THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 1: The Letter O — Transcript

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1. 0:13[screaming]
2. 0:14>> It's November 2024 and the Los Angeles
3. 0:17Dodgers are in their home stadium
4. 0:19celebrating their World Series win.
5. 0:22>> [cheering]
6. 0:22>> The players line up on the podium. Team
7. 0:25manager Dave Roberts takes the mic and
8. 0:27introduces some of the stars.
9. 0:34And then he calls out the name
10. 0:35everyone's waiting for.
11. 0:40>> [screaming]
12. 0:42>> Shohei Ohtani just finished his first
13. 0:45season with the Dodgers.
14. 0:47He's a head taller than a lot of his
15. 0:48teammates and he's wearing a t-shirt and
16. 0:51backwards ball cap when he gives a shy
17. 0:53grin as he takes the mic.
18. 0:57>> [laughter]
19. 0:58>> Uh this is so special moment movie.
20. 1:02>> [cheering]
21. 1:02>> This is one of the first times that
22. 1:04Shohei has spoken publicly in English
23. 1:07without an interpreter.
24. 1:09>> I'm so honored to be here and
25. 1:12to be part of this team.
26. 1:15Congratulations Los Angeles.
27. 1:17Thank you fans.
28. 1:20>> That's all he says and the crowd
29. 1:22absolutely loves it.
30. 1:28By any measure Shohei's first season
31. 1:30with the Dodgers was extraordinary.
32. 1:32[music]
33. 1:32>> Here's the 2-1.
34. 1:34There is a drive.
35. 1:36IT'S OUT.
36. 1:37SHOHEI OHTANI ARRIVES IN OCTOBER WITH A
37. 1:41three-run home run.
38. 1:43Ohtani sends one in the air. Back it
39. 1:46goes.
40. 1:47Gone.
41. 1:48>> [cheering]
42. 1:51>> One-of-a-kind player.
43. 1:53One-of-a-kind season.
44. 1:56Shohei Ohtani starts the 50-50 club.
45. 2:02>> [music]
46. 2:04>> Many believe he could become the best
47. 2:05baseball player of all time.
48. 2:07>> It's really not hyperbole, guys, [music]
49. 2:09to say that Shohei Ohtani is the new
50. 2:11Babe Ruth.
51. 2:13>> Ohtani, right field, forget about it.
52. 2:17A massive shot.
53. 2:19Wow.
54. 2:22>> It's the kind of success that helps
55. 2:24overshadow what happened just months
56. 2:26before at the start of this season, when
57. 2:29Shohei was caught up in a scandal that
58. 2:32could have ended it all.
59. 2:33>> We're going to turn to the scandal
60. 2:35rocking Major League Baseball. Shohei
61. 2:37Ohtani is set to address the media
62. 2:39today.
63. 2:40>> has the potential to be one of the
64. 2:41biggest sports scandals that we've ever
65. 2:42seen, certainly one of the biggest
66. 2:43baseball scandals that we've ever seen.
67. 2:46>> Our team at ESPN broke the story. It
68. 2:49tied the money of one of the highest
69. 2:51paid players in baseball history to a
70. 2:54vast illegal sports betting operation.
71. 2:58But when it was over,
72. 3:00he would walk away, and someone else,
73. 3:03someone close to him,
74. 3:05>> [music]
75. 3:05>> would confess to a shocking crime,
76. 3:08disappearing in disgrace.
77. 3:10>> [music]
78. 3:10>> Shohei Ohtani!
79. 3:13>> And in this moment, at the World Series
80. 3:15celebration, you could almost forget it
81. 3:18ever happened.
82. 3:20>> Thank you, fans.
83. 3:21>> [music]
84. 3:22>> But 2 years later, I still have so many
85. 3:25questions.
86. 3:26So, I'm going [music] to travel the
87. 3:27country, chase down leads, and try to
88. 3:29understand how one of sports' most
89. 3:31complicated friendships [music]
90. 3:33detonated into one of the biggest
91. 3:35scandals in baseball history.
92. 3:37>> Here's the pitch to Ohtani.
93. 3:38>> [music]
94. 3:41>> Arguably the greatest player that's ever
95. 3:43played the game.
96. 3:45>> Federal [music] investigation. Quest
97. 3:47about wire transfers. 4 and 1/2 million
98. 3:49dollars to a Southern California [music]
99. 3:51bookmaker. And he has no idea of it.
