After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Minimum monthly payment, down payment, tax and delivery may be required. See store for details. I am still trying to wrap my brain around this Shohei Ohtani story.

I've read the details from the great ESPN reporter multiple times. Okay, there's clothing underneath the counter. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Alright. I'm the only female who sits in this chair. And I don't know what it is about the other dudes who use this chair. They tend to lose things. Underneath the desk.

Chargers, clothing, food, just all manner of items that are stuffed under there. And because, and I'm wearing boots tonight, but because I have big feet and I stretch my legs out, I always tend to kick their things that are left underneath the desk. So, alright, back on track. C'mon man.

Right? And I don't really know what to do with them. I'm not the local lost and found. So instead I just kind of move it with my foot, shove it into the open and hope that someone will claim it. Yes, that's what's happening.

That and I try not to get cooties. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. On Twitter.

ALawRadio. Also on our Facebook page. And the reason that I say these things to you is because I would love to hear your reaction. You don't yet know the details. We'll provide them as best as we can figure them out because they are weird. Weird and also they don't really add up.

For a bunch of reasons. Though, can I tell you? While I have no insider information, so do not take this as, hey, I know what happened and you don't. That's not what I'm telling you. I can see one very clear picture of what would make this believable.

Actually. So I'm still reading as much as I possibly can find about this story and about Shohei Ohtani's interpreter. His name is Ipe Mitsuhara. Ipe Mitsuhara. And if you've seen Ohtani do anything in the past six years, you've seen Ipe Mitsuhara.

The two of them have been inseparable. That includes yesterday morning. That includes during the Dodgers season opener. That includes after the game in the dugout.

The reports coming from our friend Michael Duarte of NBC LA. Mitsuhara, who we did see on the broadcast as the Dodgers and Padres opened up their season in South Korea. Mitsuhara apparently addressed the Dodgers after their game against the Padres. And if you didn't see the game or we listened to it, Jay and I on our way home from work, it was really cool.

But this kind of put a damper on things. But anyway, we listened to the game, watched the game. The Dodgers rallied in the eighth inning. Shohei Ohtani had his first ever RBI for the Dodgers.

There are videos out there of his first hit. And it was incredible, the atmosphere in Gochug Skydome in Seoul. So all this excitement over the first ever baseball regular season game in South Korea. For Ha Seong Kim, who's a native.

And the Japanese players. What a scene. 17,000 strong, making noise like nobody's business. There were dancers. There were cheerleaders. There was a K-pop band. They've got a Mookie Betts cheer.

There were musical instruments in the stands. And there was a really close game. But again, according to the reports. Right after the win.

The Dodgers were sitting in the dugout and heard from Mitsuhara. Who gave them a heads up. That the story would be coming out. About his gambling. And that he admitted he had a problem.

To them. Now obviously this was. Let's say the game ended at 9 o'clock Eastern. 6 AM Pacific time. So 6 AM LA and San Diego time.

Roughly. So we're talking about 6.30 in the morning. So 19 and a half hours ago. But we didn't hear about. Mitsuhara getting fired by the Dodgers.

Until much later in the day. And that's because there was an about face. By not just Mitsuhara.

But Otani's camp. A spokesman as well as his attorneys. Whew. By the way. All the details initially. That have come out. Are due to a great piece of reporting.

And an extensive. Investigation. By Tisha Thompson of ESPN.

She deserves a ton of credit. Her story posted. Just before 3 o'clock Pacific time. 3 o'clock in the afternoon today.

So again. We're talking almost 12 hours ago. LA time. He was fired.

Mitsuhara was fired by the team. On Wednesday afternoon. After a total about face. In his account to ESPN. Okay so we have to back up.

But the crazy part is. He tells this big long story to ESPN. He does a sit down interview. And was reportedly made available by Otani's camp. Right so he works for the Dodgers.

He works for Otani. They sent him. Presumably to tell his story and set the record straight on Tuesday. Tuesday.

Before they ever got on the field. He does this extensive sit down interview. With ESPN. Again with the.

Not just permission but with the. The backing of Otani's camp. He goes and does this interview. And then as they're getting ready to go to print with the story.

A spokesman then reaches out. And says. Otani's been the victim of theft.

And then Mitsuhara. Changes his entire story. The details are wild. But again I feel like I can see a path.

