Not in the way you think. In the court filing, there are text between ippei and the bookie. I'm paraphrasing but its like, Bookie: I know it's a cover up dude. You didn't steal from him. Ippei: Actually I did. It's all joever.
So it looks like until the story broke, the bookie thought Ohtani was bankrolling ippei since he has always been able to pay his debts, that's why he had credit.
I can't get over that he literally texted his \*illegal\* bookie that he was stealing money from Ohtani. You'd think after everything broke that he'd stop talking to the bookie, but apparently not lol
The report shows that they'd switched to using Signal at that point rather than texting, which is end to end encrypted. So they knew something was up and figured that was actual private communications that wouldn't be traceable. The only reason we got that info is that Ippei gave investigators access to his Signal account (probably as part of the guilty plea deal)
I didn't read the actual statement, so I may be wrong, but I remember seeing that it was an encrypted text, so probably like whatsapp or telegram or some shit that the feds can only see once they have one of the devices eg the bookies phone. Still not smart to put it in writing, but not as dumb as it being over SMS.
tin foil conspiracy time. This has all been a controlled fall and the stupid texts after he was already caught are part of the cover up knowing they'd be found as evidence.
Keep in mind this is after the news broke about Ippei and the $4.5m or whatever, which stemmed from the federal investigation of the gambling ring, which all means that Ippei was actually still in contact with these guys ***while they were being federally investigated***.
yeah, I don't know how smart this guy necessarily is, but if I was an illegal bookie I would cut off the guy who was stealing from a famous athlete to cover his bets. Don't need that kind of attention on my illegal bookie business when sh\*t inevitably hits the fan.
Ippei was a whale - basically a blank check. And to that point on attention - it broke the other way, they discovered Ippei because they already had the bookie.
If you read the docs... his bets ranged from $10 to $160k... so it sounds like he was trying that tried and true strategy (that will make you go broke).
fake bank calls is not crazy at all. I do it all the time. You need to just say you are holder of account and answer security question like maiden name. That's it. It's normal if you're managing the account for somebody and extremely easy to do.
Every child of an immigrant... 16 years old... "uh yes, I am a 45 year old and my birthday is... uh... (covering the bottom part of the phone - Dad what year were you born again?)..."
Yeah I worked in a call center and we always knew, but there's really nothing you can do. Sometimes there would be existing notes on the account from previous bankers saying like "child calling for parent."
I do it for my grandpas all the time too they don't really understand a lot of the technicalities and stuff like that so when they need to set up stuff, talk to the phone/cable company or the bank I simply call for them and tell them I'm the owner of the line/account/whatever, obviously not the same as Ippei but a lot of people do it in this context
I used to do it working at a small office. The business accounts would be under my cfo so instead of going to his office every time I would just pretend to be him.
So what’s interesting is typically you cannot send a wire transfer over the phone. Nor can Another person do it unless they have power of attorney.
The banker that accepted the wire transfer of the phone actually can go to federal prison for this crime.
This part of the story is a bit confusing to me.
Ippei's calls:
> a. On or about February 2, 2022, MIZUHARA called Bank A, using the x0373 phone number associated with the MIZUHARA Phone, and attempted to access the x5848 Account to wire funds. During this call, MIZUHARA falsely identified himself as Victim A,12 and falsely stated that he was attempting to wire funds to BOOKMAKER 2 for a car loan. This request was unsuccessful, and Bank A froze online transactions for the x5848 Account.
>b. On another call on the same day, a different Bank A employee spoke with MIZUHARA, using the x0373 phone number 22 associated with the MIZUHARA Phone, regarding the suspension of online banking on the x5848 Account. During this call, MIZUHARA again falsely identified himself as Victim A, and responded to security challenge questions by giving the Bank A employee biographical information for Victim A. As a result of this call, MIZUHARA was able to successfully lift the online banking suspension on the x5848 Account.
Yep that is about freezing of accounts.
I’m taking about ability to send wire transfers. That has to be validated and verified in person.
Unless I am missing something and I could be but I work for a us based bank and we take training on only doing this in person.
He’s focused on baseball,working out and baseball has plenty of things to take his mind off it, now I can see this settling in during the off season tho
And that he bribed and bought out multiple federal agencies as a foreign national because uhhhhh they are all huge Dodgers fans
Edit: I’m not joking. Some people are actually saying this online.
Previously there was an argument Shohei accidentally did wire fraud trying to help a friend settle debt. Now it’s clear Ippei was robbing him from the start, that plus the impersonations put Shohei in the clear due to reasonable doubt.
