Shohei Ohtani had something planned for Friday, October 25, long before the Los Angeles Dodgers secured their spot in the World Series. Long before he made MLB history. Long before Freddie Freeman’s historic grand slam decided an intoxicating curtain-raiser against the New York Yankees.

It’s a 30-mile drive from Dodger Stadium in Santa Ana, Calif., where in June Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges.

Ohtani’s former performer — and close confidante — admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from the MLB star to fund his mounting gambling debts.

He is said to have placed 19,000 bets between December 2021 and January 2024, an average of almost 25 per day. He made $142 million but lost more than $180 million.

Mizuhara now faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison; his sentencing was scheduled for October 25 at 2 p.m. PT, three hours before Jack Flaherty threw out the first pitch of the first game.

Ippei Mizuhara (left) was accused of stealing $17 million from baseball icon Shohei Ohtani (right)

The Los Angeles Dodgers star signed a 10-year, $700 million contract in December 2023.

Last month, however, the hearing was postponed until December – at Mizuhara’s request. This erased Ohtani’s journal. His only date Friday night was a first date with the Yankees.

Mizuhara’s guilty plea had already wiped Ohtani’s slate clean. Major League Baseball closed its investigation and echoed authorities’ conclusions: Its biggest star was just a victim. Case “closed”.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, said they were “pleased that Shohei and the team can put this whole matter behind them and move forward in pursuit of a World Series title.”

Both statements rather underestimated the mysterious web of debt and deceit that entangled the greatest player the sport has seen – perhaps since Babe Ruth.

In December 2023, the two-time MVP signed the richest contract in team sports history when he joined the Dodgers on a 10-year, $700 million contract. Within months, however, he was linked to an illegal bookmaker, “The Real Housewives of Orange County” and a Hollywood law firm whose clients range from Prince Andrew to Leonardo DiCaprio.

Ohtani remained discreet, except to protest his innocence. Through lawyers. And then via a 650-word statement in Japanese, where the thirty-year-old said he was “saddened” and “shocked” by the “lies” and the betrayal of “trust”.

Earlier this year, Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges in California.

Ohtani is mobbed by reporters before Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees

His words were translated into English by Dodgers staff member Will Ireton. That had been Mizuhara’s job since Ohtani joined Major League Baseball in 2018. He was his interpreter but also, it is claimed, his coach, his driver and his best friend.

They shared a locker, ate at the same table and sat next to each other on the bench. They have been compared to “peanut butter and jelly.”

That’s why questions persisted, even after Mizuhara was fired and Ohtani was formally cleared of any wrongdoing. The two-way star was exonerated in April but the case cast a shadow over his first season. Some fans are still wondering: is there more to this story?

Earlier this week, Ohtani closed another record deal. The Japanese superstar is the only player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.

It reached uncharted waters last month and the ball Ohtani sent over the fence was recently put up for auction. It sold for $4.39 million, surpassing the highest price for a sports ball.

It was a stunning illustration of Ohtani’s value to the Dodgers – and to his sport. But it was only a small change. At least compared to the numbers that have been swinging between his bank account and the gaming world in recent years.

Ohtani, authorities discovered, did not know his old friend was dipping into his millions. And, as of November 2023, the two-way star was unaware he was also being watched. Mizuhara has received a message that lays bare the dark thread that runs through this curious affair. It was from “Bookmaker 1”; Ohtani was identified only as “Victim A.”

He is the only player in history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.

Mizuhara had been Ohtani’s interpreter and confidant since he joined Major League Baseball.

‘Hey Ippie (sic), it’s 2pm Friday. I don’t know why you aren’t answering my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see (victim A) walking her dog,” it read. “I’m just going to talk to her and ask how can I contact you since you’re not responding? Please, call me back immediately.

By then, authorities said, transfers from Ohtani’s accounts had reached $500,000 at a time. The first fraudulent transfer – in the amount of $40,000 – appeared two years earlier, but agents joined the dots as early as 2018, when Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels.

He reportedly met Mizuhara in 2013. Five years later, they visited a bank together in Arizona. The interpreter helped Ohtani open an account, then posed as his friend to trick the bank into giving him access to the funds.

Another key twist occurred in 2021, when Mizuhara met Mathew Bowyer at a poker game in San Diego. Shortly after, he began gambling with the illegal bookmaker. He soon finds himself in debt.

By the end of 2022, the performer was said to owe more than $1 million. Soon he would have been in the red for $4 million. At one point, the performer changed Ohtani’s bank account details so that they were linked to her phone number. This way the bank would call him to verify the wire transfers.

Last October, Bowyer’s home was raided by federal agents, shortly before Ohtani signed the largest contract in baseball history. Mizuhara moved with him across Los Angeles and soon his troubles also followed Ohtani from the Angels to the Dodgers.

Mizuhara allegedly wired money to ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ Ryan Boyajian

A giant Ohtani mural was painted on a hotel in Little Tokyo, a neighborhood in Los Angeles

Ohtani’s name was allegedly found on two wire transfers to Bowyer totaling $1 million. The first explanation? He had made the payments to cover Mizuhara’s debts – initially estimated at around $4.5 million.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles was preparing for the start of the 2024 regular season. The Dodgers’ opening game – against the Padres – took place in the South Korean capital, Seoul. Before the March 20 match, a bomb threat was issued against Ohtani. Police searched the Gocheok Sky Dome before concluding it was a hoax. But inside the Dodgers clubhouse, another fuse had been lit.

The match went on and Mizuhara sat in the dugout. Later that night, however, the performer confessed that he was addicted to gambling. Club manager Andrew Friedman reportedly told his team that Ohtani had been covering for his friend.

But within hours, Mizuhara’s story began to unfold. Ohtani’s lawyers said they “discovered that Shohei was the victim of a massive theft and we are handing the matter over to authorities.”

The statement came from Berk Brettler LLP, a leading Hollywood law firm that represented some of the biggest names in showbiz. It is claimed Ohtani scolded Mizuhara after asking what was said in the clubhouse.

Baseball star hired Berk Brettler, founded by Andrew Brettler (left) and Blair Berk (right)

The Los Angeles superstar is flanked by his new interpreter Will Ireton on Thursday

The performer was fired by the Dodgers and then, the following month, Mizuhara was accused of stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani “to fund his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting.”

A few weeks later, it was claimed that Bowyer’s associate – to whom Mizuhara wired money – was Ryan Boyajian, a cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” . The irony.

Few athletes are as protective of the privacy of their personal lives as Ohtani. Now he is forever linked to reality TV.

During spring training, Ohtani announced his marriage to former basketball player Mamiko Tanaka on Instagram. None of his teammates knew he had a girlfriend.

Glimpses behind the curtain into Ohtani’s life are rare and that only adds to the mystery of this case. The same goes for his use of an interpreter. But the language barrier never hindered Ohtani at work. This remarkable story hasn’t derailed his hopes of leading the Dodgers to glory either.

The World Series will end in early November. A few weeks later, Mizuhara will learn of his fate and this curious chapter in Ohtani’s career could finally close.