100. 3:54>> I'm ESPN [music] investigative reporter
101. 3:57Tisha Thompson from 30 for 30 podcasts.
102. 4:00This is the betrayal of Shohei Ohtani.
103. 4:03>> [music]
104. 4:04>> Episode 1,
105. 4:06the letter O.
106. 4:10>> This episode is presented by Gusto. When
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122. 4:47>> [music]
123. 4:51>> I started working on this story a year
124. 4:53before Shohei won that World Series when
125. 4:56a source sent me a tip.
126. 4:58At first, the tip seemed to have nothing
127. 5:00to do with baseball or any sport. It was
128. 5:03information from a federal court
129. 5:05document still under seal. A list of
130. 5:08items that had been seized from a house
131. 5:11in California.
132. 5:12It included the kinds of things you
133. 5:14might expect from a federal raid,
134. 5:16computers, hard drives, and cell phones.
135. 5:19But, there were also $40,000
136. 5:22Breitling watches, handbags from Chanel,
137. 5:25Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and casino chips.
138. 5:29Lots and lots of casino chips.
139. 5:34Why were the feds interested in it?
140. 5:36Because all of these things were taken
141. 5:39from a house owned by a man
142. 5:42named Matt Bowyer.
143. 5:45The feds also seized a cash counting
144. 5:48machine, sports betting records, and
145. 5:50receipts for offshore bank wires. And
146. 5:53that's when I say to myself, I think
147. 5:56Matt Bowyer is a bookie. A person who
148. 5:59takes bets, pays them out when they win,
149. 6:02and collects when they lose.
150. 6:04>> [music]
151. 6:04>> My source confirms it. Matt Bowyer is a
152. 6:07bookie, but he isn't just any bookie.
153. 6:10According to my source, his clients
154. 6:12include celebrities, millionaires, and
155. 6:14seemingly one of the most famous
156. 6:17athletes in the world. When my source
157. 6:19tells me the name of that athlete, it's
158. 6:22a name so big, so shocking, that all I
159. 6:25write down is the letter O.
160. 6:28>> [music]
161. 6:30>> You tell me the name of the athlete
162. 6:32involved
163. 6:33and that the Feds are involved in an
164. 6:36investigation, and that is why we have
165. 6:38to be so careful.
166. 6:40>> This is my editor, Elaine Tang.
167. 6:42>> We're really worried about putting a
168. 6:43rumor out there that then comes back to
169. 6:45us as fact. We have to be really careful
170. 6:48about going out and saying like, "Hey,
171. 6:50like do you think is Shohei Ohtani
172. 6:52gambling with a a bookie?"
173. 6:54>> This tip was so potentially damning, we
174. 6:57needed to tread really carefully because
175. 6:59it could turn into a very grown-up
176. 7:01version of that kids game telephone,
177. 7:04where someone whispers something to
178. 7:05someone and then they whisper it to
179. 7:07someone else and by the time it comes
180. 7:08back to you it's totally different from
181. 7:10what you said. I couldn't just ask
182. 7:12sources questions like, "Hey, does
183. 7:14Shohei gamble?" Even if the answer was
184. 7:16no, they might tell someone else in the
185. 7:18clubhouse that ESPN was asking if Shohei
186. 7:20gambled. And then that person says to
187. 7:22someone else, "Hey, I heard Shohei
188. 7:24gambles." By the time I call several
189. 7:26someones later, that person then says to
190. 7:29me, "Oh yeah, I have heard he gambles."
191. 7:31All I have done is confirm a rumor that
192. 7:34I started. A rumor about Shohei Ohtani
193. 7:37paying millions of dollars to an illegal
194. 7:39bookie.
195. 7:40>> I think it was the amount of money
196. 7:42involved as well as the caliber of the
197. 7:46athlete that feels really loaded and you
198. 7:50know, extremely damaging if true, right?
199. 7:52To the athlete, their reputation, their
200. 7:55career.
201. 7:57>> It's a very serious allegation.
202. 7:59>> [music]
203. 7:59>> I want to learn everything I can about
204. 8:01what someone could get themselves into
205. 8:03betting with a bookie. So, I head to the
206. 8:06sports betting epicenter of the country.
207. 8:08>> We are in Austin, Vegas, baby.
208. 8:12>> I'm in Las [music] Vegas to meet with
209. 8:13the reporter I think knows more about
210. 8:15bookies and sports betting than anyone
211. 8:17else in the business.