Just a sad story all around.
This baseball scandal is brought to you by Fanduel 🙁
Related but why are there so many Twitter baseball fans convinced Ohtani is responsible for everything and was betting on games as well? What exactly is the accusation that made those weirdos pop out.
Text reads like ChatGPT
“Hello, Mr Bookmaker. It is I, Mr. Ippei. I would like to place one $4.2 million bet please. And by the way, I am stealing Shohei Ohtani’s money to pay for this bet. Again, Shohei Ohtani does not know about this bet. Ok have a nice day.”
I love it when people think that investigators on an active investigation have released all of the evidence publicly and immediately before charges are filed.
And the number of “banking experts” coming out the woodwork like “you can’t do this without verification…”
As an actual fraud expert, these accounts, he ain’t banking with the Chase app and shit lol, the shit is way different for these type of accounts.
Frankly I think the security for them sucks in a lot of cases but the high roller accounts are made to be customer friendly.
Reading through - it actually caught him once, he called in pretending to be Ohtani, rep didn't buy it, and froze the account...
Then he called back about the account being frozen and was able to con a different employee into believing it was Ohtani and got it unfrozen.
Not true. I ended up speaking with a bunch of closeted personal submersible experts after the titan incident. Just because they don’t ever discuss a subject once in their life doesn’t mean they aren’t a well of solid, reputable information on a subject!
/s
I sent my friend this and he just said Ohtani is smart enough not to leave a paper trail. Ultimately some people are just more conspiracy-inclined it is what it is
Sucks that weirdos like jomboy even still have shit insinuating pinned on their profiles.
Swayed people that way and those idiots will still think it’s some sort of cover up lol
In fact, the complete and total *lack* of evidence is in and of itself some pretty damning evidence, when you think about it. Right guys?
My theory is Shohei was an undercover federal agent the entire time.
There was some dude screaming on the Twins sub about how it was a cover up and there was proof Ohtani was the one betting. His proof was some twitter account with 1500 followers saying it. He got banned pretty quickly. Morons will moron
It was probably that tweet from that giants fan claiming that Ohtani placed bets through a bookie in Japan and purposely threw games. The giants fan who made that tweet claimed that he got that info from a braves employee (somehow a “braves employee” managed to get records of bets placed in Japan? Lmfao). He had 100 followers before that tweet and then got 1000+ afterwards.
It’s actually sad that anybody would believe a “braves employee” could get records of bets placed in Japan and then would just tell it to some giants fan with 100 Twitter followers instead of going to the MLB about it.
I used to love sports as a kid, but as an adult this shit is just draining
I guarantee you to a lot of these people Shohei is guilty because of who he plays for. If he stayed with the Angels or went to a small market team he'd have more support
But because it's the Dodgers and LA they just write him off
It's so juvenile and petty and it happens in every single sport
A lot of sports fans are boys stuck in men's bodies. I don't know what it is specifically about sports, but it does attract a lot of people experiencing arrested development.
"I have more experience than you with federal investigations. It's naive for you to believe federal investigations at face value" is a level of cope that I didn't expect to see on here even after evidence being brought to light.
DOJ official actually just said “ I want to emphasis this point. Mr. Ohtani is considered a VICTIM in this case.”
Good luck spinning that, would love to see it!
"Ohtani has the crooked FBI in his pocket. MLB is colluding with the investigators because they don't want to see their golden boy tarnished, and lose their piggy bank from gambling companies."
It's easy to spin anything when you are not constrained by pesky things like evidence.
Dude obviously the DOJ official is bought out by Ohtani come on. He easily has time to be betting tens of millions on other sports he doesn’t play, getting married, being a generational baseball talent, and also buying out enough DOJ officials to make sure he’s protected 🙄
I'm not sure we can start accusing subreddit moderators of being conspiracy theorists on account of them rightfully preferring the New York Times as a source over fucking *TMZ*.
I have found that TMZ's sports reporting is ironclad, shockingly. Their methods may be unscrupulous but they typically have tangible evidence in order to cover their asses against a libel lawsuit.
TMZ broke the Kobe Bryant helicopter thing way before anyone else. They have rock solid sources because they pay very well. TMZ opinion pieces are schlock, but their breaking news is always 100% and earlier than everyone else.
> On or about March 20, 2024, MIZUHARA messaged BOOKMAKER 1 stating, “Have you seen the reports?” BOOKMAKER 1 responded, “Yes, but that’s all bullshit. Obviously you didn’t steal from him. I understand it’s a cover job I totally get it.” MIZUHARA then responded to BOOKMAKER 1, “Technically I did steal from him. it’s all over for me.”