And a way through this that kind of explains. Why he would change his story and why all of a sudden the drastic reversal. I hope you've read it. I'm telling you the truth. The first time I read it. I was kind of overwhelmed. I wasn't exactly sure what was happening. But now that I've read multiple accounts and read the story by Tisha Thompson more than once. I feel like I've got a handle on it. But I wasn't going to be able to talk about it until I could understand it.

It's far more complicated than Deflategate. I just want you to know. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. So our phone number is 855-212-4227. If you want to share your reaction.

855-212-4CBS. And then also on our Facebook page. After Hours with Amy Lawrence. And yes there was a baseball game.

And yes there will be another baseball game coming up in four hours. In fact it's the debut of Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Oh I love saying his name. It's way more interesting than mine. Yoshinobu Yamamoto. You know what's really interesting too? The MLB Network and MLB Twitter accounts have posted nothing about this story.

Zenada. And that has sparked some claims that there's a cover up. And that had it not been for the ESPN reporting that baseball was squashing this. Baseball officials. Because they do not want any stink around Otani's shine.

They want nothing that would possibly diminish his reputation or his popularity. Now I'm not a big conspiracy theorist. Although I do have some in my family.

I'm not a big one. I could see how baseball would prefer this not go public. Especially if they had done their due diligence. And in their own investigation had determined that these were not Otani's gambling debts. Oh but I have gotten ahead of myself. But even that's the thing. That there be any question that these debts could be associated with Otani would blow this incredible buzz. Would blow this incredible high into a bazillion pieces. Showtime, Shohei Otani, baseball surging popularity because of Otani.

Everywhere he goes, not to mention there's a chance there could be trouble. Because these were illegal gambling debts. So all of this would definitely give baseball a reason to cover it up. No I'm not saying that happened.

I'm not. I actually don't think that's possible. I don't think the number of people who work for Major League Baseball and the Dodgers and any other entity associated with it could keep it a secret. And there are public records. Or records. Of bank transfers. Oh I say public.

There are records that have been accessed as part of these investigations by both authorities as well as the media. So I just don't think it could have remained secret anyway. But this is certainly the last thing in the world that baseball wants. That's for damn sure.

Okay. So as best Tisha Thompson can tell, there's an investigation going on to this particular bookie. And as part of that investigation into this bookie, his name is Matthew Boyer or Bowyer.

I'm not exactly sure how to pronounce it. Boyer? Matthew Boyer.

We'll just say Boyer. He operates out of Southern California. And as part of an investigation into a larger illegal gambling ring. One that didn't start with him, but his name came up in the investigation into a different gambling ring. Gosh what a tangled web. As part of that, this dude's accounts were reviewed, seized, investigated, and his gambling dealings are under scrutiny.

And so as you can imagine, there are federal authorities going along. Wait, what is that? A wire transfer from Shohei Ohtani?

It actually said on the wire transfer. Shohei Ohtani. Spelled with his legal spelling of his last name. O-T-A-N-I. I don't know why there's an H added. I have no idea.

I didn't ask that question. But O-T-A-N-I. And the line item says loan next to it. And so these wire transfer payments were sent from Shohei's account to an associate of this bookie.

Those things are confirmed. So ESPN's reviewing the bank information, showing Ohtani's name on two $500,000 payments that were sent last fall. I guess that could also feed into the conspiracy theory, right?

Because this goes back to last fall. And so here is this bookie who's receiving these payments. ESPN finds out about it.

It's exposed as part of this federal investigation. And as they kind of start to ask questions, Shohei Ohtani's spokesman arranges an interview with Ipe Mitsuhara, his interpreter. And so Mitsuhara sits down with ESPN and tells the story that he had amassed a huge gambling debt that reached four and a half million dollars. He cited draft kings as well as NFL, NBA, college football and international soccer. So the interpreter is racking up gambling debts like nobody's business, though he said he was very careful not to bet on baseball because he's an employee of the Dodgers now, Angels then, and because it's posted in every clubhouse. And he told ESPN he thought the gambling wagers were legal. He did not realize they were illegal.

I guess you can believe it or not believe it. I'm not sure that matters at this point, but he swears he thought they were legal. Didn't realize that in California. Sports gambling is still illegal, though it's what it's now been written into law in what, 40 states close to 40 states.

But not in California. So he said he thought the bets were legal and he got in so deep that he owed four and a half million dollars. So again, Mitsuhara tells ESPN that he went to Otani and asked him to pay off this gambling debt. Quote, Obviously he wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again. He decided to pay it off for me. Now, to me, that's extremely believable.

