MLB still carries the shadow of 1989, when Pete Rose, one of the game’s greatest hitters, was banned for life for betting on games. A punishment so severe that his long-awaited reinstatement only came posthumously this year. And in 2024, history repeated itself with MLB once again jolted by a betting controversy. This time involving Shohei Ohtani’s trusted interpreter and confidant, Ippei Mizuhara.

“This is Major League Baseball’s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose — and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on,” Billion Dollar Fantasy author Albert Chen said in 2024.

The $325 million scandal gripped the baseball world, dragging the sport’s biggest global star into a swirl of suspicion and headlines. While a thorough investigation eventually cleared Ohtani of any wrongdoing, public fascination with the saga has refused to die down. Now, Hollywood, ever alert to real-life drama, quickly capitalized on the story.

Reportedly, in May 2024, Lionsgate Television revealed that it was developing a scripted series based on the controversy. Since then, updates were scarce. But now, it seems the long-anticipated project is finally ready to step into the spotlight. Courtesy to Starz!

“The Shohei Ohtani scripted TV series about the gambling scandal is officially happening. STARZ just bought it, and Alex Convery (AIR) is writing. Gotta go unknowns on the casting, right?” Entertainment journalist Matt Belloni shared.

Starz network is reportedly close to greenlighting a series that will follow Ohtani’s incredible rise. This ranges from landing his record-breaking 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers to the shocking scandal that followed. The drama centers on his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who allegedly stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani to cover his own gambling debts. While Albert Chen was set to write a Lionsgate series on the saga, this version will come from writer Alex Convery.

Last year, it almost looked like Ohtani himself might get dragged into the betting scandal. In March 2024, Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani was helping pay off his gambling debts. But the very next day, he completely flipped his story, saying Ohtani had no idea any of this was happening.

Later, it was revealed that between November 2021 and January 2024, Mizuhara secretly wired over $16 million from Ohtani’s account without permission. As per the official affidavit, Mizuhara placed a staggering 19,000 bets during that time. From these bets, his winning rounds totaled roughly $142 million. But his losing bets added up to about $183 million, leaving him more than $40 million in the hole.

And if there’s more to this series, we might probably see that in the upcoming series.

Ohtani’s and Mizuhara’s saga is no less than a tinsel town thriller

Shohei Ohtani’s MLB journey itself reads like a Hollywood script, and for a while, it was all about the highs. Initially, he burst onto the scene as the rare two-way phenom, dazzling fans by dominating both on the mound and at the plate for the Angels. His talent and star power eventually led to a jaw-dropping, record-breaking $700 million contract with the Dodgers. A deal that cemented him as baseball’s biggest superstar.

Notably, Mizuhara and Ohtani met back in 2013, when Ohtani didn’t speak English, and Mizuhara quickly became more than just a translator. He was Ohtani’s guide in the US, helping him set up a bank account when he arrived in 2018 and essentially acting as his manager. That trust, prosecutors say, gave Mizuhara the access he needed to pull off a massive betrayal.

And that starts the story of Mizuhara allegedly siphoning millions from Ohtani’s account to feed a spiraling gambling habit. However, it took no time to reveal the fraud, and an investigation followed. Mizuhara was sentenced in February to nearly five years in prison for embezzlement. And he was ordered to pay over $18 million in restitution. Chances are also high that he could even be deported to Japan after serving his time.

For Ohtani, the scandal was a jarring pause in a story that had been nothing but meteoric. Yet, like the true athlete he is, Shotime is back to writing a new chapter. With 38 HRs and .998 OPS as a DH and 1.5 ERA as a pitcher, Ohtani is once again reminding the world why he’s the face of baseball.