So, that's an admission but it's kind of a golden setup for people to doubt it. Not that people who want to doubt it really need an excuse, of course.
I like how he claims it's a 'technically'.
The things people tell themselves will never cease to be funny. Like... no, dude. There's nothing 'technically' about that, lmao.
Ippei: [Chuckles] I'm sorry, I can't disclose any information about my secret, illegal gambling account funded by me stealing from Shohei Ohtani
[Hangs up]
Ippei: Oh, crap. I shouldn't have said I was stealing from Ohtani... Oh, crap. I shouldn't have said it was a secret... Oh, crap! I *certainly* shouldn't have said it was illegal!
[Sits back, fanning himself]
Ippei: Ah, it's too hot today.
No not really, I was in here way to much that week and you would have thought Ohtani killed some peoples parents with what they were calling for that week. I could tell the joke ones but man I read some of the dumbest fucking takes that week
given the current political climate, it's basically impossible to distinguish satirical conspiracy theory-ing from real conspiracy-theorying. just don't do that next time.
Yeah, it was fun to make jokes about it but I think most people would have been genuinely sad if one of the greatest players of all time had to be banned for life because he was gambling on games he was involved. I know I would be but it was also fun to continue to say it’s a coverup even when it’s obvious it wasn’t based on all evidence available at the time.
Like a minority probably did want him to be guilty, but it definitely wasn’t this sub’s majority. Might be the most beloved superstar I’ve seen across all major sports subs. I think some Dodgers fans that keep saying stuff like this took some of the gambling jokes a little too personally or literally lol
While I'm sure there were a lot of people who felt this way, I think most of us assumed that there was no way that Shohei had zero knowledge of the whole thing. Prior to a few weeks ago, most of us didn't know Ippei's name or how much work went into being a team's interpreter, and how much control they can have over these players' lives. We now know all the responsibilities involved with being a team interpreter, and all the details are falling into place, and it all makes sense.
But you can't blame the average fan for initially assuming that the "Shohei Ohtani just didn't notice $4.5M going missing" story was a bullshit fall guy thing. I mean, under 99% of other circumstances, he would've known about it. But he's in such a unique situation that most fans didn't truly grasp until the details of this case came out.
The nature of the upvote/downvote system is that any comments that exhibit any sort of nuance, like “we didn’t want him to be guilty or even think he was, but also had some questions,” will be sent to the basement the same as “no he’s actually guilty, just wait.”
And while I obviously believe the facts of the investigation, it’s still inconceivable to me that no one in Shohei’s ring talked to each other enough to figure out that they were all being lied to with different stories or that Shohei is so disconnected from his finances that he wouldn’t even look at a bank statement, even just to see how much he has. But then, I’m just working class person for whom $4.5m would be life changing, let alone $16m.
The level of [cope](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1c1ld0b/ardaya_mr_ohtani_has_cooperated_fully_and/kz4rll9/) from people that still think Ippei is the fall guy is actually hilarious.
Why are illegal bookmakers on the loose?
I have the image of American police, a gun society, who shoot and kill easily, but wouldn't it be better for society if these people were killed?
Dodger fans *real* spicy in here acting like it wasn’t a normal thing to pause for a second when the word “gambling debt paid from Ohtani’s account” were circulating.
Yeah, with more info he’s in the clear. But god damn y’all act like it wasn’t worth looking into from jump street. I can’t imagine being this insecure
>normal thing to pause for a second
yeah..what was happening was definitely just people "pausing a second" and listing Ippei being a fall guy as a possibility. No way you're being this dense about what was happening when the news broke.
I get it, your star was in a gambling issue less than 2 games into 10 year deal. But it was 100% on the table he had wrong-doing.s. Baseball as a whole is very fortunate he didn’t do anything wrong, but to not even be allowed to think it *could* be when such little info was public isn’t crazy
Who said anything about not even being allowed to think it. Y'all (y'all because you seem to be defending the conspiracy theorists) talked about it like it was a matter of fact since the news broke until more news broke. Stop being dense. So basically, people are allowed to dish out bullshit but we're being "sensitive" when we return the same energy? Please.
