An MVP, marriage, new team, the WBC, contract negotiations, injury, surgery, and betrayal. Shohei has had a roller coaster of an year

Anyone who criticizes Shohei should try opening a bank account in Japan without any assistance and complete all tasks in Japanese.

I can’t imagine how Shohej has been feeling this week😢 He lost a person he trusted the most. They’re like brothers. It’s beyond shocking to him. We all know Shohei is the most genuine & amazing person on this planet and didn’t have to go through this nightmare. I hope this matter will be solved as quick as possible so that our Shohei can focus on baseball ⚾️. Whoever is behind this should be arrested. I think Ippei was manipulated by evil folks who wants to drag Shohei down.

I trust and continue to trust Shohei's genuine dedication to the baseball, remembering his old interesting episodes. This is Shohei Ohtani, who asked his teammates of Nippon Ham Fighters, "what kind of fun would you have when spending time for drinking? I would think it is more meaningful to spend the time to play baseball" and who sent a video gift to his former Manager Kuriyama on the night of Christmas when everybody else was enjoying the night, the video which he recorded himself practicing on batting on that night.

Shohei, you’re loved by Dodgers fans. You’re a brave person and I’m sorry for you. I will be there opening day this Thursday and I look forward to watching you play. Much love ❤❤❤🧢⚾️

I can deeply empathize with his feelings of disappointment and betrayal. Hope this will be over soon. Stay strong Sho!

For people wondering the interpreter name is Will Ireton who has been working with the Dodgers for a long time and he’s Kenta Maeda old interpreter.

I believe this guy, because his personality, his discipline somehow tells me that he is not that stupid to jeopardize his contract, his career chasing nothing.

You can hear Ohtani’s tone in disappointment and anger in his former friend.

Never doubted Shohei.. his integrity intact.. let's go Dodgers!! Let's Go Shohei!

This is so incredibly sad… he not only lost money, but he lost a friend that he completely trusted…

いつでも冷静に話す大谷さんが、今日は怒りが感じられました。身の潔白を早く晴らしたいという気持ちも出ていたと思います。 心から信頼していた人からの裏切りは計り知れないし、ショックという一言で片付けられない事よく分かります。 ファンの私でさえ、大きなショックと悲しみでいっぱいです。 輝かしいシーズンの始まりだったはずが、こんな茨の道になるなんて… 心配でたまりませんが、なんとか乗り越えてくれることを願っています。ほとんどの人が大谷さんの事を信じ、応援していると思います。 どうか頑張ってください！！！

“It’s near impossible to wire 4.5 million.” People say this, but they don't realize how many people suffer from this kind of damage every year. They also don't realize that the closer someone is to someone, the easier it is to steal their password. What a pathetic imagination. Or that's just Jealous.

Its a tough spot he's in for sure. As a big time dodger hater i wish him the best, he is one of the faces of baseball and if he's not playing its bad for the sport.

We stand behind Shohei💪🏼🇺🇸🇯🇵

Shohei's new translator did an amazing job!!

Well done, Shohei. Used the correct chain of command to confront this issue.

I could hear the sadness and betrayal in shohei’s voice, he’s absolutely innocent and I feel terrible that he had to deal with this and the betrayal of a friend

As all of this was going on...i was just in shock and in disbelief ,NOT at the gambling allegations, but that people would actually think Shohei would actually participate in illegal gambling through an illegal bookie. The same guy who gave up hundreds of millions to play in the Majors....the same guy who gave his 150,000 homerun derby money to his staff..the same guy who picks up trash on the field....this guy who just got married...who eats, drinks, breathes baseball.. this guy who the baseball gods created to save baseball! No not this guy.. hell nah..

DODGERS NATION is behind you SHOHEI.

You know shohei ohtani is legit down to earth. He got offered 700millions and instead of having all the girls, mansion, sports car and a trip to eipstein island, he married the love of his life instead😅

Shohei we all stand with you on this one! 👍🏽

we love you shohei

This new translator guy just fell into the best job. Congrats dude!

