WHAT? OHTANI IS DEALING WITH A REAL-ESTATE LAWSUIT AFTER IPPEI THE SCAMMER
His mind is not in the right place — as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts criticizes him — and maybe he needs better servants than Mizuhara and agent Nez Balelo, who has him in legal hot water in Hawaii
Welcome to America the Beautiful, Sho Time. Feel like retreating to Japan? In a season and a half, you have let your agent and your interpreter swindle you into two controversial, mind-blurring schemes, while the Dodgers are asking if you should be pitching and hitting. That quickly, the Universal Joy of Baseball has fallen into his first career rut, with criticism from manager Dave Roberts, of all people.
As we continue to wonder if Shohei Ohtani knew that translator Ippei Mizuhara gambled 19,000 times and spent $40.7 million in about two years — stealing almost $17 million from his personal bank account — say hello to a real-estate fiasco centered on agent Nez Balelo. This is not the story the Dodgers need as they try to win back-to-back championships in a stadium still overwhelmed by Ohtani-generated mob scenes. Why would he be targeted in a lawsuit in Hawaii, where an investor and broker are suing him and Balelo and blaming them for losing jobs? Doesn’t Ohtani have better things to do in his blessed life?
Seems Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and Tomoko Matsumoto wanted him to endorse a $240 million housing development on the Hapuna Coast, where he would have lived. But Ohtani departed with Balelo — who negotiated his $700 million deal with the Dodgers — and was accused of tortious interference, unjust enrichment and trying to launch a competing venture against them. At the moment, Ohtani is trying to continue an all-time sports story, returning as a starting pitcher after his second Tommy John surgery while hitting 42 home runs. It is mid-August, his team is stumbling — and he might not know what tortious interference is.
Bone up, Los Angeles.
His head is not where it should be.
“Balelo and Otani, who were brought into the venture solely for Otani’s promotional and branding value, exploited their celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle Plaintiffs’ role in the project — for no reason other than their own financial self-interest,” the lawsuit says, spelling Otani without an “h.”
“This case is about abuse of power. Defendants used threats and baseless legal claims to force a business partner to betray its contractual obligations and strip Plaintiffs of the very project they conceived and built. … Defendants must be held accountable for their actions, not shielded by fame or behind-the-scenes agents acting with impunity. Plaintiffs bring this suit to expose Defendants’ misconduct and to ensure that the rules of contract, fair dealing, and accountability apply equally to all — celebrity or not.”
At least this narrative doesn’t involve the police and Major League Baseball, both of which were alarmed that Ohtani knew about Mizuhara’s wagering itch. If he did and kept quiet, he might have been in trouble in California, where sports gambling is illegal. To this day, it’s hard to believe he knew nothing about his friend’s 25 bets a day when both were side by side for years, at home and on the road, in the U.S. and in Japan, in stadiums and restaurants. What happened when Mizuhara slipped into an hourly rage? Did Ohtani conveniently ignore him? I doubt it. So should you.
Balelo has been a weird figure in this multi-year scenario. He works for CAA, which did not comment to the Associated Press. Hawaii? The Big Island? Mauna Kea Resort? Doesn’t Ohtani return to Japan in the offseason? Ohtani bought an $8 million home north of Dodger Stadium and was concerned about safety, wanting to sell it when two Japanese reporters showed up. Keeping him secure is an issue in a mammoth metropolis. But Balelo should not be involved with people positioned to take advantage. Who are Hayes and Matsumoto? Why are they accusing Balelo of demanding concessions? Why are they in the news?
As a pitcher, Ohtani has made eight starts. He pitched four innings last week and gave up a run on two hits, striking out eight. “It really felt good, the command of the fastball. Overall, the slider and curveball was really good,” he said. Is he on his way? Not if the bullpen suffers. The team’s president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, failed to bring in disruptive relievers at the trade deadline. What does it matter if Ohtani throws four or five innings and no one finishes the job? The Dodgers, with the 21st-ranked bullpen, are concerned about second-place San Diego, which has the sport’s most saves and the best bullpen ERA.
Ohtani has struck out 145 times and is hitting .284, after a midseason slump, though his home-run total always boggles us. The other day, after a loss to Toronto, Roberts made news in ripping Ohtani after he failed with the bases loaded in the ninth. With the Blue Jays using their eighth pitcher, why was Sho Time swinging at a third strike outside the zone?
“The last thing I was thinking was he was going to strike out. ... We’ve got to come up with one right there,” Roberts said. “Chasing the ball down below is something we can't have happen.”
Whoa. Earlier, why did Ohtani try to steal third base with two out and Freddie Freeman at the plate? Bad idea. “That was his decision. Not a good baseball play,” Roberts said.
The scope of Shohei Ohtani demands we never doubt him much. He could hit four home runs tonight and pitch four innings Wednesday in Anaheim.
But Ippei Mizuhara bothered us. And Nez Balelo bothers us.
Find better servants, I’d say.
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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.