By Eshaan Joshi
Shohei Ohtani, the golden boy, the baby face, the most beautiful man in baseball (is there a way I can say that without sounding homoerotic? I don’t know, but he just is and I need people to know it), is embroiled in scandal.
Is it the saucy kind? He cheated on his wife? He’s having a baby? He sold his soul into a picture for a hundred years? He’s actually (gasp) Babe Ruth reincarnated?
Nah, nothing like that. I’d have a field day with that, it would be fun! I love talking about petty drama here on Foul Play, the only place in The Tartan that has three national awards for being TMZ’s only sports competitor. Give or take.
Regardless. Shohei Ohtani is now embroiled in a gambling scandal and that’s no fun to me.
Nothing saucy? Exciting? Interesting? Dammit Shohei, at least go on the field with those terrible new uniforms and Janet Jackson us.
I swear, that one’s only a little homoerotic.
Instead, Shohei’s translator, of all people, is now fired due to wiring lots of money to a sportsbook, directly from Shohei’s bank account.
This is a problem, because feasibly, it could be that Shohei put a lot of money into a bettor’s hands in order to make a lot of money, especially by betting on himself, or on things he knows about the league. This doesn’t make sense for the guy, though, considering he’s already making about 7,000,000,000 big ones, but sure, maybe the man wants a little extra spending money on the side for whatever touristy stuff you’re supposed to buy in the big ol’ Los Angeles. I don’t blame him, those novelty license plates with your name on ‘em are usually worth the buck fifty they cost, but they sure do add up.
Perfectly reasonable explanation, though, don’t worry. Shohei was just paying off his translator’s massive gambling debt. His massive, $4.5 million gambling debt, the sort you just accrue while the nice men at the sports agency shake their heads and let you continue to gamble.
Maybe he just didn’t notice, made a bad parlay, and lost a lot. Good guy Ohtani was just trying to make sure his ol’ pal could make ends meet and keep him from sleeping with the fishes and get him sleeping on the good pillows. Y’know. The memory foam kind. Fine, dandy, we’re good and it took about a week before the story changed and now Shohei didn’t know anything about the money transfer, the guy’s a thief, get him out of here he’s fired.
This is the new story, and it’s the one they’re sticking with. It has its pros — Shohei got scammed, he’s innocent, so he’s going to walk free. It’s just defrauding and money trouble, same as most agents and accountants, so there’s not much to get invested in. If it’s a lie, we’re in for a world of hurt as MLB figures out how to deal with a gambling superstar who is more valuable than every single team in the league.
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