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Now, on with the show. The Rich Eisen Show. Did you have any sense at all Dusty Bay might be on a radar screen with an NBA? I thought he was going to come back. We were going to run it back, try to win another national championship.
The Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests. ESPN Investigative Reporter Tisha Thompson. Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis. From Super Troopers 3, Jay Chandrasekhar and Kevin Hefferman.
And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Well, hey everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show back here in Los Angeles after a day with the University of Michigan Champion Circle and athletic program back here with you on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio Series XM channel at 8844204. Rich is the number to dial right here on this program last full week. Of the month of July, and training camps are opening up. Fisticuffs at the Pittsburgh Steelers' first training camp practice. It's hot all over the country.
Here, coach. Quarterback competitions and all sorts of stuff with contracts that aren't happening. And we got our first big, huge-ass trade demand, and everything's going down. And we'll talk about it best we can and keep tabs on it all throughout this three-hour program. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman.
How are you? Rich, I'm excellent. How are you? TJ Mike. Hey, Rich, good morning.
He's nuts. The candle's lit. TJ Jefferson, good to see you over there. Sure is. What's up, man?
Welcome back. Thank you. Great. It was fun to be around the Michigan Athletic Program for a hot minute. That was a lot of fun.
So listen. We talked about it. Jim, we talked about it at the end of yesterday's program. Richard.
Okay. You talked about it at the end of yesterday's program. And um Sean McVay said over the weekend that Aaron Donald's going through a process. Oh, yes. He's going through a process to see if he wants to go through the process of playing football again.
I guess they're trusting the process. Again, I know it's all kind of in your mind worked out in the long run with LeBron James showing up there with him and his helicopter. That had nothing to do with the process. Nothing to do with it. Back in the day, it didn't work out so well, the whole process, trusting.
That wasn't, that was, this is, you know, he's going through a process. Guys. Everybody back off. It's just to leave him alone. And at the end of the day, when the process is over, he's going to go, you know what?
I've processed. And it'll be really for me Shocking. For him to go through this process and go, you know what? Mah. I just you know went through it and uh I'm I'm done.
You know, don't want to restart the clock of the Hall of Fame. Body camp. Don't want to leave the house. Want to just stay put. Don't want to go through the rigors.
But he could potentially do that. LA traffic. We all believe he's going to come home. And LA traffic. Yeah, LA traffic.
Yeah, I mean, that'll keep you home. You might not want to drive. That'll keep you home. You know what I mean? The two most dreaded words in your life is sepulchred and pastor.
We're all five north. I mean, that's like, I know, not great, Bob. Put it all together, and you got the Van Wick, which, as you know, is unbeatable. Undefeated. Listen, we all think he's coming back, right?
I do think so. I mean, like, certainly since now, Les Need has chimed in on our local Los Angeles. Yeah. Affiliate. He has to.
Okay. E S P N L A. Yeah. What show was this on? Because again, I was out of time.
Oh, the DeMarco and Travis Afternoon Show. Hey, here on our ESPN LA 710 affiliate here. Hello, Los Angeles. Hello, Los Angeles. Hello.
you Every single day. That's what he said to Los Angeles. And I think you're going to be saying this to Aaron Donald. Because this is what Les Need had to say. This was the first time Aaron.
I call it Probably had the itch. to come back. Try to do something meaningful, which has been cool to see. Like when you, and you can speak to this, when you retire from the NFL, that's probably a cliff that's. It's like the next chapter is a little, it's foggy.
Yeah. It's like, wait a minute, is the next portion of my life going to be as.
So, but interesting with Aaron, he's really enjoyed these years off and hasn't necessarily missed the game. He says he missed every now and then, but not enough to say, I want to come back. This is the first time that, you know what, there's a real itch there. From a football perspective, I would love to see what would happen if you put both of them dudes out there at the same time. Yeah, it's almost like how many times in a lifetime in like this universe thing where, okay, wait a minute, Miles Garrett, now Aaron Donald wants to come back.
He happens to still be young enough to do it. Like, that doesn't happen often.
So I think I would show up to the game and be. It wouldn't be like you were the GM. It would be like, wow, this is. This is kind of something I'm watching on Netflix. Good one, Les.
