 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Depending on where you live, you can place bets through a state license app, a website, or in a casino or a bar in those states. But unless you're betting on a horse race, sports betting in California is illegal. There is no legal way to place a sports bet there. Not on DraftKings, not on FanDuel, not in the tribal casinos. So if you live in California, and you want to bet on sports, you either have to go somewhere like Vegas or find a bookie, which is of course illegal. But there are many reasons why someone might want to use a bookie, even if the state they live in has legal sports heard him says a big reason is credit.

[David Purdom]

People want to bet on credit. You don't want to give over your cash. If you can bet on credit, huge advantage. I can just place my bet for a hundred dollars and my money never changes hands. You go down a thousand bucks, the guy says, okay, let's meet up at the Waffle House. And you go there and you pass over an envelope, and that's how it's done.

[Tisha Thompson]

Another reason someone might seek out a bookie is anonymity.

[David Purdom]

If you are an athlete betting with the DraftKings, there's a chance that we could find it. But if you can be betting with this illegal sportsbook over here, I would not be able to know it.

[Tisha Thompson]

So Purdom says a celebrity who wants to bet discreetly might use a bookie. When I told him that Shohei Ohtani was the athlete my source told me might be involved with Matt Boyer, I was stunned.

[David Purdom]

I remember when you relayed the message to me who the athlete was. I was. Oh, my gosh. I believe I cursed.

[Tisha Thompson]

Why is sports betting such a sensitive topic for Major League Baseball?

[David Purdom]

Well, you start with the Black Sox. Way back at the beginning of the century, the Chicago White Sox, several players of them got engaged with some criminals, and they allegedly agreed to throw a World Series.

[Tisha Thompson]

Major League Baseball banned eight players from the Chicago White Sox for life. And after that scandal, the league created a set of rules about betting on sports. It forbids players, coaches and staff from using a bookie, and you may never bet on baseball.

[David Purdom]

So that was the big one. The next time you get some sort of betting scandal, it's Pete Rose.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Number 4000, 192 makes Pete Rose the all time Major League Baseball hit leader.

[David Purdom]

All time hits leader. He eventually admitted to betting on the game of baseball. I was wrong. I just stupid.

[Tisha Thompson]

Worst thing I ever did in my life. In 1989, MLB punished Pete Rose with a lifetime ban for betting on baseball. Pete Rose was one of the greatest ballplayers of his generation. He holds records that have never been broken. But all of his feats on the field have been overshadowed by what he did off the field. Could Shohei Ohtani, the greatest player of his generation, be the next Pete Rose?

[David Purdom]

If they were to have found out that he was betting on baseball, he would have Been banned for life. And this is your biggest star banned for life.

[Tisha Thompson]

Part of what made the allegations so shocking was how Shohei Ohtani had a reputation for being squeaky clean. Before this, there's never been a whisper of a scandal attached to his name, which makes it all the more surprising to hear allegations that he might be tied to a bookie with dangerous connections. But we realized we don't actually know all that much about Shohei's life outside of baseball.

[Tim Keown]

He is the most guarded and protected athlete that I think I've ever been around.

[Tisha Thompson]

This is ESPN's Tim Keown. Tim specializes in writing profiles of the most famous and oftentimes controversial names in sports. People like Barry Bonds, Aaron Rodgers, Floyd Mayweather junior. Tim says he's been trying to decipher the enigma that is Shohei Ohtani ever since he first arrived here in the United States.

[Tim Keown]

When he came here, I first started observing him, knowing that I was going to have to observe him to write about him rather than talk to him, because it was established early on that it was a dead end. He will only take questions about the game and very few, three, maybe four in each language. And these are in, like, bit questions. I want to know, like, you just threw 117 pitches. Are you. What do you feel today? And he would not. He just doesn't entertain those. He's just not built that way.

[Tisha Thompson]

Tim says most of what you know about Shohei is limited to what Shohei is willing to tell you. And it rarely leaves the realm of the ballpark. And when it does, it's on Shohei's terms. Like when he got married, people didn't even know Shohei was in a relationship until he posted about his wife on Instagram.

[Social Media Narrator]

He has lots of titles. Mvp, gazillionaire superstar. But husband had eluded him until now. And he made the announcement. Where else but on social media? That reads, not only I begun a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers, but I also have begun a new life with someone from my native country of Japan who is very special to me. And I wanted everyone to know I am now married.

[Tisha Thompson]

Shohei's teammates and even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't know about it.

[Ippei Mizuhara]

I felt like it was a good timing because it's before the season. I didn't want really any distractions once the season started.

[Tim Keown]

I think there is this, the sort of the aura, right? Like, just leave him alone to do what he does because the distractions are not something he's interested in. He's not interested in talking to me, to be honest, he does it as an obligation. After he pitches, if he hits two home runs in a game, he'll stand there and answer questions in the most anodyne way possible.

[Tisha Thompson]

Are you nervous at all playing in the postseason for the first time? But the league, the teams and the fans don't seem to mind not knowing much about Shohei's life off the field. Because what's happening on the field is record breaking.

