The Letter O

You're about to listen to Season 17 of our show, the betrayal of Shoheotani.

“This season, we're taking you inside one of the most explosive stories in modern day sports,”

from the reporter who uncovered it. Shoheotani, we're one of the most famous bromances and professional sports. They were seen together nearly all the time. They were labeled best friends, even said to be like brothers, until it all fell apart. Because of 19,000 bets and the wild world of sports gambling.

It's a story you might have heard about, but as it turns out, what was reported in the news is just the beginning. Today, we're bringing you episodes one and two of this six episode season, and we'll leave back every Tuesday and Thursday with the remaining episodes.

So stay tuned, and as always, thank you for listening.

“It's November 2024, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in their home stadium, celebrating their World Series win.”

The players line up on the podium. Team manager Dave Roberts takes the mic and introduces some of the stars. And then he calls out the name, "Every one's waiting for." "Who wants to hear from Shoheotani?" Shoheotani just finished his first season with the Dodgers.

He's a head taller than a lot of his teammates, and he's wearing a T-shirt and backwards ball cap when he gives a shy grin as he takes the mic. "Ahhh, this is so special, woman moving."

This is one of the first times that Shoheotani has spoken publicly in English without an interpreter.

“"I just want it to be here, and to be part of a theme."”

"Come visit us, Los Angeles, thank you, guys." That's all he says, and the crowd absolutely loves it. By any measure, Shoheotani's first season with the Dodgers was extraordinary. "It's a two-one." "There's a drop, it's a good shot."

"Shoheotani arrives in October, with a three-rod home rod." "All time sets on air, back it goes, go!" "One of a kind player, one of a kind season, Shoheotani starts the 50/50 cog." "Many believe he could become the best baseball player of all time." "It's really not hyperbole guys to say that Shoheotani is the new Babe Ruth."

"It's the kind of success that helps overshadow what happened just months before at the start of this season, when Shoheotani was caught up in a scandal that could have ended it all." "We're going to turn to the scandal, Rocky Major League Baseball." "Shoheotani is set to address the media today." "The scandal has the potential to be one of the biggest sports scandals that we've ever seen, certainly one of the biggest baseball scandals that we've ever seen." "Our team at ESPN broke the story.

It tied the money of one of the highest paid players in baseball history to a vast illegal sports betting operation. But when it was over, he would walk away. And someone else, someone close to him, would confess to a shocking crime, disappearing in disgrace. And in this moment, at the World Series celebration, you could almost forget it ever happened. But two years later, I still have so many questions.

So I'm going to travel the country, chase down leads, and try to understand how one of sports was most complicated friendships detonated into one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. "We're going to talk about it." "I'll be the greatest player that has ever played the game." "Cuttle is best against the questions that wire transfers for an $1,000 to a southern California bookmaker, and he has no idea of it."

"I'm ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson, from 30 for 30 podcasts." This is The Betrayal of Show Hayo Tani, episode 1, The Letter O. In 2010, the family of four in California goes missing, and the clues left behind, sending investigators on a years-long search.

From ABC Audio in 2020, this is what happens to the mixtaves. Coming August 11th, wherever you get your podcasts. Or subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts, or add free episodes, early access to new episodes, and so much more. I started working on this story a year before Show Hayo won that World Series, when a source sent me a tip.

At first, the tip seemed to have nothing to do with baseball, or any sport. It was information from a federal court document, still under seal.

A list of items that had been seized from a house in California. It included the kinds of things you might expect from a federal raid, computers, hard drives, and cellphones. But there were also $40,000 brightening watches, handbags from Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and casino chips, lots and lots of casino chips. Why were the feds interested in it? Because all of these things were taken from a house owned by a man named Mad Boyer. The feds also seized a cash counting machine, sports betting records, and receipts for offshore bankwires.

“And that's when I say to myself, "I think Mad Boyer is a bookie. A person who takes bets pays them out when they win and collects when they lose."”

