IF TUCUPITA MARCANO IS BANNED FOR GAMBLING, WHO CARES ABOUT OHTANI?

This is perfect in the wishy-washy community of Rob Manfred, pinpointing an also-ran for betting on baseball when we’re still wondering how an innocent Shohei was so close to Mizuhara and Fletcher

     Evidently, I’m still alone in wondering how Shohei Ohtani was “unaware” that Ippei Mizuhara made 19,000 bets and lost $40.67 million. All of which happened in 25 months, between December 2021 and January 2024. How is that possible when they were best pals — home and away, America and Japan, for seven years — and Ohtani never noticed his interpreter was gambling 25 times a day on average? And never noticed his financial portfolio was dwindling by almost $17 million so debts could be paid? And never asked why Mizuhara went into emotional funks?

     Just kept playing ball, right? Hitting? Pitching?

     Or playing dumb when total losses reached $182.9 million?

     To remove our minds from suspicion and maintain President Biden’s hold on Ohtani’s native land, Major League Baseball wants us focusing on Tucupita Marcano. Never mind if Ohtani lied to authorities and commissioner Rob Manfred about what he really knew, preventing him from being in trouble with the law and the sport he rules. Let’s dwell on a San Diego Padres infielder alleged to have bet on games last year while on the injured list of the Pittsburgh Pirates. You’ve probably never heard of Marcano. I’ve never heard of Marcano. Manfred wants to clobber him anyway, possibly making him the first player banned for betting since Pete Rose in 1989.

     Never mind what Rose said when examining Ohtani. “Well, back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, I wish I’d had an interpreter. I’d be scot-free,” he yapped. Maybe so, as Manfred speaks of penalizing the prop bets of a player with a .217 batting average, five home runs and 34 RBIs in 149 games. When MLB is gung-ho about Marcano, who may have broken Rule 21 in the handbook, we’ll all feel much better about legal gambling.

     Won’t we.

     “There are certain kinds of prop bets that are of concern to us and continue to be of concern to us,” Manfred said. “Obviously, the potential for something happening in the game that nobody notices is much higher with a lot of kinds of prop bets and you could see where a player would be more tempted to — all you need to do is miss three free throws; it doesn’t necessarily change the outcome of your game. Your team may pick you up and life moves on. It’s just easier to have a problem on a prop bet. I think it’s just human nature. So, yeah, we remain concerned about them and have lobbied for certain types of prop bets not to be allowable.”

     Forbidding players from further work is the executioner of fixing. The NBA already has banned Jontay Porter for life after he tanked at least one game and provided inside information to bettors. The NFL hasn’t discovered any permanent scum yet after 12 players were suspended — but at some point, assuming commissioner Roger Goodell fesses up, remember how stars Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were kicked out for one season in the 1960s. The one sport that can’t afford more wrongdoing is baseball. Lost in too many scandals, including the Rose disgrace and the Black Sox crimes, how much more muck can we take? MLB continues to investigate those close to Ohtani, such as former teammate David Fletcher, who shared an illegal bookmaker with Mizuhara.

     Again, why I am the only one mentioning that Mizuhara and Fletcher were considered Shohei buddies in Orange County? Merely a coincidence on both ends? Or are the feds cooperating with MLB in looking away from the $700 million man? Next up is Marcano, joined by four minor-leaguers in the probe, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The steroids massacre finally forced Manfred to tell all, including Fernando Tatis Jr.’s positive test for clostebol that shut down the sport’s former face for 80 games. And at some point, even players making huge amounts could test Manfred’s gambling will.

     For now, Ohtani is safe. If not, the real commissioner could get mad.

     Biden.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.