(From left) Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Otani. Photo = Yonhap News[이데일리 스타in 허윤수 기자] Following the illegal gambling of Shohei Otani’s (LA Dodgers) interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, doubts arose regarding his educational background and interpreting experience.
The sports media ‘The Athletic’ reported on the 24th (Korea time) that Mizuhara’s experience as a translator at the time in an American university and in the Major League Baseball (MLB) was exaggerated or inaccurate.
The media expressed doubts about Mizuhara’s academic background, known as the University of California, Riverside, California, USA. An official from the university said through the media, “There is no record that a student named Ippei Mizuhara has registered.”
The University of California, Riverside did not respond to a question about whether Mizuhara had another or a similar name in her academic records.
‘The Athletic’ also raised doubts about Mizuhara’s experience as an interpreter for Japanese left-handed pitcher Hideki Okajima in 2010 and 2012. Okajima played for the Boston Red Sox from 2007 to 2011 and for the Oakland Athletics in 2013.
It is known that Mizuhara joined MLB in 2010 while working as a translator at the time in Boston. However, Boston told the media, “Mizuhara never worked as a translator while Okajima played for our team.”
Additionally, Okajima was released in February 2012 after failing to pass the physical exam prior to the start of spring camp. However, the 2019 media guide for former Los Angeles Angels teammate Otani and Mizuhara notes that Mizuhara served as Okajima’s interpreter during spring training in 2012.
Afterwards, Mizuhara met Otani while working as a foreign interpreter for the Nippon Ham Fighters, a Japanese professional baseball team. After that, they entered the MLB together and stayed together for over 7 years before being fired by Seoul on the 21st.
Mizuhara, who had been gambling illegally on various sports, admitted to ESPN, which covered the incident, that Otani had sent money directly to a gambler to pay off his gambling debt. Afterwards, Otani’s legal representative objected, saying that Mizuhara had secretly touched Otani’s money, and Mizuhara also changed his statement, saying that Otani did not know about her gambling.
If Mizuhara was gambling on baseball and Otani knew about it, any player who bets on baseball, regardless of whether it is legal or illegal, would be banned from playing for one year.
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