My source confirms it. Mad Boyer is a bookie, but he isn't just any bookie. According to my source, his clients include celebrities, millionaires, and seemingly one of the most famous athletes in the world.

When my source tells me the name of that athlete, it's a name so big, so shocking that all I write down is the letter O.

You tell me the name of the athlete involved and that the feds are involved in an investigation, and that is why we have to be so careful. This is my editor, Elaine Teng. We're really worried about putting a rumor out there that then comes back to us as fact. We have to be really careful about going out and saying, "Hey, do you think it's Shohe Otani gambling with a bookie?" This tip was so potentially damning, we needed to tread really carefully, because it could turn into a very grown-up version of that kids game, telephone.

Where someone whispered something to someone, and then they whispered to someone else, and by the time it comes back to you, it's totally different from what you said. I couldn't just ask sources questions like, "Hey, to show a gamble, even if the answer was no, they might tell someone else in the clubhouse that ESPN was asking if Shohe had gambled." And then that person says to someone else, "Hey, I heard Shohe gambles. By the time I call several someone's later, that person then says to me, "Oh yeah, I have heard he gambles. All I have done is confirm a rumor that I started.

A rumor about Shohe Otani paying millions of dollars to an illegal bookie."

“I think it was the amount of money involved as well as the caliber of the athlete that feels really loaded,”

and, you know, extremely damaging, if true, right, to the athlete, their reputation, their career. It's a very serious allegation. I want to learn everything I can about what someone could get themselves into betting with a bookie, so I head to the sports betting epicenter of the country. We are in Las Vegas, baby. I'm in Las Vegas to meet with the reporter, I think, knows more about bookies and sports betting than anyone else in the business. What do you think the biggest money maker is for the, you know, penny-slime?

That's correct. This is ESPN's David Perdom. I met him in a casino just off the Vegas strip. We sit down in a room near the sports book, watching, as people play spets.

“Do they put the sports book in the back on purpose?”

This is making one through all the Uniflock machines. I wanted to talk to Perdom about the tip I received because he has a massive roll of decks of sources in the sports betting world. Have you ever heard of Matt Boyer before?

I had not. I never heard of him. We gave you Matt Boyer's name, and you called sources.

You do the David Perdom magic and disappear for 12 hours and came back with info. Right. I usually go to, you start with your guys that you know have had this. And when they didn't know, I had to expand and I did and found some people with that new of him. And then when we found out that he was coming to Vegas a lot, I talked to people here and they knew of him. A source warned Perdom that Boyer was connected to a man with a dangerous reputation.

When I got the original tip, Hansen was in prison for bookmaking and drug trafficking and was

“rumored to have ties to the cartel. We had a source who was involved with running money for that”

group and he was telling us to be careful, right? Because Owen Hansen was not known as a good person. He was known as a violent person around the betting community. And when we were just ties to Boyer, there was concern. Over the next few weeks, we gathered more sources and confirmed Boyer was running a huge sports book operation in Southern California. Is California more prolific with bookies than other parts of the world? Massive massive bookmaking operations in California.

Why? Because there's no legal sportsman. Sports betting is now legal in 39 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Depending on where you live, you can place bets through a state license app, a website or in a casino or a bar in those states. But unless you're betting on a horse race, sports betting in California is illegal. There is no legal way to place a sports bet there, not on draft kings, not on fan dual, not in the tribal casinos. So if you

live in California and want to bet on sports, you either have to go somewhere like Vegas or find a bookie, which is of course illegal. But there are many reasons why someone might want to use a bookie even if the state they live in has legal sports betting. Curtem says a big reason is credit. People want to bet on credit. You don't want to give over your cash. If you can bet

on credit, huge advantage. I can just place my bet for $100 in my money. Never changes hands.

