As the Los Angeles Dodgers were going through their final stretch of Spring Training, Shohei Ohtani announced on Instagram that he is married.
The news caught the Dodgers organization by surprise and led to an increase of media attention at Camelback Ranch. Ohtani initially shared few details as to who his wife is but explained why he made the announcement in the middle of Spring Training.
“I felt like it was good timing because it was before the season,” Ohtani said through then-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “I didn’t want any distractions when the season started.
“And I would have liked to announce it earlier, but there was some paperwork issues that lagged the whole process. So that was the whole deal.”
It later became known that Ohtani got married to Mamiko Tanaka, a former Japanese basketball player. Her identity was revealed when Ohtani shared a photo of the couple boarding the Dodgers’ flight to South Korea.
While Ohtani had good intentions with revealing his marriage during the spring, he nevertheless has become part of off-the-field headlines.
That began due to Mizuhara’s illegal gambling activity and purportedly using a bank account under Ohtani’s name to pay off Southern California bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, who is under federal investigation.
The Dodgers immediately fired Mizuhara once his sports betting came to light, and this week Ohtani accused his former interpreter of lying and stealing.
Ohtani emphatically stated he has never bet on baseball or any other sports, and that Mizuhara’s gambling was unknown to him until after the interpreter addressed the Dodgers clubhouse on Opening Day.
Ohtani’s press conference was attended by Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten, chief marketing officer Lon Rosen, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Brandon Gomes, manager Dave Roberts, and teammates Kiké Hernández and Joe Kelly.
Shohei Ohtani focused on Dodgers
As part of his prepared statement when addressing the situation with Mizuhara, Ohtani said he hoped his comments would help answer questions and that he was looking forward to the Dodgers resuming their schedule with the Dodger Stadium opener.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