Extremely believable. You know, Japanese culture, a lot of it has to do with honor and relationship. Otani had described Mitsuhara as a will describe the relationship as a brotherhood. They did everything together.

I mean, everything from looking at Scout. To eating together, to traveling together. They've been friends going back to Otani's debut in this Japanese professional baseball league. And at times, Mitsuhara even ran errands for him, got water for him.

Making, by the way, between three hundred and five hundred thousand dollars per year for the job. And so they were essentially together all the time. I'm sure his new wife loves that. Anyway, I digress. So I can see Otani saying, I will pay these off for you.

Why? Because his friend could get in trouble. Maybe his friend was being threatened, but four and a half million dollars. There was no way Mitsuhara was going to be able to pay that off. So Mitsuhara goes on to say Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way.

I will never do sports betting ever again. And so that was the story ESPN got on Tuesday. We didn't know about it at the time, but that's the story that ESPN was prepared to publish. Again, the lead reporter on this story is Tisha Thompson.

It's after hours here on CBS Forge Radio. So after Mitsuhara sits down for that conversation. Ninety minutes and he goes on and on and he gives great detail about his story. As ESPN is about to publish the story on Wednesday. An Otani spokesman, so the same one that made Mitsuhara available for the interview. That same spokesman reaches out to ESPN and says.

What he told you is not true. How about that? Can you imagine 90 minute interview, all this. Writing and reporting the data that's been gathered, the corroborating of the story. And then they're about to go to print, online of course. And about to share the story on the air. And the Otani spokesman, the same one who said go talk to Mitsuhara.

We'll make him available. That same Otani spokesman reaches out to ESPN and says everything he told you is wrong. The word that's used disavowed Mitsuhara's account. And said the lawyers for Shohei Otani would come out with a statement.

And that's where the headline came from. The headline came from the lawyers who now say that Otani is the victim of massive theft. Four and a half million dollars. Even though the wire transfers came directly from his bank account. Now somehow he is the victim of massive theft. Here's the statement from the attorney. In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft.

And we are turning the matter over to the authorities. So they go from Otani paid off these debts to help out his friend even though he wasn't happy about it. And the question was asked too of Mitsuhara. Why did these come directly from Otani's account? Why did Otani not just give you the money and you go pay off the bookie? And Mitsuhara's response was, he didn't want me to touch the money. He didn't trust me.

Which makes all the sense in the world. If you had a friend who came to you and asked you to pay off his gambling debt and you had the means and you wanted to help him out but you were ticked at him. And you didn't trust him, you wouldn't give him money. If he has a gambling addiction, you wouldn't say here, take the money, go pay off your bookie.

That's ridiculous. Nobody who's got any wisdom at all would do that. And of course, Shohei Otani likely involved his people. I mean, I don't know who's in charge of his money, but there's no way that kind of money disappears from somebody's account and no one notices. So, honestly, and this is just my opinion, I'll tell you what I think happened. The first account is far more believable than the victim of massive theft and four and a half million dollars just mysteriously disappear without anyone noticing. Not his financial advisors, not Otani himself, not his attorneys. Oh, okay. Since last fall, that money just disappeared and nobody noticed? What do you think? On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page.

Oh my gosh, all this. And the Dodgers are about to play game two of their season in Japan. I mean, sorry, in South Korea. But in Japan, as you can imagine, there aren't two bigger stories going. The Dodgers being in South Korea and Otani either getting robbed, blind, or he was the one sending the money to the bookies.

855-212-4227. I'm blown away by this. Just when you think it's going to be an average, routine, run of the mill, weekend sport. Just when you think there's nothing new under the sun.

Oh my gosh. Thanks for joining us. Hope you survived your hump day.

I know we went a little long on this segment, but this is... Whoa. This is... Hey, Mel. Bri here. Got to work from home today because the whole family caught a nasty... Daddy!

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Visit Carvana.com to shop for thousands of vehicles under $20,000. A lot. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. That's a base hit, and it's four to two Dodgers. Here's Otani with two on and one out. He swings the first pitch, hits it in the center field gap. That's a base hit. Here's Lux coming around third. He'll score standing. It is five to two as Shohei Otani comes up with his first run batted in as a Dodger.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Man, that feels like a long time ago now. And they're getting set for game number two of the Seoul series. At the Gochuk Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea. Did you hear the noise behind Otani's single, for heaven's sakes? Crazy crowd, a nether packed into this dome, and it's only 17,000 people.