[Tim Keown]

He's really challenged our idea of limits because he has shown his talent to be limitless. He does the two things that excite baseball people more than anything else.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Otani Diaz. That's a called strike three.

[Tim Keown]

He can throw a baseball over 100 miles an hour and he can hit a ball 500ft up and over the roof. It's like the two headline acts of baseball. He is among the best in the world at both, if not the best.

[Shohei Ohtani]

There goes Ohtani. It's a leadoff home run after he struck out three at the top of the first.

[Tim Keown]

He is a dream for Major League

[Tisha Thompson]

Baseball, and the Dodgers rewarded him in the fall of 2023 with a record breaking contract. It is the announcement that took the baseball world by storm today.

[Tim Keown]

$700 million over 10 years.

[Shohei Ohtani]

Oh, my goodness, Come on.

[Tisha Thompson]

One of the league's premier franchises made a historic bet on Shohei because they knew his success would be their success. They stood to make a lot of money too. Ticket sales, merchandise partnerships. Shohei's success could pay off big time for the Dodgers and MLB. Shohei himself makes more than $125 million in endorsements a year, with much of that money coming from advertisements in Japan.

[Tim Keown]

When I was there, I was shocked by. You could literally not walk more than two blocks in Tokyo without seeing his face on something. Whether it was a green tea or a water sports drink or Hugo Boss or something. I mean, everywhere is Ohtani.

[Tisha Thompson]

After touching down in Tokyo, it's easy to see Ohtani mania is really a thing. Everyone in Japan is by default a Shohei fan.

[Tim Keown]

The appetite for Ohtani, the love for Ohtani appears to be as limitless as his talent.

[Tisha Thompson]

If Shohei's reputation takes a hit, it wouldn't just tarnish his name. It would have devastating consequences for the Dodgers, for Major League Baseball, and for Japan. When you were first told that Ohtani might be involved in some kind of betting scandal, what was your initial reaction?

[Tim Keown]

Shock. Shock combined with sort of a reassessment of everything I had seen leading up to that, plus another layer of like, who knows?

[Tisha Thompson]

I'd been investigating this tip for two months when in January 2024, a source tells me to look at a different player who may be a critical link. David Fletcher was an infielder for the Los Angeles Angels. He and Shohei played together for six seasons. And Tim tells me it was widely known that they were friends.

[Tim Keown]

They played bumper pool together, and they played Clash of Clans and was just this sort of, you know, buddy comedy. This little white guy and this big Japanese guy buddying around.

[Tisha Thompson]

Fletcher's social media shows he is an avid poker player.

[Tim Keown]

I don't think he broadcasts it, but I don't think he hit it.

[Tisha Thompson]

And his love of poker would end up being vital to our investigation. When I call him in January, Fletcher admits to me he knows Matt Boyer. They had golfed together, but he wouldn't call them friends. Fletcher tells me he heard that Boyer might be a bookie, but he insists he's never bet with Boyer. Worried about spreading a rumor, I don't ask if Boyer is Shohei's bookie. I don't ask anything about Shohei. By this point, I've developed more sources, and I learn there is a paper trail that connects Shohei Ohtani to Matt Boyer. And I've tracked down a source who has that proof. But they're nervous, and it takes weeks before the source agrees to show it to me. And they're not going to make it easy. It's the middle of the night. I'm driving to meet my contact. I find them standing outside of a car in a parking lot waiting for me. I drop into the passenger seat. The contact hands me a cell phone and tells me the proof I want will appear on an encrypted app, and each image will disappear in 30 seconds. I can't take pictures, but I can take notes. I pull out my notebook and I tell my contact I'm ready. A document appears on the screen. September 14, 2023. $500,000. I spot the word loan and scribble it down in my notebook. But I don't have time to ask questions because the second document appears. October 2, 2023. $500,000. Both documents include the same long list of numbers on the screen. Later, after I drive away, I will stare at the jumble of letters and numbers I scribbled into my notebook, and I'll realize it's routing information. I just saw wire transfers from a bank account at bank of America, and there's a name attached to the account. Shohei Ohtani. According to the screenshots I just saw, Shohei Ohtani's bank account sent wire transfers to Matt Boyer's illegal bookmaking operation. I saw two of them totaling a million dollars. I've got it. The direct link between Shohei and the bookies operation. But before I can even begin to wrap my head around what I've seen, a source reaches out with new information and a new name. Interpreter Ippei Mizuhara Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei's interpreter for the past six years. The source tells me Ippei is prepared to say he was the one gambling and that Shohei was paying his debts.

[Preeti Varathan]

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[Tisha Thompson]

If there's someone we know even less about than Shohei Ohtani. It's Ippei Mizahara, Shohei's interpreter. His biography, provided by the Los Angeles Angels, says Ippe was born in Japan but grew up in Southern California. Before he joined the Angels, Ippei worked in Japan for the Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team as an interpreter for American players. And that's where he met Shohei. And when Shohei signed with the Angels In December of 2017, he brought IPPEI along with him as his interpreter.