He looks pissed and embarrassed. Completely understandable.

If this is true we should expect to see Ippei in handcuffs in due time. Since this would federal, I don’t think we’ll hear much until the investigation is completed.

For whatever it's worth I speak Japanese... Shohei came across here as very sincere, nothing inconsistent or uncertain, and his shock seems real too. If anything the translator (who still did a great job btw) understated how much Shohei is messed up over this. I'm inclined to believe him. Shohei thanking his translator at the end was a nice touch. Dude is a class act.

This is so traumatizing. It's like a death of someone he knew (figuratively. hoping not literally). I think we are all mourning of who we thought Ippei was because he was such a fixture in Shohei's life. I can't get over it and I'm just watching all of this. I can't fathom how Shohei feels, how Ippei's family and estranged wife feels. So painful and so sad.

We love you Shohei! We stand by you. Let’s go dodgers!

I stand 100% behind you Shohei! I have never doubted you!

It’s sad to lose a long time friend

The fact that he referred to ipei as ippei san says alot about sho

Keep your head up Shohei.

He would have stood behind......I cannot comment on anything.....if he had anything to do with it. Stand up guy All of the big media was insinuating that Shohei was involved. When something like this happens to you, you don't have to talk to the media. He did his research and talked to his lawyers and actually explained it very well.

extremely unfortunate situation. hope this is all resolved asap so that Shohei can focus on his game with out any anxieties or distraction from all the conspiracies out rn. now let’s play ball ⚾️ 💙🤍

Okay that's good enough for me. I believe you. Let just get back to watching good ball. Thanks.

Works for me - let’s play ball

大谷選手の様子を見る限り凄い精神力だと感じます。

Let’s Go Dodgers!!!! 🧢⚾️

Ohtani for MVP

Very few people doubt this man and hopefully the truth and justice will prevail. LA Loves Shohei and wishes him the best in clearing his name and getting past this awful situation.

Good thing is that Ohtani is married now and his wife will be in charge of handling his finances.

Go Dodgers! Go Shohei! We believe in you!

Great job to the translator. There are some nuanced things missed though. The way Shohei chose the words seems to indicate he has people (likely including/or just Ippei) to handle payments, thus access to his accounts.

Not a dodgers fan but he comes across as sincere. Ippei needs to go to jail.

He's either the best lier in the world, or telling the truth. Man seems very honest to me.

Ippei Mizuhara should have the book thrown at him. Shohei was badly betrayed.

He isn’t the first superstar to be stolen from in this fashion, he’s not worried about the money, but the betrayal….. wow

I could not even open an account if I lived in Japan and had to open a bank account and deal with all bank activities in other languages. I could not even check account information in Japanese. People who tried to blame him, could not imagine how hard it could be to live in another country. I understand he had to leave all to Ippei or other Shohei team members. Huge betrayal and such a tragedy. I feel for him.

Love you Shohei 💙💙🧢🧢

It is incredible to me how so many people just assume him guilty. Innocent until proven guilty

You can tell shohei is real, nothing to hide, straight facts!

I BELIEVE HIM! LETS PLAY!

Welcome back Will!

A friend helping a friend is honorable…a friend betrayed is sad. Go Shoehei stay 💪

Having a NY METS channel, i want to wish dodgers nation well and i want shohei to be there for his whole career with the dodgers !! Then of course , i want to kick the crap out of this loaded team in the playoffs !! May the best team win !!!!

I believe in you! Shohei！

Seemed genuine and makes sense that Ippei didn't reveal everything until after. It was hard to believe a friend would cover that much for gambling debt. His wife would kill him

We love you and stand behind you Shohei 100%!

He is sincere with his statements and sad for what is happening now.

Go Dodgers ❤ Shohei Ohtani ❤ Go Blue ❤LA ❤

Let's Go Dodgers!!!

