Footnote

Summary

The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani

Podcast: ESPN 30 for 30 – The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani
Episode: Footnote
Date: August 11, 2026
Host: Tisha Thompson

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Episode Overview

This episode, titled "Footnote," wraps up the 30 for 30 series on the Shohei Ohtani-Ippei Mizuhara scandal. It explores the aftermath of Ippei’s betrayal, his sentencing and personal letters, the fallout for both men, and how this once-intimate relationship is being systematically erased from public and private memory—raising questions about trust, power, and the nature of friendship.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ippei's Guilty Plea and Court Scene

• Federal Charges: In May 2024, Ippei Mizuhara was formally charged and pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax fraud ([00:16]).
  • "The federal government had charged Ippei with bank fraud and tax fraud. He would plead guilty to both." – Tisha Thompson ([00:16])
• Courtroom Atmosphere: Ippei is described as emotionless and unresponsive to the media frenzy outside the courtroom, marking a pivotal shift in his public image ([01:40]).
  • "If there's a moment I can point to where everything seems to shift for Ippei, it was then..." – Investigator/Commentator ([02:03])

2. Letters to the Judge: The Story from Ippei's Perspective

• Personal Account: Ippei submitted a deeply personal letter to the judge, detailing his sacrifices and workload as Ohtani’s sole support staff, far beyond typical interpreter duties ([04:40]-[06:31]).
  • "I can confidently say that I put my heart and soul into my work so Shohei can have the best career he can..." – Ippei Mizuhara (via Michael Friedman) ([05:01])
• Compensation and Burnout: Ippei claimed he was overworked, underpaid, and bore extensive personal and financial burdens—including taking care of Ohtani’s daily needs, handling endorsements, and supporting his own family ([06:31]).
  • "I felt like I was getting severely underpaid, but I was afraid to speak up for myself..." – Ippei Mizuhara ([06:57])
• Desperation and Betrayal: Ippei confessed to tapping into Shohei’s funds as gambling debts mounted, describing guilt but seeing no other way out ([08:41]).
  • "I felt terribly guilty about putting my hands on his money. But this was the only solution I could think of at the time." – Ippei Mizuhara ([08:41])

3. The Prosecution Responds: Viewing Ippei as an Opportunist

• Official Reactions: IRS Special Agent Chris Seymour expressed frustration at Ippei's justification ([10:05]).
  • "It's like he was trying to plead his case that I am entitled to this... Any criminal act is good by your eyes." – Chris Seymour ([10:05])
• Exposure of Private Info: Seymour criticized Ippei for revealing Shohei’s private matters, like his prenup, in the court letter ([10:45]).
  • "He was divulging things that only he knew... Why would you do that?" – Chris Seymour ([10:45])
• Contradictions and Evidence:
  • Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell disputed Ippei’s claims of never winning at gambling, providing evidence of deposits into Ippei’s personal account ([11:41]).
    • "There was never any transfers from Ippei's account to Shohei. It never went that way." – Jeff Mitchell ([11:41])
• The Dental Work Incident: A blatant example of Ippei’s deceit, where he double-dipped by having Shohei write a $60,000 check for dental work—then withdrawing that amount and charging the actual dental bill to Shohei’s account ([13:15]).
  • "When Shohei, out of the kindness of his heart, writes a check... and you still use Shohei's debit card to pay for it. That was just... I was really surprised." – Jeff Mitchell ([13:15])

4. Sentencing and Public Fallout

• Sentence: The judge, unconvinced by Ippei's letter, sentenced him to 57 months in prison—almost five years, five times the bookie’s sentence—and ordered restitution of more than $18 million, plus mandatory Gamblers Anonymous ([14:15]).
• Prosecutorial Perspective: Former US Attorney Martine Estrada explained that gambling betrayals by confidants are sadly common, but the sheer volume—19,000 bets in two years—was staggering in Ippei’s case ([16:27]).
  • "Involving different victims, people who'd had much smaller amounts taken from them." – Martine Estrada ([15:32])
  • "That was shocking, clearly showed that this was completely out of control." – Martine Estrada ([16:27])
• Media Handling and the Communication Breakdown: Ippei’s lie to the press caused global speculation around Ohtani’s involvement. Ohtani learned of the scandal through Ippei, not his own team ([21:13]-[23:24]).

