Shohei Ohtani is not Pete Rose. At least not yet.
For one thing, as accomplished as Ohtani is at baseball, his 684 career hits pale in comparison to Rose's 4,256, the most of any major league player.
More pertinent to the news cycle is that Ohtani has not been accused of betting on baseball, or betting at all. Rose was banned for life from baseball in 1989 by then-commissioner Bartlett Giamatti (yes, Paul's father), whose investigation concluded that Rose had bet on Major League games as a player and manager.
Rose, 82, remains popular with fans, but their attempts to reinstate him have been unsuccessful. He is also excluded from the Hall of Fame.
Ohtani, 29, does not appear to be in any such danger. However, as The Times first reported, the Dodgers' new superstar was uncomfortably close to a gambling operation. His representatives accused his interpreter and longtime friend, Ippei Mizuhara, of participating in a “massive theft” of Ohtani's money allegedly used to pay off millions in gambling debts Mizuhara owed to a betting house.
Ohtani's representatives muddied the waters by first telling ESPN that the two-way star covered Mizuhara's gambling debts and made Mizuhara available to provide that version of events in an interview, only to later waive the account. Mizuhara and allege theft. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara on Wednesday.
During the interview that ESPN reported lasted 90 minutes, Mizuhara said, “I want everyone to know that Shohei had no involvement in the betting.”
Gambling by MLB players is strictly prohibited under Rule 21, which is posted in each clubhouse in English and Spanish and recognized in writing each year by each player. The rule addresses all types of misconduct, including a player not giving his all, giving a gift to an opposing player or referee, and committing a violent act against another player or referee.
Regarding games of chance, Rule 21 has three parts:
1) Any player, umpire, official or employee of a club or league who bets any sum on any baseball game in respect of which the bettor has no obligation to do so, shall be declared ineligible for one year.
(2) Any player, umpire, official or employee of the Club or League who bets any sum on any baseball game in relation to which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.
(3) Any player, referee, official or employee of the Club or League who places bets with illegal bookmakers, or agents of illegal bookmakers, will be subject to the sanction that the Commissioner considers appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances. of the case. conduct. Any player, referee, official or employee of the Club or League who operates or works for an illegal betting business will be subject to a minimum one-year suspension by the Commissioner. For the purposes of this provision, an illegal bookmaker is a person that accepts, places or handles bets on sporting events from members of the public as part of a gambling operation that is illegal in the jurisdiction in which the bets are accepted.
Rule 21 was created after the Black Sox scandal of 1919, when eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of forfeiting the World Series in exchange for players' money. In short, it was baseball's first serious attempt to ensure the integrity of the competition.
Banning Rose for life was another marker, Giamatti sent a decisive message to anyone paying attention that games are not fixed nor are results predetermined. Every commissioner since him has reinforced the message by refusing to reinstate Rose.
Meanwhile, sports gambling has become legal in some form in 38 states and the District of Columbia. The MLB, NFL, NBA and other sports have increasingly tapped into their revenue potential. Sports betting remains illegal in California and public sentiment remains against a change in the law.
In 2022, California voters rejected two competing proposals that would have allowed sports betting even though approximately $500 million was spent promoting the bills. Advocates declined to review the bills this year, and it is unclear whether another effort will be made in 2026.
However, sports betting ads are everywhere. California is not immune to the relentless marketing of sports betting giants FanDuel and DraftKings, and Las Vegas is just a short drive or plane ride away.
But California residents who want to place big bets on sporting events from home do so illegally, either online or at a sportsbook. Mizuhara allegedly made bets with Mathew Bowyer, a San Juan Capistrano resident whose home was raided by federal agents last year as part of an investigation.
Ronald Peters, a bar owner in Franklin, Ohio, was Rose's bookie. He was a star witness in the 1989 investigation by baseball investigator John Dowd that led to Rose accepting a lifetime ban, telling Dowd that he had accepted more than $1 million in bets from Rose.
Peters died alone in his apartment in 2016 and received a pauper's cremation.