212. 8:19>> What do you think the biggest money
213. 8:20maker is for the uh
214. 8:21>> casino?
215. 8:22>> Penny slots.
216. 8:23>> That's correct.
217. 8:24>> Yeah, am I right?
218. 8:25>> That's correct.
219. 8:26>> This is ESPN's David Purdum. I met him
220. 8:28in a casino just off the Vegas strip.
221. 8:31We sit down in a room near the sports
222. 8:33book watching as people place bets.
223. 8:36>> Do they put the sports book in the back
224. 8:38on purpose?
225. 8:40>> To make you walk through all the uh slot
226. 8:41machines.
227. 8:46>> I wanted to talk to Purdum about the tip
228. 8:48I received because he has a massive
229. 8:50Rolodex of sources in the sports betting
230. 8:52world. Had you ever heard of Matt Boyer
231. 8:54before?
232. 8:55>> I had not.
233. 8:56Never heard of him.
234. 8:56>> We gave you Matt Boyer's name and you
235. 8:59called sources. You do the David Purdum
236. 9:02magic and disappear for 12 hours and
237. 9:06came back with info.
238. 9:08>> Right. I usually go to you start with
239. 9:10your guys that you know of have had this
240. 9:13and when they didn't know I had to
241. 9:14expand and I did and found some people
242. 9:17that knew of him
243. 9:19and then when we found out that he was
244. 9:20coming to Vegas a lot I talked to people
245. 9:22here and and they knew of him.
246. 9:25>> A source warned Purdum that Boyer was
247. 9:27connected to a man with a dangerous
248. 9:29reputation, a guy named Owen Hanson, a
249. 9:32former USC football player who became
250. 9:35known as the cocaine QB.
251. 9:37When I got the original tip, Hanson was
252. 9:40in prison for bookmaking and drug
253. 9:42trafficking and was rumored to have ties
254. 9:44to the cartel.
255. 9:46>> We had a source who was involved with
256. 9:49running money for that group and he was
257. 9:52telling us be careful, right? Because
258. 9:55Owen Hanson was not known as
259. 9:57a good person. He was known as a violent
260. 9:59person
261. 10:01around the betting community and when
262. 10:03there was ties to to Boyer,
263. 10:06there was concern.
264. 10:08>> Over the next few weeks, we gathered
265. 10:10more sources and confirmed Boyer was
266. 10:12running a huge sports book operation in
267. 10:14Southern California.
268. 10:16>> Is California
269. 10:18more prolific with bookies than other
270. 10:20parts of the world?
271. 10:22>> Massive, massive bookmaking operations
272. 10:23in California.
273. 10:24>> Why?
274. 10:25>> Cuz there's no legal sports betting.
275. 10:29>> Sports betting is now legal in 39
276. 10:31states, plus Washington D.C. and Puerto
277. 10:34Rico. Depending on where you live, you
278. 10:36can place bets through a state-licensed
279. 10:38app, a website, or in a casino or a bar
280. 10:41in those states. But unless you're
281. 10:43betting on a horse race, [music] sports
282. 10:45betting in California is illegal. There
283. 10:49is no legal way to place a sports bet
284. 10:51there.
285. 10:52>> [music]
286. 10:52>> Not on DraftKings, not on FanDuel, not
287. 10:55in the tribal casinos. So if you live in
288. 10:58California and you want to bet on
289. 11:00sports, [music]
290. 11:01you either have to go somewhere like
291. 11:02Vegas or find a bookie, which is of
292. 11:06course illegal. [music]
293. 11:08But there are many reasons why someone
294. 11:09might want to use a bookie even if the
295. 11:12state they live in has legal sports
296. 11:14[music] betting. Perdomo says a big
297. 11:16reason is credit.
298. 11:18>> People want to bet on credit. You don't
299. 11:20want to give over your cash. If you can
300. 11:21bet on credit, huge advantage. I can
301. 11:24just place my bet for $100 and my money
302. 11:26never changes hands. You go down a
303. 11:28thousand bucks, the guy says okay, let's
304. 11:30meet up at the Waffle House
305. 11:32And you go there and you pass over an
306. 11:34envelope, and that's how it's done.
307. 11:37>> Another reason someone might seek out a
308. 11:39bookie is anonymity.
309. 11:41>> If you are an athlete betting with the
310. 11:44DraftKings, there's a chance that we
311. 11:45could find it.