5. The Agent and Organizational Failures

• Agency Accountability: Questions raised about why Ohtani’s sports agency (CAA) gave Ippei such unfettered access and failed to protect their superstar client ([24:26]-[24:57]).
  • "There are people that have told me they don't understand why Ohtani is still working with CAA." – Tim Keown ([24:39])
• Unanswered Requests: Multiple attempts to interview agents and teams went unanswered; Ohtani’s camp won’t discuss the scandal again ([26:08]).

6. Shohei’s Response and Career Resurgence

• Onward and Upward: Following the scandal, Shohei threw himself into his career, achieving historic feats and leading the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series titles ([26:39]-[27:50]).
  • "2024 really seemed like he was a guy on a mission... This was something literally we'd never seen before." – Tim Keown ([26:44])
  • "Now, the more he performs... this feels like it's becoming a footnote in his career." – Alden Gonzalez ([33:37])

7. Erasure of Ippei from Public Memory

• Cultural Shunning: Both in Japan and the US, Ippei is being systematically erased—omitted from children's books, school websites, and Shohei's social media. Japanese broadcasters refuse to cooperate on content related to Ippei ([29:26]-[30:06]).
  • "In Japan, a lot of times, if the scandal is bad enough, you sort of just get erased in a way." – Jason Cosgray ([29:26])
• Friendship or Not: The episode questions whether theirs was ever a real friendship, given the power imbalance and Ippei's gatekeeping ([32:21]). Even Shohei, when asked about their relationship, said, "We're just business partners." ([31:46])

8. Reflections and Legacy

• Authorial Doubts: The show ends on a note of uncertainty—only Shohei and Ippei truly know the nature and depth of their connection, and neither seems likely to speak on it again ([34:46]).
  • "...as long as people keep betting on Shohei's success and Shohei keeps winning, he'll never have to say Ippe's name ever again." – Tisha Thompson ([34:57])

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Betrayal:
  • "I am truly sorry for violating his trust in me." – Ippei’s letter ([09:10])
• On Gambling Addiction:
  • "He placed 19,000 bets in two years. That was shocking." – Martine Estrada ([16:27])
• On the Agency's Failure:
  • "Why did Ippei have such unfettered access to the superstar and his money?" – Tisha Thompson ([24:26])
• On Public Erasure:
  • "In later versions that have come out since the scandal, think they took that out. Ippei's been erased." – Jason Cosgray ([30:12])
• On Shohei’s Legacy:
  • "If he would have not succeeded with the Dodgers, this betting scandal would have consumed his entire career. Now, the more he performs, this feels like it's becoming a footnote." – Alden Gonzalez ([33:25], [33:37])

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• Ippei in Court, Plea & Media Frenzy: [00:05]-[02:33]
• Ippei's Letters and Personal Justification: [04:40]-[09:41]
• Prosecution’s Rebuttal and ‘Dental Work’ Incident: [11:27]-[13:34]
• Sentencing & Commonality of Gambling Betrayals: [14:15]-[16:27]
• How Scandal Unfolded to Shohei, Agency Failures: [21:13]-[24:57]
• Ippei's Imprisonment and Erasure: [28:44]-[31:24]
• Nature of Their Relationship and Shohei’s Public Statement: [31:46]-[32:21]
• Shohei’s Career Aftermath and Legacy Perspective: [27:50]-[34:22]

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Closing Reflections

"Footnote" skillfully captures how a high-profile friendship in sports can dissolve into a saga of betrayal and erasure. It critically examines the shifting narratives, institutional failures, and lasting repercussions for both parties—the unraveling of their partnership ultimately marginalized into a mere "footnote" in the ever-growing legend of Shohei Ohtani.

Transcript

[Tisha Thompson]

The United States of America vs. IPPEI Mizuhara. Counsel, please state your appearances for the record. Good morning, your honor.

