Baseball Thread

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Re: The Ohtani situation

Something is majorly fucky about this entire scenario. If Ippei was millions in the hole with illegal bookies and Shohei just wanted to help his best buddy out of a bad situation, I can understand. You can't hold Shohei liable for helping a friend in need, regardless of what you think about that friend going into massive debt. Clearly Ippei has a problem and Shohei did what any other person would do. However, to put out a statement that confirmed said story and then to retract it shortly afterward is way too suspicious for my liking. If all you did was help your friend out of a sticky situation, why wouldn't you be honest about it? Why retract and then blame your friend? And this was after Ippei had his moment at a press conference where he told the press that a story was going to come out that implicated him in something bad and that he took full responsibility for it. The messaging here is not clear at all and there is no direction from anyone's PR department on how to frame the story.

We all know how close Ohtani and Ippei are. I'm sure each of them has dirt on the other. I mean, come on, if any of you have close friends (this is Kiwi Farms, so maybe I'm being a retard by assuming such things) you have probably been in situations where you have confided secrets and committed some shenanigans. I know I have and those things have never been disclosed to people I wouldn't want to be in the know. From what has occurred over the last 24 or so hours, it seems to me that perhaps Ippei has something embarrassing on Ohtani that Ohtani may not want to be out in public. Maybe the retraction came out of an abundance of caution because they knew Ohtani's name was on the wire transfers and thus there was direct implication of possible wrongdoing? Even then, it still makes no sense to put out a statement saying X and then putting out another statement to say that X is no longer the position you're taking and that the new statement is Y.

We've got to let this shake out. Right now, I don't think Shohei needs to be under any investigation from the league or his team. Ippei being fired is the right call, as sad as it is, because there has to be a standard for all members of an organization. I think it's sad that Ippei has now completely ruined his life and lost what was the most cakewalk job one could ask for. What's sadder is that this could be the end of a very long friendship between two men who have been with each other for a long time. As I see it, Ohtani has done nothing wrong until proven otherwise. We just have to let it shake out and hope for the best, whatever that may be.
 
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Illidan Stormrage said:
Really ? What gives you such absolute confidence that Ohtani is the one gambling ?
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Because I have seen this scenario before with professional athletes and high profile businessmen. They want to gamble but cannot show that behavior publicly for legal or image reasons. They get an assistant who is trusted to handle their money and place bets. The bookie or the bank are investigated by law enforcement for one reason or another. Next thing you know the person trying to keep their gambling secret is named in public court filings and their reputation takes a massive hit and possible legal or business ramifications as well.

Professional sports leagues have investigated players for having steroids sent to their houses but under names of their wives or maids and let them get away with it. Everyone knew that the players were using the roids and not their gardeners or maids.
Akashic Retard said:
So excited to see Yamamoto have a 4.8 season ERA and Ohtani to receive a lifetime ban from baseball this year
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This is why MLB is being so defensive about this. They will never lifetime ban the face of the sport. They celebrated Bonds hitting the homerun record and completely ignored the steroid and drug allegations. Because they know that most fans don't really care.
 
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TheHarbinger said:
Because I have seen this scenario before with professional athletes and high profile businessmen. They want to gamble but cannot show that behavior publicly for legal or image reasons. They get an assistant who is trusted to handle their money and place bets. The bookie or the bank are investigated by law enforcement for one reason or another. Next thing you know the person trying to keep their gambling secret is named in public court filings and their reputation takes a massive hit and possible legal or business ramifications as well.

Professional sports leagues have investigated players for having steroids sent to their houses but under names of their wives or maids and let them get away with it. Everyone knew that the players were using the roids and not their gardeners or maids.

This is why MLB is being so defensive about this. They will never lifetime ban the face of the sport. They celebrated Bonds hitting the homerun record and completely ignored the steroid and drug allegations. Because they know that most fans don't really care.
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I see. How many of these scenarios that you've seen in the past involve Japanese individuals ?

How many of them come from countries where gambling is illegal and no casinos exist ?

How many of them are from a culture where concepts of societal expectations, clear lines between right and wrong and excelling as a group are hammered into kids from a young age ?

Rhetorical questions, I know, because you have no comparable situations. On top of the above, Ohtani was a "yakyuu shounen" (Baseball kid) who went off to a hostel for young and talented Baseball players, leading a monastic life centered around Baseball. His parents are also still together and provided a foundation for the children of discipline and hard work (both of them having had long involvements with organized sports.