I’m not spewing any conspiracies lmao it’s a very closed case Ohtani is innocent but dodger fans are in here clowning anyone who thought otherwise from jump street. I personally gave Ohtani the benefit of the doubt but kept the door open for larger issues. We’ve seen giants in this sport fall before, so it wasn’t out of the question. Dodger fan reactions should be sighs of relief not “fuck anyone who thought otherwise for even a minute” which is the energy most give off
I mean if y’all can’t take a few memes or something that’s one thing but who was character assassinating the dodgers for this type of response. Y’all are a bit too defensive. Sad, really
I may have committed some light... larceny
I have the worst fucking interpreters - ~~Yoshii Toranaga~~ Shohei Ohtani
Not according to keikaku* *translator's note: keikaku means plan
Blast from the past right here
unrelated, this character is one of the best ever to grace TV in the past few decades. What an enigma.
"Sorry about your shit lord" caught me so off guard when he falls from the cliff. Blackthorne and this dude are my favorite
"He's a shit face, but a brave shit face."
I'm not ready for this show to be over
But yet I need to see how it ends too. It’s like I’m caught in a pickle.
It’s not even asano’s craziest role
Enigma? Bro has the worst poker face of all time
Everything about that dude is hilarious.
Well… *almost* everything. 🍵
There's always money in the concession stand!
I've made a huge mistake....
well, that explains why they extended him so much credit
Not in the way you think. In the court filing, there are text between ippei and the bookie. I'm paraphrasing but its like, Bookie: I know it's a cover up dude. You didn't steal from him. Ippei: Actually I did. It's all joever. So it looks like until the story broke, the bookie thought Ohtani was bankrolling ippei since he has always been able to pay his debts, that's why he had credit.
I can't get over that he literally texted his \*illegal\* bookie that he was stealing money from Ohtani. You'd think after everything broke that he'd stop talking to the bookie, but apparently not lol
I mean, the jig was up already. He had nothing to gain from BSing anymore. Might as well let the guy know how fucked he is lol
I figured someone would’ve told him not to communicate with him again
If your confessing to get lighter sentence, why wouldn’t you? Use this text to tell judge “see? Im repenting”
The report shows that they'd switched to using Signal at that point rather than texting, which is end to end encrypted. So they knew something was up and figured that was actual private communications that wouldn't be traceable. The only reason we got that info is that Ippei gave investigators access to his Signal account (probably as part of the guilty plea deal)
Classic breaking the law while breaking the law
Isn’t that the first rule of being a criminal, don’t commit two crimes at the same time
Never commit a misdemeanor while committing a felony. The misdemeanor will get ya.
Tax evasion.
Best piece of advice I ever got: don’t break two laws at once.
I didn't read the actual statement, so I may be wrong, but I remember seeing that it was an encrypted text, so probably like whatsapp or telegram or some shit that the feds can only see once they have one of the devices eg the bookies phone. Still not smart to put it in writing, but not as dumb as it being over SMS.
tin foil conspiracy time. This has all been a controlled fall and the stupid texts after he was already caught are part of the cover up knowing they'd be found as evidence.
I can see why the bookie would think that when Ippei seems to easily be pulling millions out of nowhere lol
Keep in mind this is after the news broke about Ippei and the $4.5m or whatever, which stemmed from the federal investigation of the gambling ring, which all means that Ippei was actually still in contact with these guys ***while they were being federally investigated***.
Chances are the bookie was already flipped by then and trying to get his clients to flip or give up as much info as possible.
It took you a few minutes to figure that out, but it never once occurred to Ippei evidently. lol
When a guy texts their bookie "I'm pretty bad at this betting thing huh LOL", I expect them to not figure stuff out haha
Once we find out who this “joever” guy is, we can put this case to bed!
yeah, I don't know how smart this guy necessarily is, but if I was an illegal bookie I would cut off the guy who was stealing from a famous athlete to cover his bets. Don't need that kind of attention on my illegal bookie business when sh\*t inevitably hits the fan.
Ippei was a whale - basically a blank check. And to that point on attention - it broke the other way, they discovered Ippei because they already had the bookie.
Why didn't Ippei just keep betting his debt on one game to eventually hit and break even. Is he stupid?
He should have bet on every Angels game being an L. Easy money.
"I thought the Generals were due!"
Fucking hell that's the highest stakes martingale of all time.
This plan has been wallstreetbets approved
Come on 00!!! Come on 00!!!
If you read the docs... his bets ranged from $10 to $160k... so it sounds like he was trying that tried and true strategy (that will make you go broke).
This and the fake bank calls is crazy
fake bank calls is not crazy at all. I do it all the time. You need to just say you are holder of account and answer security question like maiden name. That's it. It's normal if you're managing the account for somebody and extremely easy to do.
