It's Sho-Time - The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers Season Thread

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beefchopper said:
That's what worries me. Check out this article and the comments following it: https://nypost.com/2024/03/20/sport...egedly-stole-millions-of-dodgers-stars-money/
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Right, the fact the story is suddenly changing is very concerning. I suspect Ippei gambled, increasingly got into debt, and got Ohtani to bail him out. The problem, of course, is that the receipts were under Ohtani's name, which the bookie advertised, and once Ippei unintentionally implicated Ohtani to ESPN by admitting he wired the money, his reps/lawyers got involved and are changing the story to theft to save face, hence the backtracking.

Sadly, I suspect there's a lot more to come on this one. Even if Ohtani isn't using Ippei as a fall guy, wiring $4.5 million to an illegal gambling operation being investigated by the Feds is not a good idea and could still cost him. Either way, a very sad story, given how close they were, and hopefully this doesn't become the Dodgers' annual season distraction.
 
Matthew said:
Right, the fact the story is suddenly changing is very concerning. I suspect Ippei gambled, increasingly got into debt, and got Ohtani to bail him out. The problem, of course, is that the receipts were under Ohtani's name, which the bookie advertised, and once Ippei unintentionally implicated Ohtani to ESPN by admitting he wired the money, his reps/lawyers got involved and are changing the story to theft to save face, hence the backtracking.

Sadly, I suspect there's a lot more to come on this one. Even if Ohtani isn't using Ippei as a fall guy, wiring $4.5 million to an illegal gambling operation being investigated by the Feds is not a good idea and could still cost him. Either way, a very sad story, given how close they were, and hopefully this doesn't become the Dodgers' annual season distraction.
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Maybe he can blame it on the new wife.
 
Matthew said:
Right, the fact the story is suddenly changing is very concerning. I suspect Ippei gambled, increasingly got into debt, and got Ohtani to bail him out. The problem, of course, is that the receipts were under Ohtani's name, which the bookie advertised, and once Ippei unintentionally implicated Ohtani to ESPN by admitting he wired the money, his reps/lawyers got involved and are changing the story to theft to save face, hence the backtracking.

Sadly, I suspect there's a lot more to come on this one. Even if Ohtani isn't using Ippei as a fall guy, wiring $4.5 million to an illegal gambling operation being investigated by the Feds is not a good idea and could still cost him. Either way, a very sad story, given how close they were, and hopefully this doesn't become the Dodgers' annual season distraction.
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Very troubling indeed. Yes his lawyers did release this but we're they just trying to get out in front of it with their version knowing it was a story about to break? And what is the explanation for the abrupt change in the story?
 
Matthew said:
Right, the fact the story is suddenly changing is very concerning. I suspect Ippei gambled, increasingly got into debt, and got Ohtani to bail him out. The problem, of course, is that the receipts were under Ohtani's name, which the bookie advertised, and once Ippei unintentionally implicated Ohtani to ESPN by admitting he wired the money, his reps/lawyers got involved and are changing the story to theft to save face, hence the backtracking.

Sadly, I suspect there's a lot more to come on this one. Even if Ohtani isn't using Ippei as a fall guy, wiring $4.5 million to an illegal gambling operation being investigated by the Feds is not a good idea and could still cost him. Either way, a very sad story, given how close they were, and hopefully this doesn't become the Dodgers' annual season distraction.
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From what I have read, the payments were noted as a loan and then when pointed out to Shohei, he claimed the funds were misappropriated a fancy term for theft. It may have been Shohei helping a close friend, at first, and when the problem snowballed the taps were shut off. Unfortunately, Ippei had a monkey on his back.
 
beefchopper said:
Very troubling indeed. Yes his lawyers did release this but we're they just trying to get out in front of it with their version knowing it was a story about to break? And what is the explanation for the abrupt change in the story?
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I think they'd have been better off just saying what happened like Matthew spelled it out. Hey, Ippei got in trouble, Ohtani helped him out, and that's it.
 
beefchopper said:
Very troubling indeed. Yes his lawyers did release this but we're they just trying to get out in front of it with their version knowing it was a story about to break? And what is the explanation for the abrupt change in the story?
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I'm also curious how much involvement, or lack of, the Dodgers' legal team had in this, because I can't imagine they would want Ippei, who was still a Dodgers employee until today, talking to ESPN about this.
 
A friend of mine told me he heard on the radio that the Angels were paying him $400,000-500,000 to be the interpreter. Huh?
 
dsinsocal said:
Ohtani will be pitching back in Japan with Bauer next year, after Manfred sticks it to the Dodgers once again.
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Manfred wants the money Ohtani makes for MLB and all the attention he brings to the sport in the US and Asia MUCH more than he wants to stick it to the Dodgers. Not even close.
 
Ohtani is bigger than most in baseball and there’s not a chance in the world that Manfred and MLB would even touch him with how bad baseball wants to be big overseas.

To do anything else would be the equivalent of Manfred cigar cutting his dode off and eating it.
 
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beefchopper said:
Manfred wants the money Ohtani makes for MLB and all the attention he brings to the sport in the US and Asia MUCH more than he wants to stick it to the Dodgers. Not even close.
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Heh. You're probably right. There are, indeed, a lot of sweet, sweet dollars on the line here.
 
dsinsocal said:
When you put the ball in play for an out, you're relying on the fielder to make an error in order to provide a good outcome. A strikeout is no different, you're just relying on different players to make an error -- the pitcher (wild pitch) and catcher (pass ball). For every instance of a "good thing" happening because the ball broke through the webbing of a fielder's glove, there is an instance of a player hitting into a triple play. It tends to even out.

The reason that strikeouts aren't as frowned upon now as they used to be is because statistical evidence shows that, over the course of a full season, it's more beneficial for a power hitter not to alter his swing with two strikes.

Yes, Muncy will strike out with runners in scoring position quite often. He'll also clear the bases with one swing quite often. Instead of driving in 1 run with a single today, he'll drive in 2 or 3 runs with a double or HR tomorrow. Or he'll draw a walk and score when someone else drives him in.

The guy hit .212 last year but STILL scored 95 and knocked in 105. His K-rate actually wasn't much worse than Ohtani's last year, if you can believe that.
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Read your first sentence and then replay Muncy's strikeout with runner on second and third one out in the first inning this morning.
 
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