Go one. I'm the same way, man. And you gotta figure Aaron Donald's the same way too. It's just what would it be like? What would it be like?
Because you read off the depth chart the other day. It's nice. It's not like Miles Garrett and or Aaron Donald are the only double-digit sat guys currently on the roster. For the Los Angeles Rams. You know, and the reason why we're going to keep beating this drum.
Until Aaron Donald gives us a yes or no. is number one. Listen, when there's a first Battle Hall of Fame guy named Aaron, and the question's in the future, if we're going to do it for Rogers, we've got to do it for anybody named Aaron, who's the first Battle Hall of Famer. Anybody. You know what I mean?
Okay. It's just the way it goes. We're trying to be fair and balanced. That's what people love about you. And you can listen.
But in all seriousness here. It affects the entire NFL. This is not a Los Angeles story. It's not even an NFC West story. With all due respect to the defending Super Bowl champs, who will take these conversations like this one.
And go, what the hell? and use it as a chip. And say, did you not see the stack of helmets that Mike McDonnell had on a spear in the middle of our meeting room? that nobody wanted to talk about until somebody let it leak during the Super Bowl week. that they were collecting helmets, like pelts on a wall.
successfully, I might add. to the tune of beating the Rams twice in Seattle. Uh once controversially and then another time In the biggest stakes game the NFC had to offer. All year long. I understand Seattle will use it.
I understand. I understand everybody's going to use that. All thirty-one other teams, because we in the media believe the Rams. Have the best chance to not only win the Super Bowl, but if Donald comes back.
Okay. Yeah. Do what the Patriots couldn't do. There's a gun, which is not lose a game. Fair enough.
It's stupid to even say those words. But this is an NFL story as training camps are beginning to open. All across America. And fans like the ones that are watching the Rams go through there. First summer reps.
All there. It's basically a conversation. waiting to see. If the team That almost made the Super Bowl last year. With an MVP quarterback who is back.
And uh A roster that is mostly back. that added A guy so terrific. In Miles Garrett, that we're not even mentioning. The acquisition of Trent McDuffie for the back end ever. We don't even, we never mention, we didn't mention it in the draft when everybody's like, they didn't get anybody at all for.
this year. With their first round selection. They just, Ty Simpson did. And they didn't get any money this year. totally forgetting that their own first round draft choice that they had coming into this calendar year, they flipped to Kansas City for one of the best back end guys who will give the front end guys an extra beat to go get the quarterback.
And that guy Group Now includes the guy. Who is the best. That's sacking the quarterback. If not now, but in the conversation all the time. In Miles Garrett.
Who's going to play football for the first time in his career, I believe, as a happy guy? The guy we saw in New Orleans at the Super Bowl saying, I don't want to play here anymore, looked like, you know, He had his favorite toy stolen from him. He was probably happy after he signed the four hundred. I'm sure, but then after a while he realized I'm sure.
So I now have a very, very, very Expensive cushion for me to soften the blow of me banging my head against the wall around here. And Aaron Donald might join that mix? Everybody get it? Until we get an answer. This is what Is at the top of mind.
And of course, there are 31 other teams, including the defending Super Bowl champs, that have rosters that can win it all again. There are teams that are be like, well, we can surprise. We can go on a run. We could do something. The Cincinnati Bengals.
who's a a a four down subject matter on Wednesday show. One of those teams, Kansas City Chiefs, who I'm going through a four-down segment today. They're probably like, wait a minute. You know. Don't forget the l the the latest dynasty.
That Still could be in a 2.0 remaking. There's your Patriots last year, Chris. There's the Bills this year. There's the rest of the AFC West I didn't even mention. There's the AFC South teams that can raise their hand.
The Houston Texans if they put up enough points on the board. There's the Ravens. I mean, yada, yada, yada. But if Aaron Donald comes back, it'll be like Best of luck. It's look at this on the screen, it's just stupid.
Those guys are gonna play with you on the same line?
So what's going to happen?
Okay. So that's why, again, and for McVay to basically say he's going through this process, guys, unless indeed going, this is the first time I'm even believing it. is essentially what he just said. And he's on the inside. It's the first time where I remember when Donald first retired and it was just like, maybe he'll just raise his hand like Eric Weddell style or get a phone call Eric Weddell style?