[Ippei Mizuhara]

I want to talk about not why I joined Angels, but I want you guys to see me trying to adjust with the team throughout the spring training. And maybe I think you guys will be find out why I chose the Angels. That it was the right choice.

[Tisha Thompson]

Ever since they arrived in the States, Shohei and Ippei are always together, with Ippei seemingly just a few steps behind Shohei at all times. And Ippei does a lot more than just translate. Ippei carries Shohei's gear. When Shohei needs a ride, Ippei drives him. When Shohei warms up for a game, he doesn't use a pitching coach. He throws to Ippei. When Shohei competed in the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby, he chose Ippei to be his catcher. What a fun moment that's gonna be for him. And hopefully he's not having to catch too much. They walk red carpets together. Teammates and others have even wondered if the two men live together, but they've never confirmed it. Your day in the life with Shohei,

[Shohei Ohtani]

I mean, what do you guys do

[Tisha Thompson]

throughout the day, before you even get here to the ballpark?

[Ippei Mizuhara]

We'll eat breakfast every day at the hotel, on the road, if not at

[Tim Keown]

home, then it's pretty much got to the point where, you know, I wondered, how could you spend that much time with one person?

[Tisha Thompson]

When my colleague Tim Kuhn began to watch Shohei and Ippei off the field, it was clear to him that Ippei was different from other interpret.

[Tim Keown]

To call him an interpreter is almost laughable because that was almost the least important part of his job. And the. The routine was always the same where Shohei would walk out onto the field and Ippei was like two and a half to three steps behind. It was like a. Almost felt like a choreographed thing the way they went about it. The only time that Shohei seemed to be by himself, at least at the baseball field, was when he was in the batter's box or on the mound.

[Tisha Thompson]

They appeared to be extremely close.

[Tim Keown]

There was no Ippei without Shohei. It manifested itself in me by like going to players and saying, does it ever occur to you that these guys get sick of each other?

[Tisha Thompson]

The source told me they thought Ippei might be taking the fall for Shohei, But I didn't know what to think.

[Tim Keown]

The walls were so thick and so impenetrable that, I mean, anything seemed possible, right?

[Elaine Tang]

We didn't quite know what to make of the Ippei connection.

[Tisha Thompson]

My editor Elaine and I spent weeks investigating the possibilities.

[Elaine Tang]

Whether it was him himself, whether he was a cover for Ohtani, whether he was making the bets on Ohtani's behalf. We didn't know if it was a cover up. We didn't know the truth.

[Tisha Thompson]

But there are two people who we thought would know the truth. Shohei Ohtani and ippei Mizahara by March 2024. I've been working on this for five months, and we've collected enough information to go to Shohei's agent. In an email, I tell him I have sources who have told us about Shohei Ohtani's involvement with Matt Boyer. I purposefully don't tell him that I know Matt Boyer is a bookie or that I've heard Ippei's name. I want to see what their respons. Two hours later, I get a call from a publicist named Matt Hiltzik. He tells me he specializes in what's called crisis communication, and Shohei's agent has just brought him on to represent Shohei. Some of Hiltzik's clients have included Hillary Clinton and Ivanka Trump, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin and Johnny Depp. When I tell him about the wire transfers that I saw, Hiltzik says he needs to call me back. As I wait, I wonder, will they try to deny it? Will they threaten us with defamation? Or will they admit it? My phone rings again a few hours later. Hiltzik says, you're going to get a really good fucking story. You're going to get the truth about what happened. And then he confirms it. It's true. Shohei's bank account wired millions of dollars to Boyer's operation. But he tells me someone else did the bets. Shohei was covering for someone else, he says, someone important to his life. I tell him, I have sources that tell me it's Ippei. He says, you have good sources. I tell him I want to interview Shohei Ohtani. He says, maybe I have to see, but I can give you someone else.

[Ippei Mizuhara]

I mean Epei Mizuhara. And you do have permission to record me.

[Tisha Thompson]

That's next on the Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani. The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani is based on reporting by me, Tisha Thompson, with support from Tim Kewan and the ESPN Investigative Unit. Our producer is Carrie Ann Thomas. Our senior producer is Max Green. Our senior editorial producer is Preeti Varathan. Our associate producer is Gus Navarro. Story editing by Audrey Quinn, Elaine Tang, Eric Neal and Mike Drago. Additional editing by Rebecca Hudson. Our archival producer is Jennifer Wheelock. Our line producer is Kathryn Sankey. Production managers are Jason Schwartz and Sheena Williams. Fact checking by John Master Beradino with David Sabino. Additional editorial review from Masa Niwa. Original music by Alison Layton Brown and John DeLore. Sound design by John DeLorean. Chris Buckle is vice president of ESPN investigative enterprise and digital journalism. Marcia Cook, Brian Lockhart, Heather Anderson and Burke Magnus are executive producers for 30 for 30. David Roberts, Mike Foss and Roxanna Scott are executive producers for ESPN.