Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, guys, it's been a minute. Let's check in. So
it is February seventh, twenty twenty five. The train keeps rolling,
the world keeps turning, and soon enough winter will turn
to springs and once again there will be baseball, And I,
(00:25):
for one cannot wait. You and I have too much
to catch up on to do it all in one sitting,
And I'm not going to even try to encapsulate everything
that has happened since we last spoke. Suffice it to
say that it has been an incredible offseason for the
Los Angeles Dodgers organization and fan base in terms of signings,
(00:49):
bringing players back and bringing new incredibly exciting talent in
everybody thought of us as the death star team last year,
but now with our back in consecutive stellar off season
of signings, this Dodgers team is stacked like never before.
But that is not at all what we are here
(01:10):
to talk about today. No, today we're closing the circle
on a story that has continued to unfold just beneath
the surface of this incredible last year of Dodgers baseball,
And in a way, we're back where we started with
this show, back to a story that takes place off
of the field and reminds us of the hard realities
(01:33):
of life that is not baseball. The Eba Mizuhara gambling
scandal that exploded out of the Dodgers' clubhouse on opening
day of twenty twenty four reached a new conclusiveness yesterday, Thursday,
February sixth in federal court in Santa Ana, California, when
(01:55):
eBay was sentenced to nearly five years in prison and
ordered by a federal jug udge to pay restitution of
seventeen million dollars to show hey Otani for stealing that
money from him to payoff gambling debts. A sad story
that has unfolded just beneath the surface during Sho Heyotani's
incredible first season on this team. But for EPA, it's
(02:19):
been quite a different story since these two best friends
last spoke, as you will hear in this piece, which
I prepared for the fine folks at KCRW FM here
in Los Angeles, our beloved public radio institution. A huge
thanks to Sonya Geis at CACRW who reached out and
(02:40):
asked me to make this piece and served as the
story editor on this one. I want to also shout
out William Ryan Fritch, whose musical compositions and performances underscore
this piece. Don't forget to stay subscribed. The baseball season
starts next month with the Dodgers playing in Tokyo, and
(03:01):
stay tuned for the credits. After this piece ends, I'm
going to come on and thank our Patreon supporters by name.
If you contribute at any level to our Patreon, you
will hear your name said buy me on this program,
and we surely do appreciate the support. That's Patreon dot
com slash Dodger Blue Dream. And now imagine your tuning
(03:24):
your dials to a great terrestrial radio institution in Los
Angeles on a rainy day in the evening with Steve
Chiatakus hosting All Things Considered.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Federal judge today sentenced former interpreter for Dodgers' MVP show
Hey Otani to fifty seven months in prison and a
restitution of more than eighteen million dollars. Epe Mittuhara pleaded
guilty to stealing more than seventeen million dollar Motani's bank
account while gambling. Richard Park's the Third is host and
(04:04):
creator of the Dodger Blue Dream podcasts. He's been tracking
the drama of Dodgers Baseball since the beginning of the
twenty twenty four season. In Today Parks shares a story
that unfolded just beneath the surface, a story of addiction, lies,
and betrayal.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
They met in Japan.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Welcome every one of the twenty twenty one home run Derby.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
After arriving in the Major leagues in twenty eighteen, show
Hey Otani's assent as a Major League Baseball star was
mediorc who is? And Ipe Mizuhara was there every step
of the way behind him.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
This is ape Otani's translator.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
At the twenty twenty one All Star Game show he
made history by starting in the lineup and starting the
game on the mound for the American League. Abe was there.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
This award is not given out every year.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
When show Hay received the Major League Baseball Commissioner's Award,
Epe was there.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
What will show Hey do next?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
And when shohe made his Los Angeles Dodgers' debut in
front of the media before the twenty twenty four season
after signing a record breaking seven hundred million dollar contract,
Epe was there.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Show Haes interpreter mostly show Hay's best buddy, close friend,
Ipe Mizukana.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Unless Shoh was on the field, you never saw one
without the other. And Ipe summed up their relationship this way, brothers.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Boy breakfast every day at a hotel.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
These two brothers were living the life of global celebrities.
They drove Porsche's, they traveled the world, and they kept
apartments in glitzy Newport Beach. But all the while, Epe
was spiraling downward, farther and farther into a tangle of gambling, debt,
and lies.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And we joined it with breaking news Right now showhy
Otani is speaking for the first time since his interpreter
was five for alleged massive theft. Okay find means I'm
mulchal hoois Shukon.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
More than a decade after they first met in Japan,
as sho Hay was starting his first season as a
Los Angeles Dodger. Epe's betrayal would tear these brothers apart,
with Shohey disowning his former bestie Epei in his last
public statement on the matter.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I'm very sad and shocked that someone who I'm trusted
has done this. Ipe has been stealing money from my
account and has told lies, I didn't know that Epei
had a gambling addiction. All of this has been a
complete lie.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
When Ebey was growing up, you wouldn't necessarily have guessed
that he would become an interpreter, let alone for a
big star. According to a federal court filing in the
embezzlement case, Ipe's mother says that after the family moved
to southern California from Japan when Epe was in first grade,
her son had a very hard time with the English language,
(06:52):
but eventually Ibe became fluent, and in twenty thirteen, Ipe
moved back to Japan to work as an interpreter for
a baseball team that a teenage phenom named sho Hey
Otani was also playing for. How do we spell your
last name? Ebe began working as an interpreter for show Hey.