312. 11:47But if you could be betting with this
313. 11:49illegal sports book over here, I would
314. 11:51not be able to know it.
315. 11:53>> So, Purdum says a celebrity who wants to
316. 11:56bet discreetly might use a bookie.
317. 11:59When I told him that Shohei Ohtani was
318. 12:02the athlete my source told me might be
319. 12:04involved with Matt Boyer,
320. 12:06>> I was stunned. I remember
321. 12:08[clears throat]
322. 12:08when you relayed the message to who the
323. 12:11athlete was, I was like, "Oh my gosh." I
324. 12:13believe I cursed.
325. 12:16>> Why is sports betting such a sensitive
326. 12:21topic [music] for Major League Baseball?
327. 12:24>> Well, you start with the Black Sox way
328. 12:26back at the beginning of the century.
329. 12:29The Chicago White Sox,
330. 12:31several players of them got
331. 12:34engaged with some criminals, and they
332. 12:39allegedly agreed to throw a World
333. 12:41Series.
334. 12:42>> [music]
335. 12:43>> Major League Baseball banned eight
336. 12:45players from the Chicago White Sox for
337. 12:47life.
338. 12:48>> [music]
339. 12:48>> And after that scandal, the league
340. 12:50created a set of rules about betting on
341. 12:52sports. It forbids players, coaches, and
342. 12:55staff from using a bookie, and you may
343. 12:58never bet on baseball.
344. 13:00>> So, that was the big one. The next time
345. 13:02you get some sort of a betting scandal,
346. 13:04Pete Rose.
347. 13:04>> Number 4,192
348. 13:07makes Pete Rose the all-time Major
349. 13:10League Baseball hit leader. It comes
350. 13:12>> All-time hits leader. He eventually
351. 13:15admitted to betting on the game of
352. 13:17baseball.
353. 13:18>> I was wrong. I just stupid. [music]
354. 13:20Worst thing I ever did in my life.
355. 13:23>> In 1989, MLB punished Pete Rose with a
356. 13:25lifetime ban for betting on baseball.
357. 13:30Pete Rose was one of the greatest ball
358. 13:32players of his generation. He holds
359. 13:34records that have never been broken.
360. 13:36>> [music]
361. 13:37>> But all of his feats on the field have
362. 13:39been overshadowed by what he did off the
363. 13:41field. [music]
364. 13:42Could Shohei Ohtani, the greatest player
365. 13:44of his generation, be the next Pete
366. 13:47Rose?
367. 13:48>> [music]
368. 13:48>> If they were to have found out that he
369. 13:50was betting on baseball, he would have
370. 13:51been banned for life. And this is your
371. 13:54biggest star, banned for life.
372. 13:56>> [music]
373. 13:59>> Part of what made the allegations so
374. 14:01shocking was how Shohei Ohtani had a
375. 14:03reputation for being squeaky clean.
376. 14:06Before this, there's never been a
377. 14:08whisper of a scandal attached to his
378. 14:10name, which makes it all the more
379. 14:12surprising to hear allegations that he
380. 14:14might be tied to a bookie with dangerous
381. 14:17connections.
382. 14:19But we realized we don't actually know
383. 14:21all that much about Shohei's life
384. 14:23outside of baseball.
385. 14:25>> He is the most guarded and protected
386. 14:30athlete that I think I've ever been
387. 14:32around.
388. 14:33>> This is ESPN's Tim Keown. Tim
389. 14:36specializes in writing profiles of the
390. 14:38most famous and often times
391. 14:40controversial names in sports. People
392. 14:43like Barry Bonds, Aaron Rodgers, Floyd
393. 14:46Mayweather Jr. Tim says he's been trying
394. 14:48to decipher the enigma that is Shohei
395. 14:51Ohtani ever since he first arrived here
396. 14:53in the United States.
397. 14:55>> When he came here, I first started
398. 14:57observing him knowing that I was going
399. 15:00to have to observe him to write about
400. 15:03him rather than talk to him because it
401. 15:04was established early on that it was a
402. 15:06dead end. He will only take questions
403. 15:09about the game and and very few, three,
404. 15:11maybe four in each language. And these
405. 15:13are in like
406. 15:14bit questions. I want to know like, you
407. 15:17just threw 117 pitches, are you What do
408. 15:19you feel today? And he would not He just
409. 15:21doesn't entertain those. He's just not
410. 15:23built that way.