Neither of us can be vindicated until all of the details are laid bare, but I'm confident that Ohtani wasn't the one gambling.
 
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Cpl. Long Dong Silver said:
And niggers grow up in America where homicide is illegal, but they still manage to wage a small war every year.

Just because it's illegal doesn't mean people won't do it.
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This couldn't be a more apples and oranges situation.

You're taking niggers, who are pathologically compelled to respond to situations with violence due to low IQs and bad impulse control (even in the face of education and training) and comparing them to Japanese people (some of the most disciplined, regimented and rule-fearing people on the planet).

Sure, there's a very small possibility that Ohtani himself was gambling, but I'm confident that wasn't the case when you consider all of the factors that I've already laid out.
 
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The gambling scandal made the national evening news. It's not going away. I could see them sweeping it up for now and blaming the translator fully then details of Ohtani's role leak later on. Maybe the Dodgers keep it in their pocket in case they want to invalidate the contract. With the Pete Rose thing it seemed like there was always more details coming out even years after the ban.
 
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@Illidan Stormrage it's not that deep broski. He bet on it, but it's ok. He's the face of the sport and with draft kings being pumped by MLB they don't have much leverage. The fans don't care.

This too will pass.
 
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J.D. Martinez, Mets reach agreement on 1-year deal (sources)​

JD Martinez signs 1 year/12M deal with the Mets
Some money deferred into the 2030's

oof just 2 articles down

Voit makes back-field roster push ahead of opt-out​

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- By Saturday, Luke Voit will know if he has made the Mets.
Voit, a 33-year-old veteran on a Minor League deal, has a March 23 opt-out in his contract. When Mets officials return from their trip to the Tampa Bay area this weekend, they will need to have a conversation with him, one way or the other.
“I think I have a chance,” Voit said Thursday before playing in a Minor League game at the team’s Clover Park complex -- an eventful afternoon that saw him take a pitch off his helmet but stay in the game with no obvious ill effects. “Obviously, it’s not the spring I wanted to have statistically, but I’ve done a lot of work throughout it.
“I was doing a lot of damage on the back fields, too. I feel like at the beginning it was a little rough, and that’s kind of been frustrating. But they brought me here and told me I’d have a chance to make the team, and I feel like I’ve been making a late push for it. So we’ll see.”
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You're not making the team bud. You have to feel a little for these AAAA veterans at spring training trying to get the spots. But I would think this signing makes roster spots for guys like Ji Man Choi, Ben Gamel, and Luke Voit pretty much gone.
 
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TheHarbinger said:
Because I have seen this scenario before with professional athletes and high profile businessmen. They want to gamble but cannot show that behavior publicly for legal or image reasons. They get an assistant who is trusted to handle their money and place bets. The bookie or the bank are investigated by law enforcement for one reason or another. Next thing you know the person trying to keep their gambling secret is named in public court filings and their reputation takes a massive hit and possible legal or business ramifications as well.

Professional sports leagues have investigated players for having steroids sent to their houses but under names of their wives or maids and let them get away with it. Everyone knew that the players were using the roids and not their gardeners or maids.

This is why MLB is being so defensive about this. They will never lifetime ban the face of the sport. They celebrated Bonds hitting the homerun record and completely ignored the steroid and drug allegations. Because they know that most fans don't really care.
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They'll find someone else to take the fall. If there are other players doing something similar, they'll get blamed and start turning on each other.

The league has so many sus shenanigans going on, from gambling to Sticky Stuff to stealing signs. I saw something claiming that opposing players being excessively buddy-buddy on the field (beyond usual sportsmanship) could give the impression or be an indicator of a fixed game.

Those, and StatCast/Sabremetrics autism are taking all the fun out of the game.
 
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Illidan Stormrage said:
I'm confident that Ohtani wasn't the one gambling.
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So either he made illegal payments (with federal wire fraud charges potentially tacked on) and would therefore be up for punishment from MLB, or his buddy really did steal the money from him in which case Ippei will be prosecuted and sent to prison.

The fact that MLB says he's not under investigation means either his buddy is about to be criminally charged and will likely end up in prison for the theft of millions, or if he's not criminally charged and Ohtani still isn't investigated by MLB then we know the real story which is Ohtani was gambling and MLB will never give up their golden boy.

In which case, Pete Rose should strip naked and drive a truck through the front door of Cooperstown.
 
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Trombonista said:
You know you have some proficiency in Japanese when you see the name "Ippei Mizuhara" and immediately know which kanji it contains.
For the record, these are the kanji: 水原一平
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