Otani is truly a kind-hearted person. I think it is because when describing the traitor, he used the third person at first, but changed to Ippei-san in the middle of the story. Ippei-san is the name by which Otani addresses him intimately. This suggests that Otani is not so much angry at Ippei as he is distressed by the hardship Ippei is about to undergo.

I stand with Shohei!

I trust Shohei. He seems to be a stand up guy. I am willing to accept his word until shown otherwise

In summary, Ohtani just said clearly: *_"F¥ck you to all my haters._* *_Rest assure that I'll be staying in MLB until I retire._* *_And I'm going to win, not one, not two, but ten World Series championships with the Dodgers."_* 😆

Glad Ohtani had nothing to do with this situation. 👏💙

힘내라 오타니!! 한국에서 응원합니다!! 🇰🇷 頑張れ🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

LET'S PLAY BALL!

I'm glad that he talks before the home opening game, I totally believe Shohei Ohtani, it's sad and shocking to him😢, Ippei sucks😤 Let's go Dodgers 💙 Let's go Ohtani 🦄🤴💪⚾️

Love the subtitles. That was very informative.

오타니 화나고 슬픈 얼굴 첨 본다 미소가 다시 오기를 기도합니다 😢😢😢😢

case closed. innocent af. 🙂

Ohtani is too pure for this nasty world ❤

I believe him

I think he is more disappointed at his buddy rather than losing money. Which will probably come back to him.

Watch a video called “How Japan Took Over Baseball” by Baseball Doesn’t Exist. It’ll prove why Japanese baseball players like Shohei wouldn’t waste his time on gambling.

大谷さんがやる訳ないって信じてた。

We're on your side Shohei!

Americans, please believe in Ohtani.He's a really honest person.

I don't need to speak Japanese to get how mad, frustrated, and hurt Ohtani feels. I hope this all gets investigated and his name is completely cleared. To all the haters, remember that here you are presumed innocent.

Let's go Shohei. Never doubted you for a second. Ippei seemed off from the get-go

I believe you, Shohei! More believers than doubters and haters! Now, play ball! Win a WS Ring!

お忙しい中お疲れ様です。 これからも応援してます！！

He sounds pissed off.

The fact that there's not an army of lawyers around him lends a tremendous amount of credibility to his account of events.

Thank you for speaking up Shohei!! 明確に話していただき皆さん非常にスッキリしていると思います。 Wishing you a great season!

shohei，we always stand with you！

I can imagine that it's difficult for some Americans who do not know Ohtani's history and upbringing in Japan, including how he was even at the Angels to believe fully what Ohtani explained is believable and truth. But as a Japanese who have followed him in Japan and as he moved to MLB, I can attest to that what he said is 100% believable. Ohtani since he was a young boy was very focused with specific goals set and worked diligently on the path to achieving them. His parents and especially his mother was instrumental in providing the support he needed so that he can focus 100% on his tasks (the baseball). This is why if you are a baseball fan in Japan, this is a very well known story and everyone in Japan know that Ohtani's mother took 100% control of his money (income and expenses) and the set up was simple for Ohtani in that she gave him monthly allowance of minimum amount of money. Ohtani used team dormitory to live and team supplied meals 100% to focus on baseball. This is how he lived in Japan as a NPB player era. Ohtani is known to be very frugal and does not spend money like normal pro athletes do. He is not interested in fashion, clothing, shoes, cars, basically not interested in tangible material stuff. Again, this is very well known in Japan about him. Ippei Mizuhara was smart in that he put himself in the position with Ohtani to take care of all of his personal duties out side of baseball so that Ohtani can just focus on baseball as he did in Japan. The identical set up that he had with his mother. Ippei was a perfect man for it and Ohtani trusted him 100%. So in this context, it is very plausible and most likely the case that Ippei had this role (similar to the role Ohtani's mother had in Japan) for Ohtani since he became MLB player. Ippei is not just a translator for Ohtani. Ippei was essentially Ohtani's personal caretaker, personal assistant, consultant, butler, driver, shopper and a good friend who took care of all Ohtani's needs to start his life and live in the USA. He therefore had access to Ohtani's bank accounts and was probably helping him on setting up the payables, bills for his expenses etc etc. Don't forget, Ohtani has no experience managing his own money in the past, he is also oblivious to all the living expenses and set ups especially in the USA. Ippei was the perfect friend and paid worker for him to do these tasks for him. In this set up, Ippei can easily transfer Ohtani's money, even 4.5 million without Ohtani knowing (again, Ohtani has been very naive, trusting and indifferent about money matters, except that he knows that he has been getting 50 to 75 million per year on endorsements and baseball contracts even in the past years, so 4.5 million may not be so significant in this light and could not be noticeable if he was trusting Ippei to manage). Agent is there to deal with the baseball contracts and he is not Japanese so he would not have known his personal contents. This is why Ippei is said to have been paid upwards of $400,000 per year to work for Ohtani, where as a regular personal translator working 9 to 5 is paid $150,000ish for a pro-athlete. So you guys take a rest on speculating and jumping to conclusion about Ohtani in this situation. Eventually the investigation will shed a better light on what I am talking about. 返信