You go down a thousand bucks. Guys, it's okay. Let's meet up at the Waffle House and you go there

“and you pass over an envelope and that's how it's done. Another reason someone might seek out a”

bookie is anonymity. If you are an athlete betting with the draft kings, there's a chance that we could find it. But if you can be betting with the this illegal sports book over here, I would not be able to know it. So Perdem says a celebrity who wants to bet discreetly might use a bookie. When I told him that show hey Otani was the athlete my source told me might be involved with Matt Boyer. I was stunned. I remember when he relayed the message to who the athlete was,

I was like, oh my gosh, I believe I cursed. Why is sports betting such a sense of topic for major league baseball? Well, you start with the black socks way back at the beginning of the century. The Chicago white socks, several players of them got engaged with some

“criminals and they allegedly agreed to throw a world series. Major league baseball banned”

eight players from the Chicago white socks for life. And after that scandal, the league created a set of rules about betting on sports. It forbids players, coaches, and staff from using a bookie

and you may never bet on baseball. So that was the big one. The next time you get some sort of

betting scandals, P-Rose. Number 4,192. Baked speed rolls. The all-time major league baseball hit leader. All-time hits leader. He would eventually admit it to betting on the game of baseball. I was wrong. I just stupid. Worst thing ever did in my life. In 1989, MLB punished P-Rose with a lifetime ban for betting on baseball. P-Rose was one of the greatest ball players of his generation. He holds records that have never been broken, but all of his feats on the field have been

overshadowed by what he did off the field. Could show Hayo Tani the greatest player of his generation be the next P-Rose? If they were to have found out that he was betting on baseball, you would have been banned for life. And this is your biggest star, banned for life. Part of what made the allegation so shocking was how Shohi Otani had a reputation for being squeaky

clean. Before this, there's never been a whisper of a scandal attached to his name,

which makes it all the more surprising to hear allegations that he might be tied to a bookie with dangerous connections. But we realized we don't actually know all that much about Shohi's life outside of baseball. He is the most guarded and protected athlete that I think I've ever been

times controversial names in sports. People like Barry Bonds, Aaron Rogers, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“Tim says he's been trying to decipher the enigma that is Shohi Otani ever since he first arrived”

here in the United States. When he came here, I first started observing him, knowing that I was going

to have to observe him to write about him rather than talk to him because it was established early on. It was a dead end. He will only take questions about the game and very few. Three, maybe four in each language and these are in like bit questions. I want to know, like, you just threw 117 pitches. What do you feel today? And he would not. He just doesn't entertain those. He's just not built that way. Tim says most of what you know about Shohi is limited to what Shohi is willing

to tell you and it rarely leaves the realm of the ballpark and when it does, it's on Shohi's terms. Like when he got married, people didn't even know Shohi was in a relationship until he posted about his wife on Instagram. He has lots of titles, MVP, gazillionaire, superstar, but husband had alluded to him and tell now and he made the announcement where else, but on social media, that reads not only have I begun a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers, but I also have

begun a new life with someone from my native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know. I am now married. Shohi's teammates and even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't know about it. So my own Jino. I thought it was a good timing because it's before the season.

“I didn't want really any distractions. The season started. I think there is this sort of the aura,”

right? Like just leave him alone to do what he does because the distractions are not something he's interested in. He's not interested in talking to me to be honest. He does it as an obligation after he pitches. He hits two home runs in a game. He'll stand there and answer questions in the

most anodine wave possible. Are you nervous at all? Playing in the postseason for the first time?

But the league, the teams and the fans don't seem to mind not knowing much about Shohi's life off the field because what's happening on the field is record breaking. He's really challenged our idea of limits because he has shown his talent to be limitless. He does the two things that excite baseball people more than anything else. He can throw a baseball over a hundred miles an hour

“and he can hit a ball 500 feet. It's like the two headline acts of baseball. He is among the best”

in the world at both, if not the best. It's a lead-off home run after he struck out three at the top of the first. He is a dream for Major League Baseball. The Dodgers rewarded him in the fall of 2023 with a record-breaking contract. It is the announcement that took the baseball world by

storm today. $700 million over 10 years. One of the league's premier franchises made a

historic bet on Shohi because they knew his success would be their success. They stood to make a lot of money too. Take it sales, merchandise, partnerships. Shohi's success could pay off big time for the Dodgers in MLB. Shohi himself makes more than $125 million in endorsements a year with much of that money coming from advertisements in Japan. When I was there, I was shocked by you could literally not walk more than two blocks in Tokyo without seeing his face on something.

