In a social media post on Monday, Pete Rose, MLB’s all-time hitting leader and banned from games by the league in the wake of Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter gambling scandal. I joked that I wish I had been there.
“In the ’70s and ’80s, I wish I had an interpreter. I would be scott-free,” Rose said on Monday’s show in a video posted to the Baseball History Nut Twitter account.
Pete Rose must know he’ll never make it to the HOF…because why else would he make a comment like this? pic.twitter.com/CMgseDdpVp
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) March 25, 2024
MLB released Rose in 1989 after investigator John Dowd discovered that Rose had bet on the Cincinnati Reds while he played and managed them from 1985 to 1987. He was permanently banned from the baseball world. according to To the Associated Press.
Ohtani has been embroiled in a scandal since March 18, when interpreter Ippei Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani had repaid Mizuhara’s $4.5 million gambling debt. Mizuhara has since retracted these comments, and Otani’s representatives have dismissed Mizuhara’s original explanation, claiming that Otani was the victim of “grand theft.”
“In the course of responding to recent media interviews, we learned that Shohei was the victim of a grand theft, and we have decided to refer this matter to the authorities,” said Ohtani’s attorney, Burke Brettler LLP. said. according to To ESPN. (Related article: Shohei Otani’s contract is clearly unreasonable)
Mizuhara is said to have owed more than $4.5 million to an illegal bookmaker in California. According to ESPN, at least two wire transfers of $500,000 each were sent from Ohtani’s account to bookmakers.
The Dodgers waived Mizuhara and Ohtani was waived on Monday. statement He claimed to reporters that he had no knowledge of gambling, had never bet on any sports, and had never authorized a wire transfer.
Please free my boy Petey! he fulfilled his mission.
Really, poor Pete Rose just shut up while MLB seems to be doing everything it can to make Ohtani look good in the wake of baseball’s biggest gambling scandal since Rose’s own incident. All I can do is watch. Even though the league was disparaging Rose, even though he claimed he was only betting on Ohtani. Never against the Reds, and in between.
I like Ohtani — no, I don’t. Love That one. He’s the most exciting thing to happen in baseball…well, ever. So I don’t want to see the league overwatch him. I wish they would have valued Rose the same way, as it is incredibly marketable in its own right.
