Do you believe in Ohtani? It still stinks The growing gaze of the U.S. media

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The unveiling ceremony of Otani's mural was held at the Miyako Hotel on 1st Street in downtown LA. The mural, which is 18 meters wide and 46 meters long, shows Ohtani's batting and pitching under the title "LA Rising." It is said to have been painted by Mexican painter Robert Vargas. 토토

Numerous fans and media gathered and were successful, and a meaningful event was held a day before Ohtani's opening game at Dodger Stadium, his home stadium, which signed a 10-year, $700 million contract last winter.

CBS News, which called the Ohtani-related incident "the biggest gambling scandal in baseball since Pete Rose," reported the unveiling ceremony, saying, "The event was held two days after Otani announced his position for the first time after Ifei Mizuhara, who interpreted him for a long time, was fired."

The local media's view of the incident is getting sharper day by day.

The LA Times, the largest Western media outlet in the U.S., posted a column titled "Do you believe in Shohei Ohtani? I don't think so." on the 28th, directly hitting Ohtani, who did not reveal any clear facts about the gambling scandal.

Reporter Bill Plaschke, who wrote the column, expressed his doubts in a strong tone, saying, "I still don't feel real, and I still don't think it makes sense," adding, "Even if Otani and his helpers tried to clean up the situation, something in all this gambling waste still stinks."

He then said, "When Otani enters Dodger Stadium tomorrow with a smile for his home opener, I want to believe. I want to believe that the best baseball player is as pure as he is in his image."

Ohtani held a press conference to announce his position on the gambling scandal at the Dodger Stadium press room on the 26th. However, he did not take questions from reporters. He only expressed his position for 12 minutes including the prepared materials and left.

For the next two days, U.S. media outlets have been casting doubt on Ohtani. The Los Angeles Times is not the only one who is famous for putting a strict tone on Dodgers clubs.

The Washington Post (WP) also emphasized that Ohtani's explanation of the gambling scandal is unclear in an article titled "Otani Shohei is embroiled in a scandal as mysterious as he is as a player."

The WP sarcastically said, "As it turns out, the most interesting thing about Ohtani is not that he has a dog that he was reluctant to name, nor that he married an ordinary Japanese woman when he first revealed it. The most fascinating thing about Ohtani, the most powerful baseball player and most mysterious superstar, is that he has a friend who is addicted to gambling, and he has so much money that he doesn't notice when at least $4.5 million of a pile of money disappears from his bank account."

The WP wrote, "Otani made his position through a press conference, but the chaos still lingers. So what's most interesting about Ohtani is that even though he revealed it, listeners still can't figure out."

The law firm Burke Bretler LLP, which represents Ohtani's position, is also not cooperative with local media coverage.

ESPN said on the 27th, "When asked which investigative authorities they sued the former interpreter for theft, they avoided answering," adding, "We have repeatedly inquired about the information since Ohtani's lawyers announced last week that he was the victim of a huge theft and raised the issue with the authorities, but Ohtani's spokesman declined to comment."

The law firm issued a statement on the 22nd, saying, "Otani is the victim of a huge thief," and that it has sued Mizuhara for theft. However, it has not answered repeated questions about who the investigation is.

ESPN highlighted the fact that Ohtani left the press room without any questions, conveying the Dodger Stadium atmosphere on the day of the press conference on the 28th, titled "Shohei Ohtani is drawing attention alone around the gambling scandal."

USA Today said on the same day, "It is not known whether the brand and image of Ohtani will be hit, but the Dodgers have considerable brand value to the extent that they believe that the box office income, line sense income, and mineral water income he brings to the franchise is $50 million per year," adding, "MLB initially said it had no plans to investigate Ohtani because there was no evidence that he had bet on baseball, but changed its position last weekend."

USA Today continued, "If Ohtani is proven to have nothing to do with him, he will be commissioned for his naivety in trusting his friends recklessly. If Ohtani knew about the interpreter's gambling, commissioner Rob Manfred would be fined for not betting on baseball. However, even a fine would remain as a stain on Ohtani's reputation, and could undermine the Dodgers' desire to win the World Series."

A chaotic atmosphere is still being felt ahead of Ohtani's historic Dodger Stadium opening match.