I believe Ohtani %100 and I’m sad and angry at Mizuhara for putting him in this situation

I don’t know if people realize that in Japanese culture, you don’t lie. It is an island nation and so it is extremely important that you treat others with dignity and forthrightness. This magnifies the hurt that Shohei is feeling. As a Japanese American (third generation), I do register this feeling of hurt and betrayal almost to the point of tears. Shohei is a standup guy who married his longtime sweetheart (whom he recently referred to as “a normal Japanese girl”). I am now hoping he and his wife have a good and decent life. 😂

If there were any wrong doing on Shohei’s part, he trusted too much. He was too focused on baseball and baseball only, he made wide openings for people who want’s to take advantage of him. Either way, very proud of Shohei. 翔平君、理路整然と説明して大変立派でした。大変でしょうけど、もう心配せずに身体を大事に野球を楽しんで下さい。

大谷翔平選手頑張って下さい応援しています。

It's a relief to hear the truth, but no surprise - I couldn't believe that Shohei would risk everything to involve himself in gambling and the story from Ippei that Ohtani had paid his debts seemed a big stretch. I believe Shohei 100%. Now he can put this behind him - thankfully he can absorb the theft of 4 1/2 million better than most.

Shohei would be a complete idiot to come out and give this type of clear-the-air type interview if he had anything to do with this garbage. The authorities are fully involved (not just MLB) and if he was involved it would come out in the end. The fact that he came out and did this type of interview and the Dodgers and his lawyers were fine to let him go out there and do this ... makes me believer he has nothing to hide. He was guilty of trusting the wrong people and being ignorant in regard to his finances. A costly life lesson ... but it's time to move on and Play Ball!

It is unfortunate but better to move on to the next chapter with his new team and wife . Haters speculating the last few days please leave him alone lol

I was appalled when I heard the news. Knowing that he was scammed and the guy was stealing from his account blows my mind. This poor guy not only lost money but was also investigated by the FBI, and on top of all, he was betrayed by a friend. He just moved to the Dodgers. He must be exhausted!!! I hope he goes through the motions of this fast and continues playing without being marked by this.

how was ippei able to get access to shohei's bank account and send out such huge sums, normally the bank has a verification process set up before a transfer can be approved.

It is possible to complete the wire transfer if you have all the information when the bank calls you to make sure it is actually you making the transfer and it isn’t an online hacker. If Ippei had all the necessary information, he can simply pretend to be Ohtani when the bank calls. Therefore, it is possible for Ippei to do this without Ohtani’s knowledge and if Ohtani doesn’t look at his bank balance, it is possible he didn’t notice 4.5 million was missing.

The biggest question still unanswered: "How did Ipe get into your computer and then onto your bank account?" 2) If he had permission, how often was this a habit? 3) You never recognized that $4.5Mm was gone?