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The former longtime interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani surrendered to authorities and later appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday afternoon.

Ippei Mizuhara surrendered to law enforcement Friday and was released shortly after on an unsecured $25,000 bond, colloquially known as a signature bond. That means Mizuhara does not have to put up any cash or collateral to be released. If he violates the conditions of his bond, he will be on the hook for $25,000.

United States Magistrate Judge Maria A. Audero also ordered Mizuhara to undergo gambling addiction treatment related to the sports betting case. He exploited his personal and professional relationship with Ohtani to plunder more than $16 million from the two-way player’s bank account for years, prosecutors said, at times impersonating Ohtani to bankers so he could cover his bets and debts.

Mizuhara on Friday spoke only to answer the judge’s questions, saying “yes” when Audero asked if he understood several parts of the case and his bond conditions.

Hours after court, his attorney Michael G. Freedman issued a statement saying Mizuhara hopes to “reach an agreement with the government to resolve this case as quickly as possible so that he can take responsibility.”

“He wishes to apologize to Mr. Ohtani, the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and his family,” the statement continued. “As noted in court, he is also eager to seek treatment for his gambling. We have no further comment at this time, but Mr. Mizuhara will be providing further comment as the legal process proceeds.”

Ohtani told the Los Angeles Times on Friday he was “very grateful for the Department of Justice’s investigation.”

“For me personally, this marks a break from this, and I’d like to focus on baseball,” he said from the field at Dodger Stadium ahead of the team’s game against the San Diego Padres.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was happy that Ohtani was exonerated and that he and the Dodgers as a whole “can move forward.”

“I’m just happy that it’s behind us. I hope it’s all behind, and we can just move forward and play baseball.”

Roberts also said he had not seen the investigation affect Ohtani or anyone on the Dodgers.

“He’s handled it with flying colors,” Roberts said. “He’s done a great job of just focusing on playing baseball, and not letting it be a distraction for him. Our guys, as well, have handled it really well, as far as that noise and not letting it affect play.”

Wearing a dark suit and a white collared shirt, Mizuhara entered the courtroom with his ankles shackled, but he was not handcuffed. The judge approved his attorney’s request to remove the shackles.

Mizuhara turned himself in Friday ahead of his initial court appearance. He is charged with one count of bank fraud, which can carry a maximum fine of up to $1 million and/or up to 30 years in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

Freedman and the prosecutors declined to answer questions from the media outside the courthouse after the hearing concluded.

Other bond conditions stipulate that Mizuhara cannot gamble, either electronically or in person, or go inside any gambling establishments, or associate with any known bookmakers.

Mizuhara is also prohibited from contacting any victim or witness in the case in any form. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 9.

Freedman told the judge that his client already planned to undergo gambling addiction treatment.

The hearing lasted about 10 minutes inside a courtroom packed with press, much of it Japanese media.

The judge told Mizuhara to let her know if he did not understand any of the bond conditions as she read them. “This is probably your only chance to interrupt a judge,” she said, joking.

Mizuhara was ordered to submit to drug testing, surrender his passport and remain within the Central District of California’s jurisdiction. The judge noted his family ties to the area, his longtime residency here and his self-surrender Friday morning when she approved the bond.

The judge also noted that Mizuhara does not have a criminal history.

Ohtani was not identified by name in the proceeding. Prosecutor Jeff Mitchell, in response to a question from the judge, only said, “The victim has been notified.”

Prosecutors said there was no evidence that Ohtani was involved in or aware of Mizuhara’s gambling, and authorities said Ohtani is cooperating with investigators.

Mizuhara was not asked to enter a plea during Friday’s brief court appearance in downtown Los Angeles. A criminal complaint, filed Thursday, detailed the alleged scheme through evidence that included text messages, financial records and recordings of phone calls.

Major League Baseball opened its own investigation after the controversy surfaced, and the Dodgers immediately fired Mizuhara.

Information from ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Giants sell 10% stake to private equity firm

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Giants sell 10% stake to private equity firm

The San Francisco Giants have sold a reported 10% stake in the team to private equity firm Sixth Street.

The team confirmed the deal Tuesday but not the amount of the investment, which was first reported Monday by the New York Times.

Sportico places the value of the franchise and its team-related holdings at $4.2 billion.

Sixth Street’s investment, reportedly approved by Major League Baseball on Monday, will go toward upgrades to Oracle Park and the Giants’ training facilities in Scottsdale, Arizona, as well as Mission Rock, the team’s real estate development project located across McCovey Cove from the ballpark.

Giants president and CEO Larry Baer called it the “first significant investment in three decades” and said the money would not be spent on players.