[Michael Friedman]

Michael Friedman for Mr. Mizuhara, who's present with me on bond.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

In May 2024, less than two months after my story on Ipe and Shohei broke, Ippei appeared in court. It was quick, just five minutes long. The federal government had charged Ippei with bank fraud and tax fraud. He would plead guilty to both. After the hearing, Ippei left the courtroom.

[Tisha Thompson]

We're not going to have any comments, okay?

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

He stared straight ahead as he walked towards the elevator.

[Investigator / Commentator]

During our interview, he had told me things he had never told anyone else,

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

not even his wife, but. But we had never met in person. As I walked next to him in the courthouse, I was pretty sure he didn't recognize me. So as we moved through the hallway, I said to him quietly, ippe, it's Tisha. He slowly turned his head and looked at me for a moment before nodding just once, as if to acknowledge me, before turning his head back to stare over the crowd. It's the only time I saw him react to anything a reporter said to

[Tisha Thompson]

him throughout his case.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

When Ippe stepped into the elevator, he kept his eyes fixed on the doors the whole way down. And when he stepped out, the cavernous

[Tisha Thompson]

lobby of the federal courthouse was almost silent.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

But as soon as Ippe walked outside, he faced a sea of camera crews and reporters surrounding him, pushing in on him, yelling questions at him. If there's a moment I can point to where everything seems to shift for

[Investigator / Commentator]

Ippei, it was then, before this moment,

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

when Ippei had been the go between for Shohei Ohtani and the media. The media had been respectful, appreciative, but now there was a kind of anger in the air. Reporters swarmed him, shoving microphones and cameras in his face. That image has stuck with me, this

[Investigator / Commentator]

frenzy of people surrounding Ipe all alone, trying to move forward through the crowd with his gaze never breaking all of

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

the consequences of this scandal falling firmly on him. And Shohei was nearly 400 miles away, preparing for a game against the Giants in San Francisco later that night. He would hit a home run and a double in a 102 victory. I'm ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson from

[Tisha Thompson]

30 for 30 podcasts.

[Investigator / Commentator]

This is the betrayal of Shohei Ohtani.

[Announcer / Play-by-play]

Here's the pitch to Ohtani. Federal investigation Question about wire transfers. $4.5 million to a Southern California bookmaker, and he has no idea.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Episode 6 Footnot.

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[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

A couple of weeks before Ippe was due to be sentenced to prison, he submitted a letter to the judge. In the letter, Ippei describes his relationship with Shohei in the hope the judge might grant him a lighter sentence.

[Michael Friedman]

Honorable Judge John Holcomb, I am writing you today before my sentencing hearing.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

A voice actor is reading Ippei's words.

[Michael Friedman]

Sadly, I am asking for your leniency in sentencing me and plea that your sentence be merciful and not punitive. I need to tell you what motivated me to act against the law. Since late 2017, I had been working with Shohei Ohtani as his interpreter manager. I can confidently say that I put my heart and soul into my work so Shohei can have the best career he can as a professional baseball player in the United States.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Typically, an interpreter for a Major League baseball player communicates with coaches, teammates and the media while helping the player navigate a new culture. But, Ippei wrote, he was responsible for much more.

[Michael Friedman]

I would also be running daily errands such as grocery shopping, checking his mailbox, fixing his bicycle, accompanying him when he went back to Iwate to visit his family, take his dog to the vet, take his dog to the groomer, drop off and pick up for his dinners he had with his peers while I wait in the car, helped coordinate Japanese and US lawyers for his marriage prenup and attended the meetings, etc.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Ippei told the judge that when a Japanese player comes to play baseball in the United States, they bring a number of staff with them. But Shohei only brought Ippei.

[Michael Friedman]

I was responsible for communicating with all of his endorsement companies and brokerage companies to set up his production days for commercials which occurred once per week. In between the training, I would accompany him to all of his production shoots which gave me almost no true days off. The off season was where it was much harder both physically and mentally.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

He said that during the off season Shohei would train five to six times a week and part of Ippei's job would be to set up and clean practice equipment, track and film Shohei's routine and be his training partner. He was also the go between for Shohei and his personal pitching, hitting and rehabilitation support staff. Ippei's salary when he started with the Los Angeles angels was about $85,000.