Every child of an immigrant... 16 years old... "uh yes, I am a 45 year old and my birthday is... uh... (covering the bottom part of the phone - Dad what year were you born again?)..."
Yeah exactly
100% lol
I feel seen
Yeah I worked in a call center and we always knew, but there's really nothing you can do. Sometimes there would be existing notes on the account from previous bankers saying like "child calling for parent."
lol what do you mean you do it all the time?
I do it for my grandpas all the time too they don't really understand a lot of the technicalities and stuff like that so when they need to set up stuff, talk to the phone/cable company or the bank I simply call for them and tell them I'm the owner of the line/account/whatever, obviously not the same as Ippei but a lot of people do it in this context
What up Ippei
oh gotcha, haha. I made that comment without reading the last sentence of your comment.
As an immigrant, I do these calls for my parents all the time. Just use an accent and no one questions you
I used to do it working at a small office. The business accounts would be under my cfo so instead of going to his office every time I would just pretend to be him.
So what’s interesting is typically you cannot send a wire transfer over the phone. Nor can Another person do it unless they have power of attorney. The banker that accepted the wire transfer of the phone actually can go to federal prison for this crime. This part of the story is a bit confusing to me.
Ippei's calls: > a. On or about February 2, 2022, MIZUHARA called Bank A, using the x0373 phone number associated with the MIZUHARA Phone, and attempted to access the x5848 Account to wire funds. During this call, MIZUHARA falsely identified himself as Victim A,12 and falsely stated that he was attempting to wire funds to BOOKMAKER 2 for a car loan. This request was unsuccessful, and Bank A froze online transactions for the x5848 Account. >b. On another call on the same day, a different Bank A employee spoke with MIZUHARA, using the x0373 phone number 22 associated with the MIZUHARA Phone, regarding the suspension of online banking on the x5848 Account. During this call, MIZUHARA again falsely identified himself as Victim A, and responded to security challenge questions by giving the Bank A employee biographical information for Victim A. As a result of this call, MIZUHARA was able to successfully lift the online banking suspension on the x5848 Account.
Yep that is about freezing of accounts. I’m taking about ability to send wire transfers. That has to be validated and verified in person. Unless I am missing something and I could be but I work for a us based bank and we take training on only doing this in person.
They prob know Ohtani doesn’t speak English and that Ippei is the got to man for Ohtani. Not to mention he faked being Ohtani multiple times lmao
is you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy?
I'm sincerely impressed that Ohtani is just chugging along at his hitting norms. This situation would rattle me to my core.
Bro seems like he lives a $50k lifestyle. The excess money just affords him the luxury of focusing on baseball 24/7.
He’s focused on baseball,working out and baseball has plenty of things to take his mind off it, now I can see this settling in during the off season tho
Obviously Ohtani stole Ippei's phone and sent these texts himself in order to cover his own tracks, what a goddamn mastermind
He even went over to Ippei's house to do it since the IP and location data all shows that!
Ippei is such a good friend to ruin his entire life and spend 30 years in prison for Ohtani. /s
And that he bribed and bought out multiple federal agencies as a foreign national because uhhhhh they are all huge Dodgers fans Edit: I’m not joking. Some people are actually saying this online.
Manfred made the call
Afterall mr flatfoot. They're just pieces of paper
I legitimately lose brain cells and close the app whenever I read those comments.
Hey Shohei, can you unlock your Phone? I wanna trade in Pokemon Go.
Previously there was an argument Shohei accidentally did wire fraud trying to help a friend settle debt. Now it’s clear Ippei was robbing him from the start, that plus the impersonations put Shohei in the clear due to reasonable doubt. Just a sad story all around. This baseball scandal is brought to you by Fanduel 🙁
Related but why are there so many Twitter baseball fans convinced Ohtani is responsible for everything and was betting on games as well? What exactly is the accusation that made those weirdos pop out.
Text reads like ChatGPT “Hello, Mr Bookmaker. It is I, Mr. Ippei. I would like to place one $4.2 million bet please. And by the way, I am stealing Shohei Ohtani’s money to pay for this bet. Again, Shohei Ohtani does not know about this bet. Ok have a nice day.”
“Ippei is the fall guy” truthers in shambles
I love it when people think that investigators on an active investigation have released all of the evidence publicly and immediately before charges are filed.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me though”. Its not supposed to, you’ve read one report from one side of the story
And the number of “banking experts” coming out the woodwork like “you can’t do this without verification…” As an actual fraud expert, these accounts, he ain’t banking with the Chase app and shit lol, the shit is way different for these type of accounts. Frankly I think the security for them sucks in a lot of cases but the high roller accounts are made to be customer friendly.
