Shohei Ohtani lost sleep after translator was accused of stealing millions of dollars from him
Shohei Ohtani says he lost sleep after his translator was accused of stealing millions of dollars from the two-way baseball star
NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani says he lost sleep after his translator was accused of stealing millions of dollars from the two-way baseball star.
Ippei Mizuhara was fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers after the season opener on March 21 when a federal gambling investigation became public. Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to bank and tax fraud in a sports betting case in which prosecutors allege he stole nearly $17 million from the two-time AL MVP to pay off debts.
“I think the thing that affected me the most is just being able to sleep well," Ohtani said through a translator on Monday before the Dodgers' series opener at the New York Mets was rained out. "Now that I’ve been able to do that, I also came to realize that how I feel off the field mentally shouldn’t affect my abilities, and I have every confidence in my own ability that I could be able to still play without being affected by anything that happens off the field.”
In the first season of a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers, Ohtani began Monday with a major league-leading .336 batting average, 13 homers, 35 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. His 131 total bases topped the big leagues and he was third in OPS at 1.024 behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Houston’s Kyle Tucker.
