Gambling debts, lies end work, friendship between Ohtani and translator as both are investigated

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday, March 24. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• Major League Baseball launches investigation into Shohei Ohtani, translator
• Storms double State Water Project estimates
• U.N. chief says it’s time to ‘truly flood’ Gaza with aid
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

A longtime friendship dissolves over lies, potential ‘theft’

It was just past 6 a.m. West Coast time — or 10 in the evening on Wednesday in Seoul — when television cameras captured two longtime friends enjoying each other’s company in the visiting dugout of Gocheok Sky Dome.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were an out away from wrapping up a season-opening 5-2 victory over the rival San Diego Padres in an international series roughly 6,000 miles away from Chavez Ravine.

In the bottom of the ninth, cameras captured a chummy conversation between Dodgers’ international sensation Shohei Ohtani and his longtime friend and interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.

The duo had known each other for years. Mizuhara translated for Ohtani in negotiations with six major league baseball teams before the two-way phenom bucked the Dodgers to sign with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018.

The interpreter hails from Diamond Bar High School and was also relatively unknown outside baseball circles with his first mention in The Times on March 3, 2018, briefly noting his “Beatles-like mop top.”

Within hours of their jovial ninth-inning chat, however, the relationship between the two men permanently changed.

Mizuhara was abruptly fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday after entangling himself and Ohtani in a gambling controversy that has since elicited an inquiry from Major League Baseball.

Lost in translation

Ohtani has not been accused of a crime.

However, his name has already been compared with those of baseball gambling infamy, such as Pete Rose, who was accused of gambling as a player and a manager, and the 1919 Chicago White Sox, better known as the “Black Sox,” who deliberately tossed away the World Series that year.

The controversy, in essence, was revealed when The Times broke the news that Ohtani representatives accused Mizuhara of a “massive theft” of the ballplayer’s funds tied to gambling with an allegedly illegal bookmaker.

Ohtani’s name had surfaced in a federal investigation of Mathew Bowyer of San Juan Capistrano. Bowyer’s attorney insists his client has not been charged with a crime.

ESPN reported that the money involved totaled at least $4.5 million.

An Ohtani spokesperson told ESPN on Tuesday evening that the ballplayer knowingly covered gambling debts incurred by Mizuhara. ESPN reported that Mizuhara informed the Dodgers after their win that a story would be out soon detailing the situation. He didn’t, however, mention anything about a theft.

What did he know and when did he know it

By the next morning, however, stories changed.

Ohtani’s spokesperson said previous statements made on the ballplayer’s behalf were not accurate.

Mizuhara also acknowledged that he lied and had never informed Ohtani of his debts and that his friend has never transferred money to his bookie or any of his associates.

The Dodgers replaced Mizuhara with Will Ireton, the team’s manager of performance operations who once served as an interpreter for former pitcher Kenta Maeda.

As for what’s next, The Times has you covered with articles, videos and daily updates on this evolving story. Stay tuned.

The week’s biggest stories

(Los Angeles Times illustration; photo by Genaro Molina /Los Angeles Times)

Environmental efforts, water conservation

• California doubles State Water Project allocation thanks to February storms.
• Newsom administration delays landmark workplace heat safety rules over cost concerns.
• Suspect sought in fatal hit-and-run of homeless man near downtown Los Angeles.
• What do Schwarzenegger, Fonda and Newsom have in common? They’re fighting oil drilling.

Weather

• Gusty winds, rainy conditions to continue across Southern California through the weekend.
• More rain hits L.A., California this weekend, while the Sierra again braces for heavy snow

Kate Middleton cancer diagnosis, royal predicament

• Q&A: What oncologists can glean from Kate Middleton’s cancer announcement.
• Kate Middleton’s cancer announcement brings messages of concern, support.
• Kate Middleton is helping her kids through cancer diagnosis. How to talk to your children.
• The double cancer blow to Kate and King Charles leaves Britain’s royal family depleted and strained.
• Don’t blame the public for failing Kate Middleton. Blame the palace.

