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smittykins

By smittykins
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catlover79
catlover79

A's fans were still able to make their fury at the Astros known when the teams played in Oakland last night. They may not be physically allowed in the stadium, so they did the next best thing:

xaxat
xaxat

I read that Houck said he was "bummed" that he would missing a start. Hmmm, if only there was something he could have done to make sure he could play in every park. 

xaxat
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Moose135

Moose135

(edited)
15 hours ago, DMK said:

Secondly, the guy changed his story. 

There have been a few versions I've heard - the guy took the money without Ohtani knowing, or maybe Ohtani gave him the money to pay his gambling debts. The cynic in me wonders if the guy was actually placing bets for Ohtani to get around MLB rules on players gambling.

Edited by Moose135
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cleo

cleo

Yeah Ohtani's own camp saying he was aware and then suddenly changing their tune- is fishy to me.

I think it is exactly what was initially said- the guy had gambling debts and Ohtani wanted to help him out, not realizing the implications. 

The bigger issue to me is will MLB give Ohtani a pass, which I assume they will. And then what message will that send long term, now that gambling is becoming ever more entwined with the games?

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baldryanr

baldryanr

1 hour ago, cleo said:

The bigger issue to me is will MLB give Ohtani a pass, which I assume they will. And then what message will that send long term, now that gambling is becoming ever more entwined with the games?

Players can't bet on baseball and they can't use offshore websites or illegal bookies.  Everything else is fair game and while MLB might not be thrilled if their stars have a gambling addiction, as long as they do it legally then they can't do a thing other than plead with them to keep it quiet.

ProudMary

ProudMary

6 hours ago, cleo said:

I could be wrong, but I think it was an illegal bookie/gambling operation. I believe the feds are investigating, but I may have those details wrong.

You're not wrong. California doesn't allow MGM, Draft Kings or the like. You want to place bets, you need to go through a bookie, and that's illegal.

You're also correct that the Dept. of Justice is investigating, which makes the fact that MLB isn't investigating Ohtani, moot. As much as MLB would like to sweep this under the proverbial rug, as it involves the face of the game, it's not going away any time soon.

  • Like 5
DMK

DMK

4 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

You're also correct that the Dept. of Justice is investigating, which makes the fact that MLB isn't investigating Ohtani, moot. As much as MLB would like to sweep this under the proverbial rug, as it involves the face of the game, it's not going away any time soon.

Yes, but it’s unlikely that the feds would be able to prove who specifically made the transactions, especially if the interpreter has confessed to it and probably been whisked away to a non-extradition country and they can’t further talk to him. With that in mind, MLB will be more than happy to leave it at that. I’d say Ohtani is off the hook this time but if he slips again, he has no fall guy left. Also, nobody would buy the same story twice.

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ProudMary

ProudMary

@DMK I agree completely with your response to my comment. It's just that with the feds (rightfully) involved, there will be a cloud hovering overhead for a while. The bloom is off the Ohtani rose. Not to mention that investigative journalists will be sniffing around on this for the rest of his playing career. If they find well-sourced info on him, even if it wasn't quite strong enough for the feds to charge him with, it will still be reported. 

I actually feel sad about the whole situation. Ohtani's incredible abilities are good for the game I love. Controversy surrounding him certainly isn't. 😔

  • Like 7
ebk57

ebk57

11 hours ago, DMK said:

Yeah, I think the whole thing came up because the Feds were investigating the bookie for mob ties. It wasn’t just one single transaction, though. It was 8 or 9 over a two year period. I really don’t think that Ohtani isn’t going to notice that. 

This is the business I work in (not gambling, but handling athlete finances) and there's an incredibly high chance that Ohtani wouldn't notice any of these transactions.  Not saying it did or didn't happen, but many of the athletes are checked out of that side of their lives.  That's why they should always hire my firm - we're great! (Seriously, we are)

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DMK

DMK

(edited)
49 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

This is the business I work in (not gambling, but handling athlete finances) and there's an incredibly high chance that Ohtani wouldn't notice any of these transactions.  Not saying it did or didn't happen, but many of the athletes are checked out of that side of their lives.  That's why they should always hire my firm - we're great! (Seriously, we are)

That is a commonality with celebrities with loads of money. The thing with that is from what we’ve seen, Ohtani has such a stranglehold on any personal information, like getting married or the name of his dog. That information didn’t get out until he deemed it so. He even broke his own story about signing with the Dodgers. Seems to me that someone who’s in such massive control over his information would not miss that.