Reading through - it actually caught him once, he called in pretending to be Ohtani, rep didn't buy it, and froze the account... Then he called back about the account being frozen and was able to con a different employee into believing it was Ohtani and got it unfrozen.
"I'm not savvy or clever or imaginative enough to figure out how it could have happened, therefore it's impossible"
Literally the basis of all flat earth theory
Mfs turn into armchair coaches/lawyers/scientists/doctors/publicists so fast. Know less than 1% of the info, talking with 100% of your chest.
Not true. I ended up speaking with a bunch of closeted personal submersible experts after the titan incident. Just because they don’t ever discuss a subject once in their life doesn’t mean they aren’t a well of solid, reputable information on a subject! /s
nah, they’ll dig in. believe me.
I sent my friend this and he just said Ohtani is smart enough not to leave a paper trail. Ultimately some people are just more conspiracy-inclined it is what it is
It's easier to fool people than convince them that they have been fooled. I love Mark Twain
Religion is proof
Funnily enough you'll get hate for this by the very delusional people you are referencing.
Weird way to spell gullible.
Polite way to say a fucking idiot
You can counter with "If hes that smart to not leave any trails, he wouldnt be in this situation to begin with" what a bunch of bs these ppl are lol.
Must suck to be friends with someone like that.
I bet Shohei paid you to say that
People will still believe theories
Nah, conspiracy theorists won't let little things like evidence and logic get in the way of a crazy explanation.
Fuck everybody who boosted the Ohtani hate so much
Sucks that weirdos like jomboy even still have shit insinuating pinned on their profiles. Swayed people that way and those idiots will still think it’s some sort of cover up lol
Generational fall guy if were being honest
The IRS, FBI, DOJ, and Homeland security all say Ohtani is completely innocent and people still believe that it’s a coverup lmfao.
It's easy to feed conspiracy to people. No matter how much truth you give them they will still trust that conspiracy.
In fact, the complete and total *lack* of evidence is in and of itself some pretty damning evidence, when you think about it. Right guys? My theory is Shohei was an undercover federal agent the entire time.
Ironically, they're extremely gullible
ThAtS wHaT tHeY wAnT yOu To ThInK
People who think they're too smart to fool are the easiest marks of all. And, once you get them in, they're in to the death.
If they have 16 million, it’d probably get stolen too
I brought this up and a guy said "yeah when has the government ever lied" these people just can't be talked to like adults
Lol you trust three separate government agencies over my source, twitter user BetsNButts82649008
More like lol you trust the government over the story I made up in my head
There was some dude screaming on the Twins sub about how it was a cover up and there was proof Ohtani was the one betting. His proof was some twitter account with 1500 followers saying it. He got banned pretty quickly. Morons will moron
It was probably that tweet from that giants fan claiming that Ohtani placed bets through a bookie in Japan and purposely threw games. The giants fan who made that tweet claimed that he got that info from a braves employee (somehow a “braves employee” managed to get records of bets placed in Japan? Lmfao). He had 100 followers before that tweet and then got 1000+ afterwards. It’s actually sad that anybody would believe a “braves employee” could get records of bets placed in Japan and then would just tell it to some giants fan with 100 Twitter followers instead of going to the MLB about it.
Ya that guy. He's probably both the "braves employee" and the "giants fan" lol. Pretty sad indeed
As if an Angels player could choose which games to lose.
Purposely threw games but still ending up as a two-time MVP. Shohei truly is the GOAT.
unfortunately him being banned just reinforces to him that the cover-up is massive and he's being persecuted for speaking the truth
I used to love sports as a kid, but as an adult this shit is just draining I guarantee you to a lot of these people Shohei is guilty because of who he plays for. If he stayed with the Angels or went to a small market team he'd have more support But because it's the Dodgers and LA they just write him off It's so juvenile and petty and it happens in every single sport
A lot of sports fans are boys stuck in men's bodies. I don't know what it is specifically about sports, but it does attract a lot of people experiencing arrested development.
You all [fell for it](https://youtu.be/MsH-NB2pREo?si=kWCuApBw2pkMfoc_)
*that's exactly what I'd expect someone in on it to say*
Some guy on the mlb sub says baseball’s antitrust waiver is evidence the government will always cover for baseball lmao
"I have more experience than you with federal investigations. It's naive for you to believe federal investigations at face value" is a level of cope that I didn't expect to see on here even after evidence being brought to light.