But there are noisemakers and musical instruments and cheerleaders and just a crazy scene. And it was in the eighth inning when a ball went through the glove. Who was it at first base? I forgot. Jake Cronenworth. That's right, Jake Cronenworth.

Thank you. The ball literally went through his glove. I've not seen that.

Well, you don't see it very often. I suppose I've seen it with the bad news Bears or in softball, but it went right through his glove. And so it was an error, of course, although it wouldn't have been had it not gone through his glove. And the Dodgers are able to build on that and rally past the Padres. But yeah, Otani gets his first RBI as a Dodger and then all hell breaks loose. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. As I mentioned, according to reports out of L.A., including our friend Michael Duarte of NBC L.A., Mitsuhara did address the team after their win over the Dodgers. So in South Korea, he's talking to the team and letting them know that this big story is coming out and that he has a gambling problem. At that point, ESPN thought it had the story. They'd had a sit down with Otani's interpreter. They got an account of a story that was really in depth in which Mitsuhara had appealed to Otani, told him about his gambling problem and all these debts he'd amassed up to four and a half million dollars. Otani agreed to bail him out. This is the story that was told to ESPN on Tuesday.

Otani agreed to bail him out. And there are a series of wire transfers of at least four and a half million dollars. And they have Otani's name on them and they say loan as the memo line.

I know sometimes when I pay or send money electronically, I'll put a little note on it myself to indicate what it's for. But something tells me they weren't going to forget what that was for. Either way, that was the story that was told to ESPN on Tuesday. Wednesday, following the game, as they're getting ready to publish, Otani's camp reaches out to ESPN and says none of it's true.

The story he told you is a complete and total lie. Instead, he stole the money from Otani. All of it.

A massive theft. And then the Dodgers, who are aware of it, have no real statement at this point, only that they're aware of it. What else are they going to say? They fire Mitsuhara.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Again, I'm not telling you I have any inside information. Not at this point.

I've just done a bunch of reading. But knowing human nature, certainly understanding how bad this could look for Otani if they somehow can't prove. If Otani's camp, his attorneys, acknowledge that Otani is the one who paid the bookie. Number one, that could, I mean, it's illegal, even if it's not for his debts. It's still illegal to give that money to this bookie.

Number two. What if the account of Mitsuhara saying that Otani has never gambled. Otani saying I've never gambled.

What if that's not enough? What if there are, I don't know, other ways that this could be interpreted? Like somehow the interpreter, haha, is covering for Otani. And so I can imagine, and Margo Belletti's here in studio, Otani's camp freaked the heck out. His attorneys, anybody around him realizing that this could very easily turn sour on Shohei Otani and ruin his career. Because it's a federal investigation into this bookie, right? And even though neither Otani nor Mitsuhara has been charged or has been questioned by federal authorities at this point, it's a really extensive investigation. And if Otani's name is on the illegal activity, his career is in jeopardy. Yeah, there's more to this story.

There's definitely some legs here. There's a lot of different things that opens up. Yes, it could just be that the Otani camp, like you said, is scared and that's why everything's changed. There could also be that they realized after, I don't know, stepping back for a second after the, what is it, 90 minutes that ESPN sat down and did this story that everybody was OK with.

And then all of a sudden it changed afterwards that they realized, oh man, this really doesn't look good. And maybe the interpreter is just the fall guy. We don't know. We don't know. There's a lot to this story, I feel like, that we don't know yet. I feel like there's so many different legs that you hope that it's just as simple as everything that's there, but I feel like there's a lot more that has to come out from this. I just feel like if they sat him down for 90 minutes and he told this entire story with the, I mean, he was not only doing it with the approval of the Otani camp, they're the one that set it up.

They're the one that set up the interview. And then it changed afterwards. Right, like 24 hours later. Again, because I feel like they realize how bad this looks, right?

It looks so terrible for Otani. But you're saying you think that they could be, the whole thing could be a cover up for him gambling? Yeah. Right. And I understand there's a lot of people that are going to jump to that.

I can't do that. Again, we don't know. But my reading the tea leaves or reading the story, yeah, that's the first thing that I thought of. The first thing? You wouldn't just take the interpreter for his word initially? Well, his word initially was, you know.

That it's his, it's his debts. Yeah. And then everything changed 24 hours later, not even, basically of trying to figure out from the camp. The camp didn't know that this interview was going to go sour until a day later. Like it's just that it was going to change. It was going to seem odd for the Otani camp.