Edited by DMK
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Carey

Carey

In all honesty, I really hope that Ohtani does not fall here.  This year sans Gerrit is bad enough; I even thought so myself saying that at least there's a big star on the West since the star on the East is down and out.  It would be a total gut punch if there's any validity to Shohei sorta opting to emulate Rose or even Barry Bonds, instead of someone like the Babe or even Jeter

ProudMary

ProudMary

4 hours ago, DMK said:

On a subject change, why are most of the Opening Day games on in the middle of the day? I realized this and I had a doctors appt at about that same time. I used the app to reschedule but left the “why do you want to reschedule” box blank because “conflicts with MLB Opening Day” was too embarrassing to write.

Embarrassment-free zone here.

Every year, I think to myself, "Opening Day should be a national holiday." 😉

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BlueSkies

BlueSkies

On 2/13/2024 at 5:14 PM, ProudMary said:

I realize that this video I'm sharing (Length 7:35) is from the YES Network so non-Yankees fans may choose not to watch, but it's a very good panel discussion on the automated ball-strike system that was implemented last season across AAA Baseball. I've been a cheerleader for the system's implementation at the major league level but after listening to this discussion, I think I like the halfway mode where the umps still make the calls, but the team has challenges available if they believe an egregious call has been made. Worth a watch, IMO.

 

Good watch and I'm not a Yankee fan. 

 

While it's not something I have strong feelings about I think this going to be a reality sooner versus later.  I suppose it will get the calls more correct but to me it will make the game even more boring.  Though the time clock between pitches helped a little I thought.  

  • Like 1
Carey

Carey

Wouldn't it be something if Los Angeles won the whole thing.  In spite of Ohtani, though I think I'd still be okay if he was a reason or the reason for another title.

 

Here is the schedule and slated start times for Opening Day 2024.

All 30 teams will be in action on that day, including reigning champion Texas, who hosts the 2016 Champions in the evening EST on ESPN.

On a personal note, to be honest I was looking forward to Ohtani and LA, especially after the news regarding Gerrit Cole.  Maybe Houston winning no more than 42 games would be a nice consolation prize.  For me at least!

 

As for the Fall Classic favorites, Dodgers are around 3 to 1.  I think over 3 to 1 to win the title.  Followed by Atlanta, Houston, and the New York Yankees at 4.5 to 1, 7 to 1, and 9 to 1, respectively.  The defending champions & Baltimore both have a 14/1 chance

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mojoween

mojoween

I can think of so many things more palatable than a Dodgers World Series win.  Raw liver.  The sediment at the bottom of a cup of hot cocoa.  Gum an hour past its freshness.  Stubbing my toe.  Reading the tax code.

Was there any point to Ohtani’s presser if he didn’t answer questions and basically said it surely was not me who did any of those things?

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Notabug

Notabug

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

I can think of so many things more palatable than a Dodgers World Series win.  Raw liver.  The sediment at the bottom of a cup of hot cocoa.  Gum an hour past its freshness.  Stubbing my toe.  Reading the tax code.

Was there any point to Ohtani’s presser if he didn’t answer questions and basically said it surely was not me who did any of those things?

What else could Ohtani say?  If he even admits that he gave/lent the money to the translator to cover his gambling debts; he's in deep doo doo.  He has to completely separate himself from both the situation and the money or his career is over before it barely began.

It would be interesting to know just how a lowly translator got close enough to Ohtani to be able to access his accounts, but I suppose he and his attorneys are saving that for the deposition.  Saying something about it now would make it harder to defend if he changes the story in any way later.  And, yeah, I believe there is something very fishy here and Ohtani is culpable for, at the very least, knowingly giving money to his translator to pay a bookie and probably more than that.

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baldryanr

baldryanr

2 hours ago, Notabug said:

It would be interesting to know just how a lowly translator got close enough to Ohtani to be able to access his accounts, but I suppose he and his attorneys are saving that for the deposition. 