[Michael Friedman]

I felt like I was getting severely underpaid, but I was afraid to speak up for myself as I was on a one year contract every year and I didn't want to upset them and end up getting fired.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

But the team didn't pay him in the off season. So Ippei said in his letter that Shohei would pay him out of pocket during that time just a little over 5, $500 a week for round the clock help.

[Michael Friedman]

I had to live within a certain vicinity of Shohei so I can stay close by to accommodate his daily needs, especially in his early years in the United States. This meant that I had to rent a place near him which meant the rent was not going to be cheap on top of the hefty rent price. I needed to take care of my wife's expenses for her flights going back and forth from Japan and the United States.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Ippei's wife wrote the judge a letter as well. She talked about Ippei helping her through serious health problem and the death of her parents while he financially supported her from abroad. And when she visited the U.S. ippei told the judge she would also help Shohei.

[Michael Friedman]

She would cook him breakfast in the early years and periodically make him food for dinner, watch Shohei's dog while he was gone for baseball, even paid out of her pocket and learned to do nail protection work known as gel nail since Shohei often suffered from broken nails while he was pitching.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

In another letter to the judge, Ippe's mother revealed that she had been in a serious car accident and Ippei had taken responsibility for her care. That accident happened around the same time Ippe started betting with the bookie Matt Boyer. Ippei told the judge that as his debt grew, he felt like there was no way out except to tap into Shohei's bank account.

[Michael Friedman]

I felt terribly guilty about putting my hands on his money. But this was the only solution I could think of at the time.

[Investigator / Commentator]

The letters to the judge portray a man weighed down by both professional and personal responsibilities, who is struggling to stay afloat financially when his fixation on sports betting spiraled out of control. Reading the letters, I wonder what was the relationship between the two men really like?

[Michael Friedman]

I am prepared to accept my consequences. I am asking for a little mercy from the court concerning my sentence you will hand down. Thank you very much. Lastly, I truly admire Shohei as a baseball player and a human being. And I was committed to devote my life so Shohei can be the best version of himself on the field. I want to say I am truly sorry for violating his trust in me. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my letter. Sincerely, Ippei Mizuhara.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Ippei's sentencing hearing took place on February 6, 2025, about one year after the scandal became international news. Sitting behind me in the packed courtroom was Chris Seymour, the IRS special agent

[Investigator / Commentator]

who had led the government's investigation of Ippei. Seymour told me that when he read

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Ippei's letter to the judge, he didn't see a man struggling with responsibility.

[IRS Special Agent Chris Seymour]

It's like he was trying to plead his case that I am entitled to this. Maybe he wanted to get that out there that it wasn't as fun being a translator as everybody would think it was. This is okay because I work a lot or this is okay because I don't have a life because of this, or this is okay. And once you start going down that path, any criminal act is good by your eyes.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Seymour says he thought Ippei's letter did more harm than good in making his case to the judge because by sharing details of his day to day work, Ippei also revealed private information about Shohei's life.

[IRS Special Agent Chris Seymour]

Like Shohei's prenup, he was divulging things that only he knew to the court he had no right to do. In my opinion. Why would you do that? That doesn't make sense.

[Investigator / Commentator]

During the sentencing hearing, Jeff Mitchell, the assistant US Attorney, picked apart Ippei's letter. He told the judge that Shohei was the one paying for first class international airfare for both Ippe and his wife. That Shohei bought Ippe a Porsche Cayenne, which Mitchell estimated to be worth More than $100,000. And the feds discovered something else too. Ippei told me that he had never won While betting with Matt's book.

[Ippei Mizuhara]

Terrible. I'm never. I'm never gonna do it ever again. I never want any money from there.

[Investigator / Commentator]

But the feds say that's not true.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Ippei did win, and when he cashed

[Investigator / Commentator]

out, the money went into his personal account.

[Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell]

When Ippe won money from Boyer, Boyer put the money in ebay's account, not in Shohei's account. There was never any transfers from ebay's account to Shohei. It never went that way. Always Ippei taking money from Shohei's account.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Mitchell portrayed Ippei as an opportunist who took advantage of Shohei's trust and generosity. He reminded the judge that Ippei impersonated Shohei on bank calls, spent $325,000 of Shohei's money on baseball cards, and wired millions of dollars from Shohei's bank account to an illegal bookmaker to pay off his debts. And then Mitchell revealed something new, something that the prosecution argued should leave no question about Ippei's motivation for stealing from Shohei. The dental work.

[Tisha Thompson]

What does the dental work say to you?

[Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell]

I was surprised, you know, I mean, the dental work was just so blatant and just so egregious.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Mitchell says Shohei told federal investigators that he had agreed to pay for dental work for IPPEI in September 2023. So Shohei wrote Ippei a check to cover it for $60,000. But bank records show Ippei didn't use that check to pay for the dental work. Instead, he deposited it into his own bank account and used money from Shohei's private account, without Shohei's knowledge, to actually pay his dental bill.

[Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell]

When Shohei, out of the kindness of his heart, writes a check for $60,000 for dental work, then you deposit that money in your account, and you still use Shohei's debit card to pay for it. That was just. I was really surprised when I saw that.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

This is one of the moments that incontrovertibly shows that Ippei stole from Shohei, that Ippei was capable of lying to Shohei. $120,000 is not 16 million. But it's the kind of behavior, along with Ippei's texts, that made the feds believe Ippei was capable of stealing millions from his bo. And Ippei doesn't deny that he did it. But in his letter, he asked the judge to consider the power disparity between him and Shohei. How hard he had worked for his demanding boss, how little he'd been paid how much he wanted to do the right thing. The judge was unconvinced. He said Ippei's letter was misleading and left out important facts. The judge told Ippei, give it no credit, and sentenced him to 57 months in prison, almost five years and nearly five times the sentence the bookie Matt Boyer received from the same judge. The judge ordered Ippei to pay more than $18 million in restitution to Shohei and the IRS, a sum he noted was more than most people make in a lifetime and that Ippei attend Gamblers Anonymous. Shohei never attended any of Ippei's hearings, and his attorneys only participated in the case one time to file a motion requesting that Ippei's baseball cards, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, go to Shohei. The judge agreed. Prosecutors tell me that cases like Ippei's happen all of the time. Someone gets in over their head gambling and makes the fateful decision to steal from their employer, their friend, their family, someone who trusted them.

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

My office was doing dozens of these cases on a monthly basis involving older adults, involving different victims, people who'd had much smaller amounts taken from them.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

This is Martine Estrada, the former US Attorney who led the case against Ippe.

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

We did a lot of these cases that just didn't get as much attention.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

One of the challenges with sports betting is that its tells are hard to spot. Oftentimes, the people closest to the gambler have no idea it's even happening.

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

Confidants, lawyers, accountants, friends taking advantage of others. This is happening to people all over the country each and every day.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

But Ippei's case was unique, not just because of the amount of money that was involved, but because of the volume of bets. That he placed 19,000 bets in two

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

years, that was shocking, clearly showed that this was completely out of control.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Ippei was betting at all hours, day and night. He averaged more than two dozen bets each day. And it makes me think about how my colleague Tim Keown described Shohei and Ippei in the Angels clubhouse.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

They would sit at the table in the players lounge and hold each other's phones up to each other and laugh.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

They were together nearly all of the time, and Ippei was betting almost all of the time. All while apparently keeping the biggest secret of his life.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

How could he hide such a big part of his life from the one guy that he was with constantly?

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

And how did he ever expect to get away with it? I think about his interview with me. Why talk to me? Who let him get on the phone with me? And why lie about what Shohei knew?

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

You know, we have federal investigations to back up the fact that there's no reason to suspect Shohei. But there's just all this weirdness that preceded that that makes you wonder, how did this all break down?

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[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

When I reached out to Shohei's team about the story, they first said Shohei learned about Ippei's betting when Ippei asked him for help and paid Ippei's gambling debts as a way to help someone important to him. His spokesperson told me that the interview with Ippei would help clear up any questions I had going into that interview. I had anticipated that a smart PR guy could spin this into a story

[Investigator / Commentator]

that made Shohei look really good.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

It would be a bit of a scandal. Yes, Ippei would most likely get fired, but MLB's Most Valuable Player would come out of it looking like a stand

[Investigator / Commentator]

up guy who bailed out his friend.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

And in the beginning I did get a version of that story.

