# Shotenfreude about Ohtani **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [March 27, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460 "2024-03-27T15:19:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/41 "2024-03-28T19:11:01Z")
I’m sure Ohtani can speak basic-conversational English, but as pointed out, for the sort of highly-advanced/legalese/professional/contract stuff he’d have to deal with, he absolutely needs a top-notch interpreter, if not several. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/42 "2024-03-28T21:08:48Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > So a bookie in Ohtani’s hometown accepts a million dollar bet and loses because Ohtani has an uncharacteristically bad game on both sides of the ball. A year later, the same bookie accepts a **4.2 million dollar bet** on another Ohtani start? The bit about a $1 million dollar bet through a Japanese bookie was from a random twitter post. According to the LA Times story I read this morning the $4.2 million gambling debt was to an illegal bookie in California. That bookie’s residence was reportedly recently raided by law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/43 "2024-03-28T21:47:12Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What the fuck is wrong with you? Well, I guess the joke fell flat. What I was going for was if he didn’t have an interpreter, he couldn’t be stealing from him. However. would also lose a convenient Scapgoat. And to answer your specific question, Lots of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/44 "2024-03-29T03:56:47Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Also their team was fined 10 million Yen Yen10 million = USD66,000 (at today’s exchange rate). Maybe USD120,000 when the yen was strongest historically vis a vis the dollar. Not even a slap on the wrist unless you’re missing a couple of zeros ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/45 "2024-03-29T13:55:27Z")
Are you arguing for the sake of arguing? Or do you have a point? NPB takes player gambling seriously, even if they don’t punish the team too severely for the actions of the individual team members. Certainly, the resignation of the team rep to the league is in character for Japanese business, and a fairly significant gesture of the team’s acceptance of responsibility. Culturally, that’s more important than the money. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/46 "2024-03-29T14:58:07Z")
I’m a bookkeeper and I have worked for people who are obsessive about their bank balance and keep a very tight hold on all of their bank accounts, but I’ve also worked for people who aren’t like that. When they know they make a lot of money, they just tell me to transfer x amount of dollars for this latest thing they want, they don’t care beyond that. As long as I haven’t bled the account dry, it wouldn’t be hard to steal from the second kind of person. They usually do get caught, but it can take years. So, I’m willing to give him the benefit of doubt for now. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/47 "2024-03-29T16:27:17Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > They usually do get caught, but it can take years. You have no way of knowing this because it’s impossible to know how many don’t get caught. Someone careful and who doesn’t get in over their head with crazy debts/addictions could pull it off forever. Ohtani would probably never notice $150k/year. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/48 "2024-03-29T17:26:08Z")
You are absolutely correct. I should have worded that a little differently. Let’s just say, you will sometimes hear of someone being caught after many years. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/49 "2024-03-29T17:45:14Z")
You hear about it all the time. I know of two people, both wives of friends, who pulled it off for a long time. One was the office manager of a two person medical practice. She embezzled over $100k from them over the couse of a several years. She had no idea how much and ~$100k was all they could prove. It was likely two or three times that much. She spent 18 months imprisoned. One was the accountant of a small business. She would swipe petty cash when she was short on bills and always paid it back until one time she couldn’t. She just lost her job. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/50 "2024-03-31T05:40:49Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Because the lifetime ban would require that he was betting on baseball as far as I know. Permanent ineligibility is imposed if you bet on games you’re involved in. Betting on other games is a year. You can be restored off the permanent list - the Braves exec who cheated the international amateur signing system was granted a reprieve last year. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/51 "2024-03-31T05:56:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You can be restored off the permanent list Exactly this. Pete Rose _could_ be reinstated; he’s applied for reinstatement several times, under Fay Vincent, Bud Selig, and now Rob Manfred. But, each commissioner has either refused to act on the petitions, or indicated that Rose’s continued gambling and general attitude have led them to deny the request. And, frankly, it’s pretty clear that the only reason Rose has continued to seek reinstatement is that he quite desperately wants to be in the Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/52 "2024-03-31T19:00:28Z")