Whether it was a green tea or a water sports drink or Hugo Boss or something, I mean everywhere is Otoni. After touching down in Tokyo, it's easy to see Otoni Mania is really a thing. Everyone in Japan is by default a Shohi fan. The appetite for Otoni, the love for Otoni, appears to be his limitless as his talent. If Shohi's reputation takes a hit, it wouldn't just turn his name. It would have devastating

consequences for the Dodgers for major league baseball in for Japan. When you were first told that Otoni might be involved in some kind of betting scandal, what was your initial reaction? Shock, shock combined with sort of a reassessment of everything I had seen leading up to that, plus another layer of like who knows.

at a different player who may be a critical link. David Flutter was an infielder for the

“Los Angeles Angels. He and Shohi played together for six seasons and Tim tells me it was widely”

known that they were friends. They played bumper pull together and they played clash of clans and was just this sort of buddy comedy, this little white guy and this big Japanese guy buddy and around. Flutter's social media shows he is an avid poker player. I don't think he broadcasts it but I don't think he hit it and his love of poker would end up being vital to our investigation. When I call him in January, Flutter admits to me, he

knows Matt Boyer, they had golfed together but he wouldn't call them friends. Flutter tells

me he heard that Boyer might be a bookie but he insists he's never met with Boyer.

“Worried about spreading a rumor, I don't ask if Boyer is Shohi's bookie, I don't ask anything”

about Shohi. By this point, I've developed more sources and I learned there is a paper trail that connects Shohi Otani to Matt Boyer and I've tracked down a source who has that proof but their nervous and it takes weeks before the source agrees to show it to me and they're not going to make it easy. It's the middle of the night, I'm driving to meet my contact. I find them standing outside of a car and a parking lot waiting for me. I drop into the passenger seat. The contact

hands me a cell phone and tells me the proof I want will appear on an encrypted app and each image will disappear in 30 seconds. I can't take pictures but I can take notes. I pull out my notebook and I tell my contact. I'm ready. A document appears on the screen, September 14th, 2023, $500,000. I spot the word loan and scribble it down in my notebook but I don't have time to ask questions because the second document appears. October 2, 2023, $500,000. Both documents include the same

long list of numbers on the screen. Later, after I drive away, I will stare at the jumble of letters and numbers as scribbled into my notebook and I'll realize it's routing information. I just saw wire transfers from a bank account at Bank of America and there's a name attached to the account Shohei Otani. According to the screenshots I just saw, Shohei Otani's bank account sent wire transfers to Matt Boyer's illegal bookmaking operation. I saw two of them totaling a million

dollars. I've got it that direct link between Shohei and the bookies operation. But before I can even begin to wrap my head around what I've seen, a source reaches out with new information in a new name. E-Paid Misuhara. E-Paid Misuhara. Shohei's interpreter for the past six years. The source tells me, E-Paid is prepared to say he was the one gambling and that Shohei was pain his debts. If there's someone we know even less about than Shohei Otani, it's E-Paid Misuhara,

Shohei's interpreter. His biography provided by the Los Angeles Angels says E-Paid was born in Japan but grew up in Southern California. Before he joined the Angels, E-Paid worked in Japan for the Neoponham Fighters baseball team as an interpreter for American players and that's where he met Shohei. And when Shohei signed with the Angels in December of 2017, he brought E-Paid along with him as his interpreter. I want to talk about why I joined the Angels, but I want you

guys to see me on the channel. I'm just with the team throughout the spring training and maybe

“I think you guys will find out why I chose the Angels. That was a very choice.”