[Ippei Mizuhara]

Why did you use his bank account instead of like him sending you the money? Why use his account to pay? Initially he didn't. I don't think he trusted me with the money. Oh, that. He. He didn't want me to gamble it away.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

But Ippei's story began to evolve when I pushed for details about how the payments were made.

[Ippei Mizuhara]

So you. You turn around and say to Shohei, here's the wire transfer information. Do you show it to him on your phone? Do you text it to him? Do you do it for him? Like, how do you. How does that go? I did it on his behalf. Okay, supervision. So do you have access to his bank account? No, I don't. Okay, so when you say you did it on his behalf, explain to me how that works. I was with him on this laptop or computer, and I guess you could log in online banking and send a wire.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

In that first interview, Ippei said Shohei didn't just know about the payments, he

[Investigator / Commentator]

took part in them.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

He said he and Shohei didn't know that what they were doing might be illegal. And he told me all of this was Shohei's crisis spokesperson listening in on the call. But not long after the interview ended, that same spokesperson called me back in a panic, giving me a new version of events. Ippei had lied, he said, and Shohei knew nothing about any of it.

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

Good morning, you, Honor.

[Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell]

Jeff Mitchell and Rachel Agres on behalf of the United States.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

When Jeff Mitchell stood before the judge during Ippei's sentencing, he told the judge that Ippei created an international incident when he lied to me during our interview. That the interview sent shockwaves around the world and led to speculation that Shohei may have been involved with the gambling. That MLB even opened up its own investigation into Shohei because of what Mitchell described as Ippe's false statements. Mitchell told the judge, no matter how many times the government stands up and tells the world that Mr. Ohtani is a victim and that there is no evidence that he was ever involved in the gambling, people still refuse to believe it. These voices persist. Even though Ippe pleaded guilty. These voices persist in part because of the utter strangeness of the 24 hours before and after the interview. What I was being told kept changing so quickly and so dramatically. The feds say that when Ippei was talking to me that first time, Shohei didn't know anything about it. And then hours after the interview, after Shohei made his Dodgers debut, the team's management and Ippei told the whole team in a locker room meeting that a story was coming out about Ippei's gambling addiction. But because Ippei was talking during the meeting, no one translated for Shohei. And the feds say that it was only then, only when Shohei asked Ippei about what he had said that Shohei

[Investigator / Commentator]

learned what was going on for the first time.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Think about that. Ippei did the interview. He and Shohei laughed together in the dugout. The Dodgers won their game, and the Dodgers told the whole team all before Shohei learned that an ESPN investigative reporter was working on the story. And when he did find out, it was Ippe who broke the news. Ippei controlled the communication in every direction. The court records even show that Nez Bolellos, Shohei's agent, told the feds he did not speak directly to Shohei or regularly text with him. Instead, when Nez needed to talk to Shohei, he went through Ippei. Agencies are supposed to protect their clients, and this was the biggest client in the game. Why did Ippei have such unfettered access to the superstar and his money?

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

I have seen and talked to people who don't understand how. How the agents allowed this to happen.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Tim says there have been a lot of tough questions directed at Shohei's sports agency.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

There are people that have told me they don't understand why Ohtani is still working with caa. Like, why wouldn't he divorce himself of that? Because they had a hand in making him vulnerable and in allowing this to take place.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

$16 million of your money has been sent to a bookmaking operation which would violate MLB policy at bare minimum, which would mean you're now going to be under MLB investigation. That's a big allegation, right?

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

Yeah.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

And I think that there was this breakdown between the guys who are supposed to handle the money and the guy who has the money.

[Investigator / Commentator]

I've requested an interview with Shohei's agent, Nez Bolello. He declined. I've requested interviews with the Dodgers, the Angels, mlb. They all declined, too. David Fletcher, the infielder who was at the poker game where Ippe met Matt Boyer, has not responded to my calls since the story broke. He told me in an earlier conversation that he knew Boyer, but he had never bet with him. In May 2024, MLB also opened an investigation into him after we revealed he was one of Matt Boyer's clients. Fletcher was sent down to the Miners that season.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

I've written Ippe letters in prison.