It's been very clear that he wasn't just his "lowly translator", the guy was basically his personal assistant.  That's the entire point of his defense, that he gave the guy 100% access because he trusted him completely.

Now, I'm not saying this is what actually happened - the original story (the translator was in debt and Ohtani, being the generous guy that he is, was willing to pay the bookie directly without recognizing that a criminal act done with good intentions is still a criminal act) is more likely.

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Notabug

Notabug

(edited)

Most people wouldn't give their accountant enough access to take over $5 million from their accounts, let alone a personal assistant, no matter how much he was trusted,

Surely, someone other than the translator was handling Ohtani's financial affairs and should've caught the large sums of money being withdrawn from Ohtani's accounts, and, at the very least, asked Ohtani about it.  Either Ohtani's money  people really fell down on the job or, Ohtani knew how much the translator was taking and approved, which seems to suggest that he knew why he needed so much.

Edited by Notabug
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baldryanr

baldryanr

Because athletes are so often the embodiment of financial prudence and good judgement?  They aren't most people.

If Ohtani facilitated betting on baseball then he's facing a ban, but I don't think he would be stupid enough to do that.  If he facilitated illegal bets on other sports then MLB will fine him and that'll be the end of it unless the Feds uncover evidence of more wrongdoing.  It'll hurt his image for a bit, but let's be honest - star athletes have done worse and maintained the love of the fans as long as they performed well on the field.

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cleo

cleo

(edited)

Didn't the translator give an hour long interview to ESPN with an Ohtani spokesperson standing by, saying that Ohtani loaned him the money? Beforw the lawyers pulled it back?

That is what gets me. Something like that doesn't just happen imo. The interpreter wasn't meeting ESPN in a back alley. I find it hard to believe that interview was set up without Ohtani having any knowledge, given how tight lipped he is with media. 

Also how stupid would this guy be to brazenly lie like that to an espn audience of millions?

I dont buy it myself.

But I believe they need someone to blame, they will blame the interpreter, and that's that bc it's Ohtani.

Edited by cleo
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Notabug

Notabug

(edited)
8 hours ago, cleo said:

Didn't the translator give an hour long interview to ESPN with an Ohtani spokesperson standing by, saying that Ohtani loaned him the money? Beforw the lawyers pulled it back?

That is what gets me. Something like that doesn't just happen imo. The interpreter wasn't meeting ESPN in a back alley. I find it hard to believe that interview was set up without Ohtani having any knowledge, given how tight lipped he is with media. 

Also how stupid would this guy be to brazenly lie like that to an espn audience of millions?

I dont buy it myself.

But I believe they need someone to blame, they will blame the interpreter, and that's that bc it's Ohtani.

As to why anyone, even Ohtani would LEND $5 million to a interpreter; that's about as plausible as thinking no one noticed the deficit in Ohtani's accounts until the feds came calling.  Even if Ohtani doesn't handle his day-to-day finances, like most athletes; surely he has a business manager/accountant who does pay attention to where the money goes and would make sure that Ohtani was ok with such huge sums being transferred without any purchase being made.  Usually there is a limit on how much can be spent without notifying the boss for approval.

If it was a 'loan', it seems obvious that Ohtani wasn't expecting it to be repaid anytime soon, if ever.

Edited by Notabug
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Carey

Carey

Happy Opening Day, with apologies to about 4 teams.  Most of the 26, well, hopefully the weather cooperated.

Such a longshot to even predict who'll win what.  It's a grind in the other sports, but baseball so tops it IMO & TBH.  I'd go with Texas if I had to choose, but there is a fair enough reason why nobody has repeated in over 2 decades.

Unlike other sports, officiating can't be ultra effective unless it's known & obvious.  So despite a team like Los Angeles being great enough to win for the first time in 4 years, no way officiating will be the leading cause

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ProudMary

ProudMary

I'm an out-of-market Yankees' fan, so I watch the games through MLB.TV.  Yankees/Astros is shown as today's Free Game of the Day. The reason I bring it up is because it's the only Free Game of the Day, which has me a bit ticked off. Every year I've had a subscription, all games during the first week of the season have been free for everyone. (MLB, in the past, has also had all games be free to all in the week after the All-Star Game.) I wonder why they stopped it.

Nitpick, I know, but was looking forward to being able to see some other games this week.

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