They were okay with it before, but now they've realized that this doesn't look good for him. Like it just seems like that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The PR aspect of this, you wanted to get out in front of it and then you realize the day later it doesn't make sense. That to me is just strange. Well, I don't know if they said it doesn't make sense. They just obviously decided that there's got to be some other way to try to get our client out from underneath suspicion. Again, maybe that's the case and maybe that is what it is.

But I do feel like when you say human nature, it's weird to me and it's okay if you're gambling or whatever. I mean, obviously got to do it legally. This was illegally.

So that's an issue in and of itself. And I don't know what the baseball protocol is for their gambling. I don't know. Well, baseball is you can place legal bets. You cannot bet on baseball. Right. And supposedly none of this was bet on baseball. So that aspect of it, like I don't want to get into it because I don't really know.

I don't know exactly all that stuff, but it seems like that would be fine anyway. This is legal. To me, it just feels like when you start screaming and everybody's screaming it. Otani doesn't gamble. Otani doesn't get like it. Just I don't know. To me, there's too much of that.

There's too much noise of I'm screaming. I don't gamble. It's almost kind of like you guys in two days had a few different stories. And the only thing that now you're constantly talking about is he doesn't gamble. I feel like they're a little concerned with Otani and his reputation, especially when you go by a guy that was afraid to let you know his dog's name.

I think he's way too private and realize that once they took a step back, this doesn't look good at all. Let's just sweep it under the rug. I could be wrong, but that was the tea leaf. Let's sweep it under the rug. Yeah. Let's put it on the interpreter.

Once it's done with the interpreter, it's over. Oh, well, not really. I mean, Otani is still a victim of massive theft, quote unquote.

Yeah. That's again, that's the newer story that came out. The first one was that he was going to cover for it.

He was going to pay for it. And now, which I find believable because that's human nature. I mean, if I had the means to wait a minute, wait a minute. If I had the means and this was someone that I called a brother. Right. So he's called him a brother before.

This was my brother who comes to me and says, I screwed up, Aim. I'm in deep. I swear to you, I'll never do this again. Now, would I? I would hope that would be the case. Would I be blown away? Would I be enraged?

Would I be really upset? All of those things. Right. But if I had the means and I could bail him out, not in four and a half million dollars of debt, I would do it. Right.

And I probably wouldn't think at the time all the way through it. First of all, the time he's in his 20s. Right. Like we forget he's in his 20s. And and I know that like he has a lot of advisers around him, but he's also in his 20s with access to a lot of money. So if it were me and I could bail my brother out of debt immediately, I would have done it. Right.

And then I would have dealt with the repercussions after the fact. So in my mind, that seems much more plausible than Ohtani lost four and a half million. First of all, when the hell does he have time? But Ohtani lost four and a half million dollars of gambling. And and now is such a terrible dude that he's going to make his interpreter play the fall guy. That does seem plausible that he would have bailed him out until a day later. That story changed. And all of a sudden he now stole four and a half million dollars from me. I was OK, including an interview sitting down and explaining that, yes, I have a gambling problem. And Ohtani bailed me out.

Everybody was on board. And then the next day he stole from me. I didn't give him the money. He's right. But I feel like that's the part that doesn't make sense.

Right. Ohtani hasn't said this guy stole from me. His advisers and his attorneys are saying, holy, you know what? This could come back on our client. He could get bounced out of baseball. And you know what it's like when attorneys and like people get involved?

Maybe Ohtani never asked them. This is my money. I'm going to bail my friend out. And then they find out and think, holy mother of God, our client could have just ruined his entire career. I get it. But I would still feel like and again, PR and attorneys should know better that the truth would actually be better than making up a lie. I agree. But, you know, that's not always the case.

Well, it doesn't sound good when you reverse. I agree with you. All of a sudden, I don't believe anything you said.

All right. Because once you come up one story and then the next day you have a different story, now automatically I assume everything is a lie. I agree that that well, that part I don't assume. I agree that they're trying to do damage control now. And so they're really ridiculous attempt to do it is to all of a sudden retract the entire story, which is what I'm saying.

That's the that's why I'm looking for. Where's the truth? Because something is wrong. You can't have both stories being right.

So something is wrong. And you knew both of them. It's not like the first thing came out was just the interpreter. And then the camp heard about it was like, whoa, we have nothing to do with this. They knew they set it up. The fact is, he went to before he retracted his story.

He went to the Dodgers and told them the account that he told ESPN, the interpreter. Right. Right. So that's what I'm saying. Like that to me feels like the authentic story. And now they're trying to do the damage control. And that maybe we have no idea.