[Tisha Thompson]

He hasn't replied.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

I continue to ask for an interview with Shohei. I've told his people it's a standing offer. But during Ippei's trial, when I called for comment, Shohei's crisis spokesperson told me that Shohei will never speak about what happened with Ippei, ever Again,

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

there's no benefit to him addressing it at this point. If I'm putting myself in Shohei's shoes, given what has happened since this went down, why would I need to talk about Ippei?

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

And as soon as Ippei was charged, Shohei went on a record breaking winning streak.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

2024 really seemed like he was a guy on a mission. Like he attacked the season is what it feels like. As good as he has been, this was a different gear. This was something literally we'd never seen before.

[Announcer / Play-by-play]

Shohei Ohtani arrives in October with a three run home run. He's proven to be inevitable.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season. That had never been done before.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

And just about six months after his public split with Ippe, Shohei and the Dodgers capped off the season by winning the World Series.

[Announcer / Play-by-play]

There's a shot right center field and Ohtani lights the fire. Alito pom run. Start the party. Los Angeles, your Dodgers have won the World Series.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

And then what do they do the next season?

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

Well, they do it again.

[Announcer / Play-by-play]

The Dodgers stand tall and win back to back titles.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

In the career of Shohei. Ippei is just a dot on a timeline. Now he's just a person from his past. Ippei's in prison. Shohei can add to that erasure by ignoring him.

[Investigator / Commentator]

Ippei is serving time at a minimum security federal prison in central Pennsylvania. He will become eligible for parole in 2029. Mitch Lively, one of the players Ippei interpreted for in Japan, told Tim he's been thinking about Ippei.

[Tim Keown (ESPN colleague)]

Now, do you wish you could call Ippei right now and ask him straight up?

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

Yeah, but I wouldn't ask him that because I'm sure that's heavy on his heart. I would just ask him how he's doing. Honestly, how you doing, man? That's what I'd want to ask him. You need anything? You helped me when I needed you. What can I do for you?

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Ippei's punishment doesn't end when he gets out of prison. He faces another three years of probation. And because he is a Japanese citizen convicted of a felony, he will most likely be deported.

[Jason Cosgray (Baseball writer)]

He's going to be a pariah in Japan. And not just because of what he did, because of who he did it to.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Jason Cosgray is an American baseball writer based in Tokyo.

[Jason Cosgray (Baseball writer)]

It's one thing to be famous for a crime of this magnitude, but it's another thing to be famous for a crime of this magnitude where you're robbing the Most famous person in the country, one of the most beloved people in the country.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Jason says the backlash against Ippei in Japan has been almost universal.

[Jason Cosgray (Baseball writer)]

In Japan, a lot of times, if the scandal is bad enough, you sort of just get erased in a way.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

When Tim went to Japan to report on Shohei, he found it difficult to get anyone to talk about Ipei. I've run into it, too. I've reached out to dozens of people

[Investigator / Commentator]

in my effort to better understand Ipei, and there's an intensity to their refusals

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

that's hard to explain. Japanese broadcasters won't even let us use their skills. Sound of Shohei playing baseball in Japan because they don't want to be included in a podcast about Ippei.

[Investigator / Commentator]

It's almost as if people want to erase Ippei from Shohei's legacy altogether.

[Jason Cosgray (Baseball writer)]

He was part of a book. There were some pages in some children's book that he was in. This is Ippei Mizuhara.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

There's a Japanese children's book about Shohei called Let's Play Baseball, the Shohei Ohtani Story. The first edition includes an illustration of Ippe standing next to Shohei at what looks like a Dodgers press conference. But in later versions that have come out since the scandal, think they took that out. Ippei's been erased. Shohei now just stands next to a blank wall. It's happening in the US in small ways as well. Ippei's high school in Diamond Bar had a profile of him posted on its famous alumni page. It's since been scrubbed from their website. And when you look at Shohei's Instagram, there are no longer any photos with Ippei. Almost from the moment they arrived in the US from Japan, Shohei and Ippei were presented to the world as friends, close friends. Ippei even told me that they were as close as brothers. But looking back, what little we know about their relationship actually comes from Ipei. In one of the few times Shohei

[Investigator / Commentator]

did comment on their relationship back in 2024, it at first sounds like Shohei

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

speaking through Ippei is making a joke. But now, after everything we've learned, this moment hits differently.

