Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, has found a new job following his ugly split from the two-time American League MVP.
The Dodgers fired Mizuhara following the shocking news that he had been involved with an illegal bookmaker, Matthew Bowyer. Mizuhara is said to have given $4.5 million to Bowyer through the bank account of Shohei Ohtani, who was later cleared of any gambling violations following an investigation.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to charges of tax and bank fraud earlier this week, per ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. Mizuhara’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25, and he faces up to 33 years in prison, Gonzalez added.
In the meantime, Mizuhara has kept himself busy with a new gig. The New York Post obtained photos of Shohei Ohtani’s former friend delivering Uber Eats in the Los Angeles area:
The 39-year-old Mizuhara befriended Ohtani back in 2013, when the two-way star was on the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball. At the time, Mizuhara was employed as an interpreter for the team.
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Mizuhara was Shohei Ohtani’si interpreter with the Los Angeles Angels from 2018 to 2023. The former came to the Dodgers after Ohtani signed a record-setting $700 million deal in December, but his tenure there was awfully short-lived.
Shohei Ohtani Is Off To An Excellent Start With Dodgers
Only time will tell if Ohtani can live up to the entirety of the $700 million deal, but he’s been worth every penny up to this point.
The soon-to-be 30-year-old has the second-best batting average in baseball (.322) heading into Thursday’s action, behind only Jurickson Profar (.323) of the NL West rival San Diego Padres. Ohtani’s 77 hits also place him fourth in the majors.
Ohtani’s Dodgers are already running away with the NL West, a division they’ve one all but one year (2021) since 2013. Of course, 2024 will only be considered a success if they win the World Series in 2024.