That may be the case. And that's why it made me step back. If it's as simple as Otani is helping out his friend and now they're afraid of what the implications are. I would say you did a terrible job of making a story that was not good, worse.

But I now, because of the pivot, made me concerned that, you know what? Maybe Otani and his interpreter, because they're so close, because they're friends, they figured out a way to help out Otani with his issue. By putting his name on the line, Adam? Like they came directly from his bank account.

Nobody's that stupid. I think that's when they figured out that they messed up. Because, again, the idea that they didn't change the name on the account because it would be good for business in an illegal ring. Like that doesn't make sense.

That means that you screwed up somewhere along the way. I just don't think if you are trying to hide your gambling addiction, you put your money, your name, you pay. Otani could open up an account somewhere else in someone else's name. And if he was really devious and trying to hide this.

When you think ahead, I think he got caught in his pants. Well, I mean, come on, everybody. All right. Well, see, I think that's sad. I think that you would automatically jump to he must be illegal gambling instead of taking it at face value.

It's not automatic. Face value is where I have a problem. But, again, I could be wrong. We're all trying to figure out what the story is. The only thing I think we could all say is we need more. There's definitely more info that's got to come to all of us. On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, by the way. The call's there on the Dodgers Radio Network from where we started this segment with baseball.

But it's not about baseball. We'll be right back. Like the tech-filled Tucson and Kona, as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance.

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Prick responsibly. Beer imported by Crownland Port, Chicago, Illinois. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. I think the bigger picture is significant because you've got such a generational talent that, you know, is on your ballclub in a big market in Los Angeles.

That's, you know, there's a lot more eyeballs on the Dodgers and on Major League Baseball. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Dave Roberts, he is the one who now sits in the hot seat along with a bunch of Otani's teammates, too, because there are no ways that they can escape these questions. And I even asked producer Jay to see have any of the Dodgers or Dave Roberts spoken in advance of what is game number two in just over three hours. So far, I haven't seen anything like that, though we're keeping our eyes out.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Tim finds me on Twitter, ALawRadio, and says I have way too much faith in humanity to think that rich people will just pay for other people's millions of dollars of debt. But see, I think there's a difference between American and Japanese culture and Japanese culture is so much about honor.

It's a little bit different when it comes to relationships. And again, I just told you and I'm not rich, but if this was my brother or a close friend of mine who came to me and said, I've done a ridiculous thing. I'm an idiot.

I'm so stupid. Would I be enraged? Would I be so ticked off? Would I want to like kill him if it was my brother? Yes, but would I pay off his debt if I could? Absolutely. So I don't think it's about rich people.

I think it's about their relationship. Jeevan is in Dallas. Welcome to After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. Got about 90 seconds. Go ahead.

Oh, is it my time? Yeah, I didn't intend on calling until football season. But on Otani's behalf, why would a man with a contract of close to a billion dollars be dealing with stupid stuff when he had to focus on his season, a baseball season? And you have pretty much cleared it up for me.

You know, I'm sure he wishes he could speak English a whole lot better and so he could say something on his own behalf. But I understand. So you have pretty much said it.

Otani didn't do this and this man, the man that did it, did it, did it, did it. OK, so I mean, I agree with you. I just think if you are trying to hide a gambling problem and four and a half million dollars, that's a problem. Right. That's an addiction. Yeah.

If you're trying to hide it, you're not putting you're not paying the debts out of your own bank account. No, no, no, no, no, no. And it reminds me, I mean, if my son, if my brother did something stupid like that. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm not even thinking about the repercussions of how he's going to look to the public. Right. You know, I'm just going to say, OK, OK, take this.

And no, I'm not going to give you four million dollars. Yeah. Let me go on and take this through the proper channels to make sure the proper people get it. Yeah, I'm with you.

You know, so you have already said it for me, Amy. Thank you for your comments regarding Otani. You know, I appreciate that.

Thank you, Jeevan. Good to know that there's someone else out there who sees it like I do. And I'm not saying I can't be wrong. Of course I could be wrong. Absolutely.

Shoei Otani could be a degenerate gambler and thought it was a good idea to pay off his debts with his own bank account. But that seems implausible to me. It's after our CBS portrait. March means chips, dips and swish. Instacart makes getting game time snacks easy with delivery in as fast as 30 minutes. The hard part choosing between your favorite snacks. That's why you can stock up on all your favorites with five dollars off when you spend thirty dollars or more on specially marked Frito-Lay chips, dips and more through Instacart.

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