411. 15:25>> Tim says most of what you know about
412. 15:27Shohei is limited to what Shohei is
413. 15:30willing to tell you, and it rarely
414. 15:32leaves the realm of the ballpark. And
415. 15:34when it does, it's on Shohei's terms.
416. 15:37Like when he got married, people didn't
417. 15:39even know Shohei was in a relationship
418. 15:41until he posted about his wife on
419. 15:43Instagram.
420. 15:44>> He has lots of titles, MVP,
421. 15:47gazillionaire, superstar, but
422. 15:50>> husband had eluded him until now, and he
423. 15:52made the announcement where else but on
424. 15:53social media that reads, "Not only have
425. 15:56I begun a new chapter in my career with
426. 15:57the Dodgers, but I also have begun a new
427. 16:00life with someone from my native country
428. 16:02of Japan who is very special to me, and
429. 16:04I wanted everyone to know I am now
430. 16:06married."
431. 16:08>> Shohei's teammates and even Dodgers
432. 16:10manager Dave Roberts didn't know about
433. 16:12it.
434. 16:16>> I felt like it was a good timing cuz
435. 16:17it's before the season. I didn't want
436. 16:19really any distractions once the season
437. 16:20started.
438. 16:21>> I think there is this that sort of the
439. 16:24aura, right? Like just leave him alone
440. 16:27to do what he does because the
441. 16:28distractions are not
442. 16:31something he's interested in. He's not
443. 16:32interested in in talking to me, to be
444. 16:34honest. He does it as an obligation
445. 16:37after he pitches. If he hits two home
446. 16:38runs in a game, he'll stand there and
447. 16:40answer questions in the most anodyne way
448. 16:43possible.
449. 16:44>> Are you nervous at all playing in the
450. 16:46postseason for the first time?
451. 16:49>> [laughter]
452. 16:51>> But the league, the teams, and the fans
453. 16:53don't seem to mind not knowing much
454. 16:55about Shohei's life off the field
455. 16:57because what's happening on the field is
456. 16:59record-breaking.
457. 17:00>> Another strikeout.
458. 17:01>> He's really challenged our idea of
459. 17:04limits because he has shown his talent
460. 17:06to be limitless. He does the two things
461. 17:09that excite baseball people more than
462. 17:11anything else.
463. 17:12>> Ohtani deals. That's a called strike
464. 17:15three.
465. 17:15>> He can throw a baseball over 100 miles
466. 17:17an hour and he can hit a ball 500 ft.
467. 17:19>> Pop it over the roof.
468. 17:21>> It's like the two headline acts of
469. 17:24baseball.
470. 17:26He is among the best in the world at
471. 17:28both, if not the best. [music]
472. 17:30>> And there goes Ohtani. It's a lead-off
473. 17:34home run after he struck out three in
474. 17:36the top of the first.
475. 17:38>> He is a dream for Major League Baseball.
476. 17:41>> [music]
477. 17:42>> And the Dodgers rewarded him in the fall
478. 17:43of 2023 with a record-breaking contract.
479. 17:47>> It is the announcement that took the
480. 17:48baseball [music] world by storm today.
481. 17:50>> $700 million
482. 17:52over 10 years.
483. 17:53>> Oh my goodness. Come on.
484. 17:59>> One of the league's premier franchises
485. 18:01made a historic bet on Shohei because
486. 18:03they knew his success would be their
487. 18:06success. They stood to make a lot of
488. 18:08money, too. Ticket sales, merchandise,
489. 18:11partnerships. Shohei's success could pay
490. 18:14off big time for the Dodgers and MLB.
491. 18:17Shohei himself makes more than $125
492. 18:20million in endorsements a year with much
493. 18:24of that money coming from advertisements
494. 18:26in Japan.
495. 18:27>> When I was there, I was shocked by you
496. 18:30could literally not walk more than two
497. 18:32blocks in Tokyo without seeing his face
498. 18:34on something, whether it was a green tea
499. 18:37or a water, sports drink, or Hugo Boss,
500. 18:41or something. I mean, everywhere is
501. 18:43Ohtani.
502. 18:44>> After touching down in Tokyo, it's easy
503. 18:46to see Ohtani mania is really a thing.
504. 18:50Everyone in Japan is by default a Shohei
505. 18:53fan.
506. 18:54>> [cheering]
507. 18:56>> The appetite for Ohtani, the love for
508. 18:58Ohtani,
509. 18:59appears to be as limitless as his
510. 19:01talent.
