Dan Patrick Reacts To Ohtani's Press Conference Addressing Interpreter Gambling Scandal | 3/26/24

Dan, Ippei was working as an interpreter for a Japanese baseball team in the Nippon League. The team had a former MLB minor league player on the team This was before Shohei got drafted by the same team a year or two later. So Ippei was already vetted by the team. When Shohei went to play for the Angels, Ippei offered his services to Shohei and it was only natural to hire him as he did not have to do any research on him based on his Japanese team’s prior vetting. The media is also jumping to conclusions regarding the amount of $4.5 million. Ippei never specifically said anything about this amount. What he said was that nine wire payments were made in similar fashion after answering to ESPN’s inquiry about the two wire that allegedly came from Shohei’s account. So the media jumped to the conclusion that 9 x $500,000 = $4.5 million is what came out of Shohei’s account. If that was the case, I.m sure the FBI investigation on Browley would have picked this up as they can easily check into bank lodgers. But only two wires had Shohei’s name on it. And even Shohei’s team including CAA Sports would have checked on this issue. The fact that Shohei did not mention anything about the alleged $4.5 million is that his legal/financial team probably could not verify this (as neither did the FBI) . The fact that Shohei took his parents and his wife to Korea and had them sit together with Ippei’s wife would indicate that he did not know anything about Ippei’s interview with ESPN and that Ippei had never talked to Shohei about this. Just my observation Show less

Folk DO NOT UNDERSTAND illegal bookmakers. Illegal BOOKMAKERS want gamblers to get into debt, even 4.5 million in debt such as Ippei who is close to Shohei. In Debt? gambler is now COMPROMISED! Reason: #1: Ippei has insider knowledge about baseball and can give insider information. #2: Ippei can get desperate and take money from Shohei, i.e. embezzlement.

They were never teenagers together. They’re 10 years apart.

So much faith that our law enforcement authorities will handle this properly, impartially, and then make sure the public knows the full extent of the investigation. 🤣🤣🤣

What a gig the interpreter lost. I would love to have a gig like that.Dugout seats to all the Dodgers games! Man that would be sweet.

A friend of mine sent me $8000 by bank transfer gor my school tuition. It failed several times and both of us had to talk to the banks several times. There's NO WAY that multiple transfers were made without Ohtani knowing.

With wire transfers I believe in some cases you can request funds from an account if the receiver has their banking information but still you would need approval not only from the account holder but from the bank. The bank flags it and calls the authorized names on the account

"i've never once worked with an illegal bookie" my poll question is do you believe Seton Yes/NO

If you thought Ohtani didn’t speak English before, you aint seen nothin yet.

Everyone asks why would a bookie keep floating Ippei as his debts reach into millions – the bookmaker's attorney already answered that. It's because of Ippei's proximity to Shohei. Because he was Shohei's best friend that Bowyer allowed Ippei's debts reach into millions. If you're invested enough to comment on this issue, you should read articles and get more information from credible and reliable sources. It's unfair that a lot of people (especially in twitter) are already 100% sure that Ohtani is gulity despite the investigation is still ongoing.

I'm Japanese, but I want Americans to know about this new translator. I feel like he only translates about 80% of what's said. For starters, he uses "obviously" a lot, but Shohei never says "obviously" in Japanese. Also, Shohei didn't use the word "willfully" in Japanese. I think a real professional translator should have done this. Shohei's explanation in Japanese was perfect and left no room for doubt. Shohei's explanation in Japanese clearly and concisely shows that Shohei has nothing to do with gambling and that Ippei was telling a huge lie to everyone around him at the beginning. Another thing that really caught my attention was that Shohei said he spoke using notes. But the interpreter said "document." This is a pretty big difference, and when you listen to Shohei's Japanese, it's clear that it's not written Japanese, but spoken Japanese. What you can tell is that he's not speaking from memory, but rather he focuses on the main points and then speaks in his own words. If you listen to it, a native Japanese person can tell whether someone simply said something prepared or whether they focused on the main points and said it in their own words. It's clear that Shohei didn't speak from memory, and it wasn't an acted speech.

There's nothing that proves Shohei is guilty of anything, he did'nt sign any check to make payments and the wire transfer were done by electronic, which Ippei had access to. People got to understand there's clients employer's and workers that embezzle and steal money from wealthy owner's all the time. Especially when a person is desperate and is in debt from grambling like Ippei, will betray his friendship and steal money (I know my own brother was addicted to gambling and would steal from our parents bank account by forging their signature) Some of the clients and associates that robbed and stole money from athletes and celebrities - Tim Duncan was robbed $20 million dollars, John Elway lost $15 million, Kareem Abul Jabbar lost $9 million, Kevin Garnett lost $78 million, Usain Bolt lost $12 million, Robert DeNiro lost $88 million dollars, Elton John lost $29 million, Billy Joel $90 million ect......All by clients, associates and even close partners.

Shohei has been a model athlete and person in his time in the public eye. I’m ok with believing him and giving him some grace until it’s absolutely proven otherwise

I find it odd that the lawyers that are watching the accountants who watch the lawyers that watch the accountants never brought up any of these $500,000 wire transactions when his yearly taxes are due ! This cannot be explained away to the IRS !

Ohtani has never said Ippei was his best friend. I've spent more time with coworkers in my life than my wife too.

Just a maybe off topic thought but Ippei always gave a weird vibe and now more so after seeing this new interpreter. This guy seems very professional and Ippei seemed to comfortable to have a little spotlight. Even if Ohtani was gambling, why would he do it with an illegal bookie? He has the money to bet legally all he wants

C'mon! Ohtani is not going to use his OWN account, with his OWN name on it, to pay off an illegal bookie. He knows everyone watches him, wants to know what he does, etc. His interpreter was more than just his interperter. He had an seperate account, with Ohtani's name and permission to use, for conducting personal purchase, payment of bills, etc. Money went into this account every month, for the course of several years, and Ippei made the debt transactions 9 times, without Ohtani's knowledge. Ohtani's biggest crime was trusting this guy and now he is paying for it with this "guilty until proven innocent" bannana.

I'd be more interested in knowing what kind of person the former interpreter had been.

In a world where so many love to condemn before all the facts are in, I still believe people are innocent until proven guilty. There is a long list of celebrities who have been robbed by people they handed management of their finances to. I hope Ohtani is another one of them and is innocent of these accusations. Say it ain't so Sho!

If you’re say in Japan you can carry casual conversations but you rely on an interpreter who can represent you when its serious just to avoid misunderstanding. You have to trust that person like a family so you can focus on what you’re doing. You pay them generally and almost always together for 6 years. I can’t imagine the shock and heartbreak Ohtani must be going through. He maybe too slow to find out about Ippei but that’s not a crime. Remember, Ippei lied to everyone. He lied to the media first, then to Ohtani’s rep, both covering up saying Ohtani is aware to protect himself. The next day he realized his stories doesn’t add up and admitted to the media that he lied. People say Ohtani changed the story but he didn’t, it was Ippei all along.