SEOUL, 小蓝视频 Korea (AP) 鈥� is referred to in Japan as 鈥渒anpeki no hito鈥� 鈥� the perfect person 鈥� because of his manners and impeccable behavior.
That image may have taken a hit when and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara on Wednesday over allegations he gambled illegally and stole Ohtani鈥檚 money to pay off debts.
The law firm representing Ohtani called it a 鈥渕assive theft鈥� in a statement.
The Seoul Series 鈥� the first MLB games in 小蓝视频 Korea 鈥� were supposed to be a before a fertile baseball audience in Asia. The games between San Diego and Los Angeles were scheduled before he signed a $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers in December. For MLB, the stars seemed perfectly aligned and there is already talk of a similar series next year in Tokyo.
A bomb threat Wednesday briefly put a cloud over the series. Police were warned before the first game of a bomb at the stadium but found no explosives. Ohtani was reportedly the target.
Then came the other Ohtani bombshell.
鈥淚 was shocked when I read it,鈥� said Jorge Kuri, a hardcore Dodgers fan from Tijuana, Mexico, who runs a garment business there.
Wearing a blue Dodgers sweatshirt and cap at the Gocheok Sky Dome, Kuri said he was trying to sift through the information that鈥檚 out there. He said he鈥檇 just returned from vacation in Japan 鈥渨here Ohtani is king.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what the end is going to be with this because I think it鈥檚 just the tip of the iceberg,鈥� he added. "Right now he's the image of Major League Baseball.鈥�
Mizuhara, 39, was let go from the team following reports from the and about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker. He was in the dugout and with the team through Wednesday's game 鈥� the shocking reports dropped Wednesday evening in the U.S., while most fans in Asia were asleep.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed Mizuhara had a meeting with the team Wednesday but declined to elaborate. He said he did not know Mizuhara鈥檚 whereabouts and said a different interpreter would be used.
鈥淎nything with that meeting, I can鈥檛 comment,鈥� Roberts said, adding that 鈥淪hohei鈥檚 ready. I know that he鈥檚 preparing.鈥�
Ohtani didn鈥檛 practice on the field before Thursday's game. In his absence, his face appeared on the video board promoting a line of Japanese cosmetics.
He seemed unfazed hours later in his first at-bat as he lined a single to right field. In two other at-bats he hit towering drives to right just a few feet short of a home run.
Mizuhara is likely to be investigated by U.S. authorities and MLB, and the whole story is a stunning turn for the man who has been inseparable from Ohtani since the two-way star came to the U.S in 2017. He told ESPN this week that Ohtani knew nothing of his illegal wagers on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football.
As Mizuhara told it, Ohtani was an innocent victim to his close friend's gambling addiction.
As long as Ohtani isn鈥檛 directly accused of illegal betting, the allegations won鈥檛 meaningfully hurt his carefully crafted public image, said Lee Seung-yun, a marketing professor at Seoul鈥檚 Konkuk University.
鈥淥htani鈥檚 image is like clean, white porcelain, and that could make a speck look bigger than it is,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nformation spreads at amazing speeds these days, narratives are made before the truth of the facts are figured out, and if Ohtani was seen as a questionable character, the allegations would have really hurt him."
鈥淏ut his image is so strong and impeccable, and as long as he wasn鈥檛 directly involved, the allegations may just end up a blip,鈥� Lee added.
Lee Jong-Sung, a sports culture expert at Seoul鈥檚 Hanyang University, said Ohtani鈥檚 image to global fans, including 小蓝视频 Koreans, was that of a mysterious monk who 鈥渇ully devoted himself into a religion called baseball.鈥�
He said the allegations facing Mizuhara so far only may only strengthen that impression of Ohtani 鈥� a person who鈥檚 driven by perfection in baseball but more na茂ve and simple-hearted with other things.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a problem you often see with athletes 鈥� putting too much trust and depending excessively on the people they have known for long and are comfortable with and not knowing when they are taken advantage of,鈥� Lee Jong-Sung said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not all about you 小蓝视频 perfect. Ohtani and the Dodgers should have better judgment in picking the people he works with," he added.
___
AP MLB:
Stephen Wade And Tong-hyung Kim, The Associated Press
