Keith O'Brien: Shohei Ohtani could be biggest scandal since Pete Rose

It's only a kick. A jump. A block. It's only a serve. It's only a tackle. A run. It's only for the fans. After all, it's only pressure. You got this.

Adidas. Gray's Anatomy. The most iconic, binge-worthy drama is back. Along with answers to the biggest cliffhangers. Will Teddy survive?

Will Joe and Link finally find happiness together? Meredith returns along with fan faves like Arizona. You can now stream every episode of Gray's ever on Hulu and new episodes next day.

Watch new episodes of Gray's Anatomy Thursdays at 9, 8 central on ABC and stream on Hulu. The story can't go away quickly because there's a federal investigation into the bookmaker and I've got the accusation of wire fraud and embezzlement and theft, so that's got to be investigated now. And the only way that this has an ending that doesn't end up with Shohei Ohtani being suspended by Major League Baseball would be that interpreter putting himself on a thousand swords with the hope of a payday at somewhere down the line from Ohtani saying, I forged his signature, I pretended I was him, I signed off on it, and I'm going to take the punishment that comes with wire fraud. And that is Craig Carton, who obviously tells everybody he was addicted, gambled, ended up in prison, bounced all the way back, started WFAN, now is doing stuff on Fox Sports. Really talented guy, but is very honest about his addiction. He knows the pattern, he knows the behavior. He actually has a show on Saturdays, Hello My Name is Craig, and he talks about what he went through, he tries to help people.

It's a pretty compelling radio. Keith O'Brien joins us now, author of Charlie Hustle, The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and The Last Scory Days of Baseball. Keith, welcome.

Hey, thanks for having me, O'Brien. Keith, so much has changed since Pete Rose was nailed in the 80s, and this saga has been going on. Now, sports gambling is legal, it's encouraged, it's talked about in almost every major sports network and beyond, it's in every paper, except for some states don't allow it.

That was one of the states that don't allow it. Ohtani is the biggest name in sports, the biggest name in baseball, but the fact of the language barrier kept them from being a megastar. How big a story is this going to be? I think, Brian, it is already the biggest gambling scandal since Pete Rose's fall in 1989.

You know, I want to be clear, there is a ton that we don't know here about what happened, and anyone who is speculating with confidence about what happened simply does not know. However, the echoes here between what happened to Pete Rose in 1989 and what is unfolding now in Los Angeles are so loud, I mean, fans should probably cup their hands over their ears. We have forgotten sort of who Pete Rose was in the last 35 years, and the fact is, in 1989, he was a Shohei-esque kind of star. He was known not just across the country, but around the world.

He was, in many ways, the face of baseball in the same way that Shohei Ohtani is the face of baseball now. And so, without question, in my opinion, Major League Baseball will have to conduct some kind of transparent investigation, whether that's the term or not, some kind of investigation into what has happened here, because when you're talking about alleged numbers of $4.5 million and alleged illegal bookmakers and wire transfers, you simply cannot ignore it. Right, and what they're saying is, and I think the story has changed so many times, and he was overseas playing the first game, now they're coming back. The friend said he was given the money to pay off gambling debts, and Ohtani gave it to him. And then it turns out, he said, well, no, the money was taken from my account illegally without me knowing it, and wired to this bookmaker, Matt Boyer, who got raided and they stumbled onto this Ohtani reference.

So that's changed. So getting a wire for millions of dollars over the course of, he says, since 2021, three years, that means he had to go in and forge and lie? What banker is going to say, okay, you're the interpreter for Ohtani, how much do you need, a million? Good, and what bookie am I sending it to?

I don't know any bank that would do that. And all of these questions you just raised, all of these curious choices and changes of narrative are being investigated right now by reporters. Again, whether or not, you know, Major League Baseball is prepared or is already taking a serious look, reporters are. And, you know, credit to the reporters at the Los Angeles Times and ESPN and many others who were already sniffing into this story, which is how it leaked out in the first place. And, you know, if I was a reporter on this story, I'm going deep and I'm going long and I'm going until I get what I think is the truth.

And I know I'm not alone there. Reporters are on this story and we'll do what they can to get to the truth. As we get to this, is Pete Rose, from what you know, I know he cooperated with you in the book, but is he mounting an effort to get into the Hall of Fame or is he not wanted anymore? Well, I should be clear, he cooperated for a while. I did do 27 hours of recorded interviews with Pete Rose before he stopped calling me back and ultimately shut down. So I am not in contact with him today.

You know, I will say, you know, two things about that question. You know, on the one hand, you know, Pete does still feel wrongly excommunicated for for the gambling in his mind. He's apologized for it in his mind.

Baseball should have moved on. You know, that apology that Pete has made, I think over the years has been considered, you know, shallow or superficial and and not what Americans like to hear. We want our fallen heroes to to go on shows like yours, Brian, and cry and be emotional. And that's not who Pete is. So, you know, he does feel wronged, whether, you know, whether that's right or wrong. That's how he feels. This gambling allegation in Los Angeles is going to give him further fodder for that argument.

But, you know, he I think is also realistic when we were still talking, when I was still meeting with him. This was a man who had stopped trying to curry favor with the league anymore. He was, you know, going on gambling podcast. He was taking appearance fees to open new casinos and new sports books. That is not the behavior of a man who is trying to win Rob Manfred's good graces.

Understood, too. But now it's so commonplace with the betting. You can't act like it's foreboding anymore. Obviously, betting on baseball will never be OK. But it's to me, it's beginning to ruin the games. People care about lines.

People care about how much money they're going to make. And we don't vote for teams. It's fantasy football. We vote for the people that we put on our roster in our own draft. It's really screwing up the games.

But maybe I'm just living in a different era. Keith O'Brien, pick up his book, Charlie Hustle. Thanks, Keith. Thank you, Brian. All right, we come back. Barteeson will be joining us. Don't move.