“This is not about a stockpile for the next Aaron Judge,” Baer told the New York Times. “This is about improvements to the ballpark, making big bets on San Francisco and the community around us, and having the firepower to take us into the next generation.”

Sixth Street is the primary owner of National Women’s Soccer League franchise Bay FC. It also has investments in the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and Spanish soccer powers Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

“We believe in the future of San Francisco, and our sports franchises like the Giants are critical ambassadors for our city of innovation, showcasing to the world what’s only made possible here,” Sixth Street co-founder and CEO Alan Waxman said in the news release. “We believe in Larry and the leadership team’s vision for this exciting new era, and we’re proud to be partnering with them as they execute the next chapter of San Francisco Giants success.”

Founded in 2009 and based in San Francisco, Sixth Street has assets totaling $75 billion, according to Front Office Sports.

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Ohtani ‘nervous’ in Tokyo but gets 2 hits, runs

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Ohtani 'nervous' in Tokyo but gets 2 hits, runs

TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani seems impervious to a variety of conditions that afflict most humans — nerves, anxiety, distraction — but it took playing a regular-season big-league game in his home country to change all of that.

After the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Opening Day 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Dome, Ohtani made a surprising admission. “It’s been a while since I felt this nervous playing a game,” he said. “It took me four or five innings.”

Ohtani had two hits and scored twice, and one of his outs was a hard liner that left his bat at more than 96 mph, so the nerves weren’t obvious from the outside. But clearly the moment, and its weeklong buildup, altered his usually stoic demeanor.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shohei nervous,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But one thing I did notice was how emotional he got during the Japanese national anthem. I thought that was telling.”

As the Dodgers began the defense of last year’s World Series win, it became a night to showcase the five Japanese players on the two teams. For the first time in league history, two Japanese pitchers — the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga — faced each other on Opening Day. Both pitched well, with Imanaga throwing four hitless innings before being removed after 69 pitches.

“Seventy was kind of the number we had for Shota,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It was the right time to take him out.”

The Dodgers agreed, scoring three in the fifth inning off reliever Ben Brown. Imanaga kept the Dodgers off balance, but his career-high four walks created two stressful innings that ran up his pitch count.

Yamamoto rode the adrenaline of pitching in his home country, routinely hitting 98 with his fastball and vexing the Cubs with a diving splitter over the course of five three-hit innings. He threw with a kind of abandon, finding a freedom that often eluded him last year in his first year in America.

“I think last year to this year, the confidence and conviction he has throwing the fastball in the strike zone is night and day,” Roberts said. “If he can continue to do that, I see no reason he won’t be in the Cy Young conversation this season.”

Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki went hitless in four at bats — the Cubs had only three hits, none in the final four innings against four relievers out of the Dodgers’ loaded bullpen — and rookie Roki Sasaki will make his first start of his Dodger career in the second and final game of the series Wednesday.

“I don’t think there was a Japanese baseball player in this country who wasn’t watching tonight,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers were without Mookie Betts, who left Japan on Monday after it was decided his illness would not allow him to play in this series. And less than an hour before game time, first baseman Freddie Freeman was scratched with what the team termed “left rib discomfort,” a recurrence of an injury he first sustained during last year’s playoffs.

The night started with a pregame celebration that felt like an Olympic opening ceremony in a lesser key. There were Pikachus on the field and a vaguely threatening video depicting the Dodgers and Cubs as Monster vs. Monster. World home-run king Saduharu Oh was on the field before the game, and Roberts called meeting Oh “a dream come true.”

For the most part, the crowd was subdued, as if it couldn’t decide who or what to root for, other than Ohtani. It was admittedly confounding: throughout the first five innings, if fans rooted for the Dodgers they were rooting against Imanaga, but rooting for the Cubs meant rooting against Yamamoto. Ohtani, whose every movement is treated with a rare sense of wonder, presented no such conflict.

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Cardinals shortstop Winn out with wrist soreness

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Cardinals shortstop Winn out with wrist soreness

JUPITER, Fla. — St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn was scratched from the lineup for their exhibition game on Tuesday because of soreness in his right wrist.

Winn was replaced by Jose Barrero in the Grapefruit League matchup with the Miami Marlins, with the regular-season opener nine days away. Winn, who was a 2020 second-round draft pick by the Cardinals, emerged as a productive everyday player during his rookie year in 2024. He batted .267 with 15 home runs, 11 stolen bases and 57 RBIs in 150 games and was named as one of three finalists for the National League Gold Glove Award that went to Ezequiel Tovar of the Colorado Rockies.

Winn had minor surgery after the season to remove a cyst from his hand. In 14 spring training games, he’s batting .098 (4 for 41) with 12 strikeouts.

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