As his reputation spread to the West, he put.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
The will we will put the agent there as well.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Then in twenty eighteen, Showhy moved to the US to
play in the major leagues, and Ibe came with him.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Long TONI who rushes it to deep right field?
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Good show Hey, high fly ball to the quarner, goes
in a deep bright field, old bl He did oh
my goodness, Oh my goodness, shot Hey, Tony, what can't
he do?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
In twenty twenty one, show Hay was on top of
the world. He was toppling records set by Babe Ruth
one hundred years before that, and that is.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
A called third strike, So a couple more strikeouts.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
For show Hey.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
By the All Star break, he had thirty three home runs.
Andy had a three forty nine era as a pitcher.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Welcome everyone to be twenty twenty one home run derby.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
This is translator. Ebey's defense paints a portrait of financial
and mental stress resulting from being overworked and underpaid while
trying to keep up with his superstar buddies high profile lifestyle.
During this time, Shohey was earning millions of dollars in
salary by this point and many more millions in endorsements. Ebey,
(08:29):
on the other hand, was earning eighty five thousand a year.
In a court filing, Ebe's lawyer says that he'd been
a gambling addict since the age of eighteen, and that
while Shohey's career was taking off as a player, Abe's
addiction got out of control. Then one night, after a ballgame,
Late in the twenty twenty one season, Ebe met a
(08:50):
bookie at a card game at a hotel and started
placing betts with him using credit. Over the next two
or so years, lings would fall off a cliff for
Ebe Mizuhara. It all started with a credit of twenty
thousand dollars. According to a federal investigation by the IRS,
(09:14):
Ipe made approximately nineteen thousand wagers between December twenty twenty
one and January twenty twenty four. That's nearly twenty five
bets per day every day for two years straight, buying
for all this call maybe monitored and recorded. And where
(09:35):
did he get the money for all of that gambling?
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Who am I seeking with? I'll show her okon.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
To gain access to show Hay's bank account, an account
Ipe had helped show he set up when he first
moved to the US in twenty eighteen. Ipe impersonated show
Hey to bank employees on multiple occasions, as you can
hear in this audio clip prosecutor release to the New
York Times last month.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
I tried to make a transfer a couple of days ago.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I can take them.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
We'll get today.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Ultimately, Epey stole more than seventeen million dollars from show
Hay to fuel his gambling, and even then he was
still in the hole forty million dollars when this all
came crashing down. On opening day of the twenty twenty
four baseball season, the Dodgers win the first game of
(10:28):
twenty twenty four. They are one hand all. ESPN had
seen wire transfers with Shohey's name on them made out
to the illegal bookie. Epe had told the reporter that
sho Hay had loaned him the money, but later that
night at the team hotel, Epe confessed what he had done,
Finally caught in his lie by his best friend show Hey.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
All of this has been a complete lie lie.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
The Dodgers fired Epe that same night. Show Hey won
the National League Most Valuable Player Award in twenty twenty four,
and he helped lead the Dodgers to a World Series title.
As for eBay, the press has so hounded mister Mizuhara
that he could not leave his house for weeks, his
(11:14):
lawyer wrote. He tried to support himself by delivering for
Uber Eats, but his photo was published and his employment
was terminated. The two have not spoken or seen one
another since this news broke, but coincidentally they might be
headed in the same geographical direction. By pleading guilty to
felony charges, Ibe could face deportation to his native country
(11:38):
of Japan. Shohe and the Dodgers are also headed to Tokyo,
where they will open the twenty twenty five baseball season
with the series against the Cubs next month. For CACRW,
I'm Richard Parks, the third.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
There.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
It is a toe tapper. Huh. Well, Luckily in just
a few short weeks we will have baseball to distract
us from the world. I'd say that's needed now more
than ever. And I want to thank you for being
here with us today. And I especially want to thank
our Patreon supporters who have signed up to receive exclusive
(12:22):
videos access to me. There's even a thing where I'll
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it out. And now I'm going to read the names
sal I think Sally from Australia. Thank you so much.
I don't have a last name. Pat Flynn James Braithwaite,
(12:46):
an incredibly talented illustrator who's work you must check out,
Liz Augui, Lar Matt Frassica, lb Anonymous, Kate Brodsky, Ary Browse,
Chad McPhail, Arisha Jones, Tyler Hill, who also offers production
support to this show. Thank you, Tyler, Matthew Sultan, Isaiah Saxon,
(13:09):
Thanks Isaiah, Brian Hidalgo, Thank you for everything. Brian Kerrie Vorhis,
Michelleene Michelin, Micheline Maynard, Monica Fishman, Wesley Avula, you know him,
you love him, Adam Callender, Lisa McGuinness, Fred Marquez, Michael Venos, Venos,
(13:31):
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Roger Hill, Casey Yancey McKinney, Paul Ridell, a Jackie Robinson contributor.
That is a significant contribution, mister Ridell. Thank you. Please
(13:52):
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We're not doing anything on the Patreon that's free. The
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(14:14):
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The cacrwpiece was story edited by Sonya Geis, with original
music by William Ryan Fritch and by me. The music
(14:36):
you're hearing right now is by Jonathan Snipes. Subscribe, rate
and review, Tell a friend. I'll be back soon. I
hope figuring it out. Take care everybody. I have been
and hopefully will continue to be. Richard Parks. The third
Abiento mes Ami Ma petite ble Dreemales
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Five