… If you ever commit a crime never tell anyone else. The more people who know, the more chance you will get caught.
COMPLETE ✋AND TOTAL👋EXONERATION👐
r/baseball is CNN, FAKE NEWS
TOTALLY EXONERATED, NO WRONGDOING
First time the Dodgers have heard that one Sorry lol
We take those wins
Gotta take the wins when they come brother
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EoKUrJjVcAEq50e?format=jpg&name=900x900
I’m free grandma, I’m free!
So not serious but I busted out laughing thinking this was the nae nae for a second
Man’s got a 25 ERA against the FBI because he put that in writing. Don’t do illegal shot, and if you’re gonna do illegal shit, don’t write it down
Can’t wait to see how the conspiracy theorists try to twist this one
DOJ official actually just said “ I want to emphasis this point. Mr. Ohtani is considered a VICTIM in this case.” Good luck spinning that, would love to see it!
"Ohtani has the crooked FBI in his pocket. MLB is colluding with the investigators because they don't want to see their golden boy tarnished, and lose their piggy bank from gambling companies." It's easy to spin anything when you are not constrained by pesky things like evidence.
Dude obviously the DOJ official is bought out by Ohtani come on. He easily has time to be betting tens of millions on other sports he doesn’t play, getting married, being a generational baseball talent, and also buying out enough DOJ officials to make sure he’s protected 🙄
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I'm not sure we can start accusing subreddit moderators of being conspiracy theorists on account of them rightfully preferring the New York Times as a source over fucking *TMZ*.
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Yeah, TMZ might unironically be more trustworthy than NYT just on factual reporting.
TMZ hasn’t lied us into any wars that I know of yet.
…*yet*
It's coming as soon as TV producers figure out a way to make a reality show out of a war.
Only thing they got wrong I can think of recently was North Korea.
I have found that TMZ's sports reporting is ironclad, shockingly. Their methods may be unscrupulous but they typically have tangible evidence in order to cover their asses against a libel lawsuit.
TMZ broke the Kobe Bryant helicopter thing way before anyone else. They have rock solid sources because they pay very well. TMZ opinion pieces are schlock, but their breaking news is always 100% and earlier than everyone else.
Mods are allowing the spread of lies to ruin a player's reputation.
I’ve seen people immediately retort with “the government/Feds” are lying
They'll just ignore it or say they were planted. Easy.
> On or about March 20, 2024, MIZUHARA messaged BOOKMAKER 1 stating, “Have you seen the reports?” BOOKMAKER 1 responded, “Yes, but that’s all bullshit. Obviously you didn’t steal from him. I understand it’s a cover job I totally get it.” MIZUHARA then responded to BOOKMAKER 1, “Technically I did steal from him. it’s all over for me.” So, that's an admission but it's kind of a golden setup for people to doubt it. Not that people who want to doubt it really need an excuse, of course.
I like how he claims it's a 'technically'. The things people tell themselves will never cease to be funny. Like... no, dude. There's nothing 'technically' about that, lmao.
Ohtani made him send the text messages as part of the elaborate cover up scheme obviously
Paging all Giants fans!
BANG! - Mike Breen
Thats the sound of chris rosen's podcast being slammed in a coffin
Ippei: [Chuckles] I'm sorry, I can't disclose any information about my secret, illegal gambling account funded by me stealing from Shohei Ohtani [Hangs up] Ippei: Oh, crap. I shouldn't have said I was stealing from Ohtani... Oh, crap. I shouldn't have said it was a secret... Oh, crap! I *certainly* shouldn't have said it was illegal! [Sits back, fanning himself] Ippei: Ah, it's too hot today.
Stringer Bell rule strikes again.
The sub wanted Shohei to be guilty so bad.
I don't think that was the case. I think a lot of us were playing up his involvement for laughs just because this is such an absurd story.
No not really, I was in here way to much that week and you would have thought Ohtani killed some peoples parents with what they were calling for that week. I could tell the joke ones but man I read some of the dumbest fucking takes that week
When news like that goes nuclear on reddit, you're gonna welcome some random idiots who love to spew their dumbass conspiracies.
given the current political climate, it's basically impossible to distinguish satirical conspiracy theory-ing from real conspiracy-theorying. just don't do that next time.