Ever since they arrived in the states, Shohei and E-Paid are always together with E-Paid

seemingly just a few steps behind Shohei at all times. And E-Paid does a lot more than just translate. E-Paid carries Shohei's gear. When Shohei needs a ride, E-Paid drives him. When Shohei warms up for a game, he doesn't use a pitching coach, he throws to E-Paid. When Shohei competed in the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby, he chose E-Paid to be his catcher. They walked red carpets together. teammates and others have even wondered if the two men live together,

the day before you even get here through the ballpark? We broke for several days. At the whole

“tell, on the road, it's not at home, then it's pretty much it. It got to the point where, you know,”

I wondered how could you spend that much time with one person? When my colleague Tim Kune began to watch Shohei and E-Paid off the field, it was clear to him that E-Paid was different from other interpreters. To call him an interpreter is almost laughable because that was almost the least

important part of his job. The routine was always the same where Shohei would walk out onto the

field and E-Paid was like two and a half to three steps behind. It was like a, almost felt like a choreographed thing the way they went about it. The only time that Shohei seemed to be by himself at least at the baseball field was when he was in the batters box or on the mound. They appeared to be extremely close. There was no E-Paid without Shohei. It manifested itself in me by like going to players and saying, does it ever occur to you that these guys get sick of each other? The source told

me they thought E-Paid might be taking the fall for Shohei, but I didn't know what to think.

“The walls were so thick and so impenetrable that I mean anything seemed possible, right?”

We didn't quite know what to make of the E-Paid connection. My editor Elaine and I spent

weeks investigating the possibilities. Whether it was him himself, whether he was a cover for Otani, whether he was making the bets on Otani's behalf. We didn't know if it was a cover up. We didn't know the truth. But there are two people who we thought would know the truth. Shohei Otani in E-Paid, Mizahara. By March 2024, I've been working on this for five months, and we've collected enough information to go to Shohei's agent. In an email, I tell him,

I have sources who have told us about Shohei Otani's involvement with Mad Boyer. I purposely don't tell him that I know Mad Boyer is a bookie, or that I've heard E-Paid's name.

I want to see what their response will be.

Two hours later, I get a call from a publicist named Matt Hiltsek. He tells me he specializes in what's called Crisis Communication, and Shohei's agent has just brought him on to represent Shohei. Some of Hiltsek's clients have included Hillary Clinton and Ivanka Trump, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin, and Johnny Depp. When I tell him about the wire transfers that I saw,

“Hiltsek says he needs to call me back. As I wait, I wonder, will they try to deny it?”

Will they threaten us with defamation? Or will they admit it? My phone rings again a few hours later. Hiltsek says, "You're going to get a really good fucking story. You're going to get the truth about what happened." And then, he confirms it. It's true. Shohei's bank account wired millions of dollars to Boyer's operation, but he tells me someone else did the best. Shohei was covering for someone else,

he says, "Someone important to his life." I tell him, "I have sources that tell me it's E-Paid." He says, "You have good sources." I tell him, "I want to interview Shohei Otani." He says, "Maybe I have to see but I can give you someone else." That's next on the portrayal of Shohei Otani. The portrayal of Shohei Otani is based on reporting by me, Tisha Thompson,

with support from Tim Kuhin and the ESPN Investigative Unit. Our producer is Carian Thomas, our senior producer is Max Green, our senior editorial producer is Prithi Varathon, our associate producer is Gus Nobaro. Story editing by Audrey Quinn, Elaine Tang, Eric Niel, and Mike Drega. Additional editing by Rebecca Hudson, our archival producer is Jennifer Wheelock, our line producer is Catherine Sanky.

Production managers are Jason Schwartz and Sheena Williams, fact-checking by John Masterbaradino with David Sabino. Additional editorial review from Masigneewa, original music by Allison Layton Brown and John DeLore. Sound design by John DeLore. Chris Buckle is Vice President of ESPN Investigative Enterprise and Digital Journalism. Marcia Cook, Brian Lockhart, Heather Anderson, and Burke Magnus are executive producers for 30