Crime, courts, law enforcement

• MS-13 leader, one of FBI’s most wanted fugitives, arrested at California-Mexico border.
• Rebecca Grossman ‘naive,’ not conniving, with jailhouse calls; judge won’t reprimand her.
• A federal judge orders a sweeping outside audit of L.A. homelessness programs.
• Golfers sue city of L.A., calling out failure to stop black market in tee times.

Animal welfare

• 101 Freeway will see lane closures as wildlife crossing is built in Agoura Hills.
• Sorrow for Jackie and Shadow, but two new baby eagles in Orange County.
• 500 stitches later, injured brown pelican ‘Blue’ continues healing process.

Moscow terrorist attack

• Death toll from attack on Moscow concert hall reaches 133, Russia says.
• Deadly attack on Moscow concert hall shakes Russian capital, sows doubts about security.

NCAA March Madness

• Kiki Rice is determined to make her NCAA title dreams with UCLA come true (good read)
• Meet the sister-brother duo celebrating their March Madness moments together.
• Marquette busts NFL star Bijan Robinson’s perfect NCAA tournament bracket.

Politics and international news

• U.N. chief says it’s time to ‘truly flood’ Gaza with aid, calls starvation there an outrage.
• Congressman in Prop. 47 overhaul initiative violated campaign finance law, former FEC chair says.
• First Lady Jill Biden in Southern California for campaign fundraising.
• Trump’s media company is going public, netting him billions. Why would anyone invest in it?

More Big Stories

• Long Beach Post staffers laid off after moving to unionize and going on strike.
• Beyoncé’s ‘Beyincé’ sash is no mere typo: Tina Knowles offered an explanation years ago.
• ‘Blue’s Clues’ host checks in after ‘Quiet on Set,’ making grown fans emotional.
• State Farm won’t renew 72,000 insurance policies in California, worsening the state’s insurance crisis.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

Zoomers fear them. Boomers want more of them. Millennials will keep making them for the rest of the year. Born between roughly 2010 and the end of 2024, “Generation Alpha” is the demographic successor to Gen Z. Its oldest members are not quite ready for a quinceañera, while its youngest will be conceived in the coming weeks. Blame bad parenting by millennials or tech companies or both — but many of those responsible for setting the discourse online agree we should be worried for them.

More great reads

• A goodbye to The Times and a thank you to readers.
• Puppetry is booming in L.A. Meet the new generation of performers making it cool again.
• GoPros, gummies, reckless abandon: Why ski slopes are getting more dangerous.
• I’ll take the jerky at Sophy’s over your Wagyu steak anyplace else.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 🍗 Get out of the rain and into our guide for our seven favorite spots for Korean fried chicken.
• 🥾 Join hundreds of Dodgers fans for a 6 1/2-mile hike through Griffith Park, beginning at 7:30 a.m. sharp.
• 🐶 Bring Fido to the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes Peninsula for a stroll through the 87-acre garden, starting at 9 a.m.
• 🌱 Get to know the L.A. greenery on an ecology walk with herbalist Paige Emery at the Echo Sunset Prieto Trail Loop at 10 a.m.

Staying in

• 👻 The latest iteration of the 40-year-old spook-filled franchise, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” makes it debut this weekend.
• 📖 Author Tarryn Fisher mystery thriller “Good Half Gone” about a women who goes undercover in an insane asylum to solve her sister’s disappearance is out.
• 🧑‍🍳 Happy National Cheesesteak Day! Here’s a recipe for the dish from chef Billy Parisi.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.

L.A. Affairs

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

(Hannah Agosta)

I met an executive chef in November 2022 at a posh Las Vegas restaurant where he worked. Sitting alone at the bar, I ordered the omakase, which meant he curated more than a dozen courses for me. The chef caught my happy dance from behind the bar. We smiled at each other. Then, being the straightforward gal I am, I asked if he wanted to come back to my hotel room where we had sex and cuddled until I fell asleep. He ended up being married with two kids.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor

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