511. 19:02>> If Shohei's reputation takes a hit, it
512. 19:05wouldn't just tarnish his name. It would
513. 19:07have devastating consequences for the
514. 19:09Dodgers, for Major League Baseball, and
515. 19:11for Japan.
516. 19:13>> When you were first told that Ohtani
517. 19:16might be involved in some kind of
518. 19:18betting scandal, what was your initial
519. 19:20reaction?
520. 19:22>> Shock. Shock combined with sort of a
521. 19:25reassessment of everything I had seen
522. 19:28leading up to that.
523. 19:30Plus another layer of like
524. 19:35who knows?
525. 19:37>> I'd been investigating this tip for 2
526. 19:39months when in January 2024, a source
527. 19:43tells me to look at a different player
528. 19:45who may be a critical link.
529. 19:47David Fletcher was an infielder for the
530. 19:50Los Angeles Angels. He and Shohei played
531. 19:53together for six seasons and Tim tells
532. 19:55me it was widely known that they were
533. 19:57friends.
534. 19:59>> They played bumper pool together and
535. 20:00they played Clash of Clans and was just
536. 20:03this sort of, you know, buddy comedy,
537. 20:05this little white guy and this big
538. 20:08Japanese guy buddying around.
539. 20:10>> Fletcher's social media shows he is an
540. 20:12avid poker player.
541. 20:14>> I don't think he broadcast it, but I
542. 20:16don't think he hid it.
543. 20:17>> And his love of poker would end up being
544. 20:19vital to our investigation.
545. 20:22When I call him in January, Fletcher
546. 20:25admits to me he knows Matt Bowyer. They
547. 20:28had golf together, but he wouldn't call
548. 20:30them friends.
549. 20:31Fletcher tells me he heard that Bowyer
550. 20:33might be a bookie, but he insists he's
551. 20:36never bet with Bowyer.
552. 20:38Worried about spreading a rumor, I don't
553. 20:40ask if Bowyer is Shohei's bookie. I
554. 20:43don't ask anything about Shohei.
555. 20:49By this point, I've developed more
556. 20:51sources and I learn there is a paper
557. 20:54trail that connects Shohei Ohtani to
558. 20:56Matt Bowyer.
559. 20:57And I've tracked [music] down a source
560. 20:59who has that proof. But they're nervous
561. 21:02and it takes weeks before the source
562. 21:03agrees to show it to me
563. 21:05>> [music]
564. 21:05>> and they're not going to make it easy.
565. 21:10It's the middle of the night. [music]
566. 21:12I'm driving to meet my contact. I find
567. 21:14them standing outside of a car in a
568. 21:16parking [music] lot waiting for me. I
569. 21:18drop into the passenger seat. The
570. 21:20contact hands me a cell phone
571. 21:22>> [music]
572. 21:22>> and tells me the proof I want will
573. 21:24appear on an encrypted app, and each
574. 21:26image will disappear in [music] 30
575. 21:28seconds. I can't take pictures, but I
576. 21:30can take notes. I pull out my [music]
577. 21:33notebook, and I tell my contact,
578. 21:35"I'm ready."
579. 21:37A document appears on the screen.
580. 21:39September 14th, 2023, $500,000.
581. 21:44I spot the word loan and scribble it
582. 21:45down in my notebook, but I don't have
583. 21:47time to ask questions because the second
584. 21:49document appears. October 2nd, 2023,
585. 21:53$500,000.
586. 21:55Both documents include the same long
587. 21:57list of numbers on the screen. Later,
588. 22:00after I drive away, I will stare at the
589. 22:02jumble of letters and numbers I
590. 22:03scribbled into my notebook, and I'll
591. 22:05realize it's routing information. I just
592. 22:08saw wire transfers from a bank account
593. 22:10at Bank of America, and there's a name
594. 22:13attached to the account.
595. 22:15Shohei Ohtani.
596. 22:17>> [music]
597. 22:19>> According to the screenshots I just saw,
598. 22:21Shohei Ohtani's bank account sent wire
599. 22:23transfers to Mathew Bowyer's illegal
600. 22:25bookmaking operation. [music]
601. 22:27I saw two of them totaling a million
602. 22:29dollars.
603. 22:30I've got it. The direct link between
604. 22:33Shohei and the bookie's operation.