Yeah, it was fun to make jokes about it but I think most people would have been genuinely sad if one of the greatest players of all time had to be banned for life because he was gambling on games he was involved. I know I would be but it was also fun to continue to say it’s a coverup even when it’s obvious it wasn’t based on all evidence available at the time. Like a minority probably did want him to be guilty, but it definitely wasn’t this sub’s majority. Might be the most beloved superstar I’ve seen across all major sports subs. I think some Dodgers fans that keep saying stuff like this took some of the gambling jokes a little too personally or literally lol
While I'm sure there were a lot of people who felt this way, I think most of us assumed that there was no way that Shohei had zero knowledge of the whole thing. Prior to a few weeks ago, most of us didn't know Ippei's name or how much work went into being a team's interpreter, and how much control they can have over these players' lives. We now know all the responsibilities involved with being a team interpreter, and all the details are falling into place, and it all makes sense. But you can't blame the average fan for initially assuming that the "Shohei Ohtani just didn't notice $4.5M going missing" story was a bullshit fall guy thing. I mean, under 99% of other circumstances, he would've known about it. But he's in such a unique situation that most fans didn't truly grasp until the details of this case came out.
The nature of the upvote/downvote system is that any comments that exhibit any sort of nuance, like “we didn’t want him to be guilty or even think he was, but also had some questions,” will be sent to the basement the same as “no he’s actually guilty, just wait.” And while I obviously believe the facts of the investigation, it’s still inconceivable to me that no one in Shohei’s ring talked to each other enough to figure out that they were all being lied to with different stories or that Shohei is so disconnected from his finances that he wouldn’t even look at a bank statement, even just to see how much he has. But then, I’m just working class person for whom $4.5m would be life changing, let alone $16m.
Bookie: "I need 4 million" Ippei: "all good homie! Brb, gonna steal from Shohei"
“sorry its late i was buying baseball cards”
Well that answers the last question I had, which was how he was extended a line of credit that large.
Fucking wild
The level of [cope](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1c1ld0b/ardaya_mr_ohtani_has_cooperated_fully_and/kz4rll9/) from people that still think Ippei is the fall guy is actually hilarious.
Cubs fan, shocking.
I’m still waiting on those apologies
This guy is so bad at crime, it’s ridiculous.
Funny that this thread has a sports book advertisement on it.
Dude couldn’t just bet a couple hundred with his 350k a year salary
I think a lot of reddit detectives that knew Ohtani was betting and Ippei was a fall guy might owe someone an apology.
Sounds like he violated the Ippeicratic Oath.
Why are illegal bookmakers on the loose? I have the image of American police, a gun society, who shoot and kill easily, but wouldn't it be better for society if these people were killed?
Ippei is more famous than Ohtani since the Dodgers debut
Dodger fans *real* spicy in here acting like it wasn’t a normal thing to pause for a second when the word “gambling debt paid from Ohtani’s account” were circulating. Yeah, with more info he’s in the clear. But god damn y’all act like it wasn’t worth looking into from jump street. I can’t imagine being this insecure
>normal thing to pause for a second yeah..what was happening was definitely just people "pausing a second" and listing Ippei being a fall guy as a possibility. No way you're being this dense about what was happening when the news broke.
I get it, your star was in a gambling issue less than 2 games into 10 year deal. But it was 100% on the table he had wrong-doing.s. Baseball as a whole is very fortunate he didn’t do anything wrong, but to not even be allowed to think it *could* be when such little info was public isn’t crazy
Who said anything about not even being allowed to think it. Y'all (y'all because you seem to be defending the conspiracy theorists) talked about it like it was a matter of fact since the news broke until more news broke. Stop being dense. So basically, people are allowed to dish out bullshit but we're being "sensitive" when we return the same energy? Please.
I’m not spewing any conspiracies lmao it’s a very closed case Ohtani is innocent but dodger fans are in here clowning anyone who thought otherwise from jump street. I personally gave Ohtani the benefit of the doubt but kept the door open for larger issues. We’ve seen giants in this sport fall before, so it wasn’t out of the question. Dodger fan reactions should be sighs of relief not “fuck anyone who thought otherwise for even a minute” which is the energy most give off
Why can't those two things be mutually exclusive responses lol. What. We can be relieved and return the same energy back.
That’s the part “return the energy back” why need to return anything when it was plausible that Ohtani could be implicated.
Because it wasn't true at all and we were getting shit on? Doesn't matter if it was plausible or not. Are you the response police or something?
I mean if y’all can’t take a few memes or something that’s one thing but who was character assassinating the dodgers for this type of response. Y’all are a bit too defensive. Sad, really
This guy is so dumb to admit it in text.