[Sponsor Voice (Choice Hotels)]

How did you redevelop your relationship with Ippei?

[Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell]

Yeah, we're not friends or any.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

We're just business partners. When I think back on it, Ippei had an extraordinary power as Shohei's interpreter. There's an intimacy to interpretation. Ippei not only decided what words most appropriately captured Shohei's ideas, but the subtext too. Whether he was being funny or ironic, sincere or emotional. For six years, everything the English speaking world heard and therefore believed about Shohei came from Ippei. Ippei constructed Shohei for us.

[Investigator / Commentator]

Now reading Ippei's letter about the realities

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

of his life, working for Shohei and seeing Ippei erased by Shohei's success, I wonder, was this ever even a friendship? On November 3, 2025, the Dodgers were back in their home stadium in front of tens of thousands of fans celebrating a second consecutive World Series win.

[Martine Estrada (Former US Attorney)]

Hello.

[Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell]

Hello.

[Tisha Thompson]

A year after his first World Series

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

speech, Shohei takes the mic again without an interpreter.

[Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell]

I want to say that I'm so proud of this team. And then I want to say, you guys, guys are the greatest fans in the world and I'm ready to get another reign next year.

[Announcer / Play-by-play]

Let's go.

[Alden Gonzalez (ESPN colleague)]

If he would have not succeeded with the Dodgers, this betting scandal would have consumed his entire career.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

This is my ESPN colleague, Alden Gonzalez.

[Alden Gonzalez (ESPN colleague)]

Now, the more he performs on the field, the more this feels like it's becoming a footnote in his career. Ippei has faded and this has faded further and further into the background because of what Shohei Ohtani has done on the field.

[Investigator / Commentator]

Shohei Ohtani is 32 years old and

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

only 3 years into his 10 year contract with the Dodgers.

[Alden Gonzalez (ESPN colleague)]

And I think with every home run he hits and every shutout he throws, every MVP he gets, this moves further and further down that story. The day that Shohyotani announces his retirement from Major League Baseball, how many graphs into that story is the Ippei betting scandal going to be?

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

If things go well for Ippe, he'll be leaving prison sometime in the spring of 2029. And if things go well for Shohei, he'll be starting another record breaking season with the Dodgers. Ultimately, only they know what really happened between them in their friendship and if

[Investigator / Commentator]

they were ever even friends to begin with.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

I've talked to one of them and we know he lied to me while I've been told the other won't go

[Investigator / Commentator]

on the record about it again.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

And as long as people keep betting on Shohei's success and Shohei keeps winning, he'll never have to say Ippe's name ever again.

[Tisha Thompson]

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 with Isabella Seaman 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 Voiceover by Genta Nakahara Vocal coaching by Noah Koslove Original music by Alison Layton Brown and John DeLore. Sound design by John DeLor.

[Investigator / Commentator]

Production assistants are Diamante McKelvey, Avia Owensby and Declan McMahon.

[Tisha Thompson]

Rights and clearances by Jennifer Thorpe and Cal Griffith Legal by Nathan Segal, Peter Scherman, Leanna Envinder, Callie Riot and Tamara Lore.

[Narrator / Reporter (Tisha Thompson)]

Eric Neal is senior director of content development.

[Tisha Thompson]

Mike Drago is senior deputy editor of investigative journalism. Chris Buckle is vice president of ESPN Investigative, Enterprise and digital journalism for a 30 for 30 podcast. Preeti Varathan is head of audio. Ben Weber is senior producer and director for 30 for 30. 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. This podcast was developed by Tara Nadalny, Phil Guidry and Cynthia Parabello. To listen to more sports series like this one. Search 30 for 30 podcasts wherever you listen to podcasts or find us at 30for30podcast.com thanks for listening.