605. 22:35[music]
606. 22:36But before I can even begin to wrap my
607. 22:38head around what I've seen, a source
608. 22:40reaches out with new [music] information
609. 22:43and a new name.
610. 22:45>> Interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
611. 22:48>> Ippei Mizuhara. Shohei's interpreter for
612. 22:52the past 6 years.
613. 22:53>> [music]
614. 22:54>> The source tells me Ippei is prepared to
615. 22:57say he was the one gambling and that
616. 23:00Shohei was paying his debts.
617. 23:04>> [music]
618. 23:11[music]
619. 23:15>> If there's someone we know even less
620. 23:17about than Shohei Ohtani, it's Ippei
621. 23:19Mizuhara, Shohei's interpreter. His
622. 23:22biography provided by the Los Angeles
623. 23:24Angels says Ippei was born in Japan but
624. 23:26grew up in Southern California. Before
625. 23:29he joined the Angels, Ippei worked in
626. 23:31Japan for the Nippon Ham Fighters
627. 23:32baseball team as an interpreter for
628. 23:34American players. And that's where he
629. 23:37met Shohei. And when Shohei signed with
630. 23:39the Angels in December of 2017, he
631. 23:42brought Ippei along with him as his
632. 23:44interpreter.
633. 23:45>> I want to talk about about why I joined
634. 23:47the Angels, but I want you guys to see
635. 23:49me I'm trying to adjust with the team
636. 23:51throughout the spring training and maybe
637. 23:53they I think you guys will be find out
638. 23:55why I chose the Angels. That was the
639. 23:57right choice.
640. 23:58>> Ever since they arrived in the states,
641. 24:00Shohei and Ippei are always together
642. 24:03with Ippei seemingly just a few steps
643. 24:05behind Shohei at all times. And Ippei
644. 24:08does a lot more than just translate.
645. 24:11Ippei carries Shohei's gear. When Shohei
646. 24:14needs a ride, Ippei drives him. When
647. 24:16Shohei warms up for a game, he doesn't
648. 24:18use a pitching coach, he throws to
649. 24:20Ippei. When Shohei competed in the 2021
650. 24:23MLB Home Run Derby, he chose Ippei to be
651. 24:26his catcher.
652. 24:27>> What [music] a fun moment that's going
653. 24:29to be for him.
654. 24:29>> he's not having to catch too much.
655. 24:31>> [laughter]
656. 24:33>> They walk red carpets together.
657. 24:35Teammates and others have even wondered
658. 24:36if the two men live together, but
659. 24:39they've never confirmed it.
660. 24:41>> Your day in a life with with Shohei, I
661. 24:42mean, what do you guys do throughout the
662. 24:44day before you even get here to the
663. 24:45ballpark?
664. 24:47>> Um we eat breakfast every day at the
665. 24:49hotel before on the road. If not at
666. 24:52home,
667. 24:53then it's pretty much it.
668. 24:56>> It got to the point where, you know,
669. 24:59I wondered how could you spend that much
670. 25:01time with one person?
671. 25:03>> When my colleague Tim Keown began to
672. 25:05watch Shohei and Ippei off the field, it
673. 25:07was clear to him that Ippei was
674. 25:09different from other interpreters.
675. 25:11>> To call him an interpreter is almost
676. 25:13laughable because that was almost the
677. 25:16least important part of his job. And the
678. 25:20the routine was always the same where
679. 25:22Shohei would walk out onto the field and
680. 25:24Ippei was like two and a half to three
681. 25:25steps behind. It was like a almost felt
682. 25:28like a choreographed thing the way they
683. 25:30went about it.
684. 25:32The only time that Shohei seemed to be
685. 25:35by himself, at least at the baseball
686. 25:38field, was when he was in the batter's
687. 25:39box or on the mound.
688. 25:41>> They appeared to be extremely close.
689. 25:44>> There was no
690. 25:45Ippei without Shohei.
691. 25:48It manifested itself in me by like going
692. 25:50to players and saying, "Does it ever
693. 25:52occur to you that these guys get sick of
694. 25:54each other?"
695. 25:56>> The source told me they thought Ippei
696. 25:57might be taking the fall for Shohei, but
697. 26:00I didn't know what to think.
698. 26:02>> The walls were so thick and so
699. 26:04impenetrable that
700. 26:07I mean, anything seemed possible, right?
701. 26:09>> We didn't quite know what to make of the
702. 26:11Ippei connection.