“Absolutely no evidence?” Fine, let me rephrase. It has come to the attention of law enforcement that $4.5 million was wired from Shohei Ohtani’s personal bank account to the account of an illegal bookmaker. As a general rule, when funds are transferred from someone’s personal bank account, the likeliest explanation is that the owner of the account initiated the transfer. Likewise, when someone transfers large sums of money to the account of an illegal bookmaker, they are most usually doing so in order to cover their gambling debts. So if you’re going to say there is “absolutely no evidence” suggesting that Ohtani may have been illegally gambling…well, I think Donald Trump would be happy to have you on his jury! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/53 "2024-03-31T19:41:29Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > So if you’re going to say there is “absolutely no evidence” suggesting that Ohtani may have been illegally gambling There is still a lot of this story to come out, but it seems far more likely that the interpreter is the one with the gambling debt, not Ohtani. You can keep backtracking, but I don’t think you’ll be able to siphon any of your poison out of that well. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/54 "2024-03-31T19:46:28Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > There is still a lot of this story to come out, but it seems far more likely that the interpreter is the one with the gambling debt, not Ohtani. There is certainly more than enough probable cause to investigate Ohtani. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/55 "2024-03-31T20:01:59Z")
Certainly - I’m not suggesting he’s scot-free, merely that there’s no smoking gun at the moment, and that the massive exaggerations in the OP should be tempered with some actual context. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/56 "2024-04-01T03:38:44Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Are you arguing for the sake of arguing? Or do you have a point? > > NPB takes player gambling seriously, even if they don’t punish the team too severely for the actions of the individual team members. > > Certainly, the resignation of the team rep to the league is in character for Japanese business, and a fairly significant gesture of the team’s acceptance of responsibility. Culturally, that’s more important than the money. USD100k fine in a slap on the wrist. I worked in Japan for UBS for several years, and in Hong Kong for Nikko Securities for more. Resignation of a patsy is part of the corporate game. All companies have a figurehead who’s job is to fall on their sword when the time comes. I call BS on the “culturally, that’s more important than the money”. Spoken like someone with a very surface understanding of Japanese culture and corporate culture. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/57 "2024-04-01T05:32:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Munch](#): > > > > There is still a lot of this story to come out, but it seems far more likely that the interpreter is the one with the gambling debt, not Ohtani. > > There is certainly more than enough probable cause to investigate Ohtani. If there was probable cause they would have enough to arrest. They have a reasonable suspicion. /nitpick ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/58 "2024-04-01T15:51:12Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If there was probable cause they would have enough to arrest. They have a reasonable suspicion. /nitpick Which is fine if you are a school administrator, but not if you are a cop. [New Jersey vs T.L.O.](https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/supreme-court-landmarks/new-jersey-v-tlo-podcast#:~:text=In%20a%20juvenile%20court%2C%20T.L.O.,evidence%20could%20not%20be%20used.) (1985) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/59 "2024-04-01T16:36:21Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > If there was probable cause they would have enough to arrest. They have a reasonable suspicion. /nitpick > > Which is fine if you are a school administrator, but not if you are a cop. > > [New Jersey vs T.L.O.](https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/supreme-court-landmarks/new-jersey-v-tlo-podcast#:~:text=In%20a%20juvenile%20court%2C%20T.L.O.,evidence%20could%20not%20be%20used.) (1985) I am extremely familiar with that case. More than I am comfortable sharing on here. That case was about searches. Although the principle for the level of proof in the same it’s different in focus. A reasonable articulable suspicion is what a police officer has when he continues an investigation. When the investigation yields enough evidence to rise to probable cause then a criminal charge can be filed. A simple way to look at it is with a motor vehicle stop. The officer needs RAS to pull over a car. He needs PC to write a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460/60 "2024-04-01T18:51:12Z")
I’m not a journalist, I’m a guy on a message board who hates the Dodgers. Deal with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shotenfreude-about-ohtani/999460.md?page=4)