Did Shohei Ohtani Get Away with Gambling on Baseball?

In March of last year, we reported that Shohei Ohtani was involved in what is perhaps the biggest gambling scandal in baseball history, making Pete Rose’s case seem minor in comparison.

If you recall, the MLB discovered that millions of dollars in wagers were placed in Ohtani’s name. This situation threatened to get the game’s most internationally recognized star to be banned for life. But, just as quickly as the story broke, information started coming out that it was in fact his translator who was placing the bets using Ohtani’s money. What we saw was a full damage control effort my Ohtani’s camp, the L.A. Dodgers and MLB itself.

But anyone who put some real energy into thinking how likely it was that his translator could move millions of dollars out of his account without anyone else knowing is absurd on its face. Think about how many codes you receive via email and to your phone message when you log into your account and make any financial movements, all just a fraction of the money we are talking about here. There are a lot of failsafes in place to prevent fraud. You would have to believe that all rights to Ohtani’s money were given to this translator and his phone and email. It’s silly to believe their cover story.

Recently, I heard a podcast by the great comedian Jim Florentine outlining the same beliefs in blunt fashion. We have secured a clip of the podcast and published it in a video below. Give it a listen.

You can follow Jim Florentine’s podcast on Patreon