703. 26:13>> My editor Elaine and I spent weeks
704. 26:15investigating the possibilities.
705. 26:17>> Whether it was him himself, whether he
706. 26:19was a cover for Ohtani, whether he was
707. 26:21making the bets on Ohtani's behalf, we
708. 26:23didn't know if it was a cover-up, we
709. 26:26didn't know if the truth.
710. 26:28>> But there are two people who we thought
711. 26:30would know the truth.
712. 26:31Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara.
713. 26:36>> [music]
714. 26:38>> By March 2024, I've been working on this
715. 26:40for 5 months and we've collected enough
716. 26:43information to go to Shohei's agent. In
717. 26:46an email, I tell him,
718. 26:48"I have sources who have told us about
719. 26:50Shohei Ohtani's involvement with Matt
720. 26:52Bowyer.
721. 26:53I purposely don't tell him that I know
722. 26:55Matt Bowyer is a bookie or that I've
723. 26:57heard Ippei's name.
724. 26:59>> [music]
725. 26:59>> I want to see what their response will
726. 27:01be.
727. 27:06>> [music]
728. 27:10>> 2 hours later, I get a call from a
729. 27:13publicist named Matt Hiltzik.
730. 27:16He tells me he specializes in what's
731. 27:17called crisis communication, and
732. 27:20Shohei's agent has just brought him on
733. 27:22to represent Shohei. Some of Hiltzik's
734. 27:24clients have included Hillary Clinton
735. 27:26and Ivanka Trump, Brad Pitt, Alec
736. 27:29Baldwin, and Johnny Depp.
737. 27:31When I tell him about the wire transfers
738. 27:33that I saw, Hiltzik says he needs to
739. 27:36call me back.
740. 27:38As I wait, I wonder, will they try to
741. 27:41deny it? Will they threaten us with
742. 27:43defamation? Or will they admit it?
743. 27:46My phone rings again a few hours later.
744. 27:49Hiltzik says, "You're going to get a
745. 27:51really good story. You're going
746. 27:52to get the truth about what happened."
747. 27:55And then, he confirms it. It's true.
748. 27:58Shohei's bank account wired millions of
749. 28:00dollars to Bowyer's operation. But he
750. 28:03tells me someone else did the bets.
751. 28:06Shohei was covering for someone else, he
752. 28:08says, "Someone important to his life."
753. 28:13I tell him I have sources that tell me
754. 28:15it's Ippei.
755. 28:17He says,
756. 28:18"You have good sources."
757. 28:20I tell him I want to interview Shohei
758. 28:22Ohtani. He says, "Maybe. I have to see.
759. 28:27But I can give you someone else."
760. 28:29>> I'm Ippei Mizuhara, and you do have
761. 28:31permission to record me.
762. 28:33>> That's [music] next on The Betrayal of
763. 28:36Shohei Ohtani.
764. 28:41The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani is based
765. 28:44on reporting by me, Tisha Thompson, with
766. 28:46support from Tim Keown and the ESPN
767. 28:48[music] Investigative Unit. Our producer
768. 28:50is Carrie Anne Thomas. Our senior
769. 28:52producer is Max Green. Our senior
770. 28:55editorial producer is Preeti Varathan.
771. 28:57Our [music] associate producer is Gus
772. 28:59Navarro.
773. 29:00Story editing by Audrey Quinn, Elaine
774. 29:02Tang, Eric Neel, and Mike Drago.
775. 29:05Additional editing by Rebecca Hudson.
776. 29:07Our [music] archival producer is
777. 29:08Jennifer Wheelock. Our line producer is
778. 29:10Katherine Sankey. Production managers
779. 29:13are Jason Schwartz and Sheena [music]
780. 29:14Williams. Fact checking by John Master
781. 29:17Bernardino with David Sabino. Additional
782. 29:19editorial review from Mossa Niwa.
783. 29:22Original music by Allison Layton Brown
784. 29:24[music] and John Delore. Sound design by
785. 29:27John Delore.
786. 29:28Chris Buckle is Vice President of ESPN
787. 29:30Investigative Enterprise and Digital
788. 29:32Journalism.
789. 29:33Marsha Cook, Brian Lockhart, Heather
790. 29:35Anderson, and Burke Magnus are executive
791. 29:37[music] producers for 30 for 30. David
792. 29:40Roberts, Mike Foss, and Roxanna Scott
793. 29:43are executive producers for ESPN.