Come back for just the playoffs. This is real. This is flat out real.
So Meanwhile, there's another defensive. Tackle. By the way, it's Jeffrey Simmons' birthday, speaking of one of our favorites in the league. Vita Veya, we'll talk about that later on. He's telling the Bucs we're done.
Which is interesting 'cause he has a contract. Um There's a new contract. Conversation with Baker Mayfield that isn't going apparently terrifically well. We'll talk about that on the program. Uh it's an overreaction Monday on a Tuesday show.
I told you about the four downs with the uh The Kansas City Chiefs, that's coming up. There's you at 844-204-RICH. Number to dial to have a conversation today. But in our green room right now, Is the investigative reporter from ESPN, ESPN.com, and now ESPN podcast, Tisha Thompson. is uh here in our uh green room.
She was last on the program a couple of years ago when she was breaking stories about. Sho aotani And the question about his uh gambling debts that were associated with his bank accounts. that turned out to be his interpreter behind the scenes. Doing it in his name without him knowing. Did we say allegedly after that?
Well, I mean he's He's been president.
Okay. At any rate, um The podcast that just dropped, as the kids say today, with the first two episodes. It's called The Betrayal of Shoe Otani. And all of ESPN's 30 for 30 podcasts, along with this, can be found on ESPN.com, the ESPN app, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm sure the Dodgers are very thrilled with this podcast.
But this happened, man, two years ago. And and the questions that surround it that potentially still linger. A lot of them are answered, at least for me. I listened to the first two episodes, and you can remember when. Article spoke with Ipe Mizuharo, when he was over in Japan.
Remember this? It was the opener of. The Dodgers' first season with Shoei Otani, and it was in Japan, and this thing broke. And You know, it was first like, wait a minute, Shoey's involved in a gambling ring. And then the next one was like, no.
As a matter of fact, his interpreter is saying it was me all along. And you're like, well, how the hell can he get into his bank accounts and get all this money? Yeah. This podcast not only has Tish's interview with uh Mizuhara. That was the basis of all of these stories that popped out.
But also she's got a recor a recording that will play during the interview. Of the interpreter calling Bank of America saying, I can't get any account online. Can you help me out? And All you got to know is just listen to this interview that Uh Tisha has with Ipe. And um It's him.
When he's calling Bank of America saying, My name is Shoei Otani, that sounds like the same guy I'm hearing this whole interview with. And it is wild. Wild.
So she's about to join us on this program. Then we'll talk some football with Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis. TD. TD. I go way back with him like a car seat.
He's the one that told me I couldn't run the 40-yard dash. I cursed at him and then I ran it in my suit and tie for the first time. That's how far back we go. That's 20 years. Imagine had he not laughed at you.
Yeah, that's a good point. You know what I mean? I still would have done it. I just wouldn't have cursed at him before he could go to the field and do it. That's probably the only difference.
I still would have done it. But I wouldn't you wouldn't have had anger in your head. I'd have been like, hey, man, thanks. Let me show you that your trust in me is worthy. Not you.
I then spent the next two decades disappointing anybody who's had a benefit To my physical prowess. I don't think anyone's been disappointed with anything that's happened.
Okay. Run, Rich, run. Come on now. I appreciate it.
So, TD's going to join us. And then Super Troopers 3 is coming out, folks, a nationwide release on August 7th. And Kevin Haffernan is going to be in the studio along with the director, Jay. Chandra Sekar is going to be here. Nice.
Together. You say nice because I nailed his pronunciation of his name, or the fact that they mentioned they're going to be here. Yeah, both. TJ and I were raw last night. Yeah.
Oh, okay. We'll get that. Oh, baby. It was awesome. I have a great story from Susie, the road trip Susie and I went on in your home, great state of Maine, state of Maine.
That's right. Yeah, when I see it. I see the kids on visiting days. When I said it was good seeing you, I was just thinking yesterday, I forgot. We didn't see you last week.
I haven't seen you in a while. You did not. You did not. Welcome back. So, thank you very much.
I appreciate that. Thank you. Get into the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event right now and get away with a deal so right it almost feels wrong. The IONIC 5, the IONIC 9, all electric, waiting for you. If you want bold and stylish, there's the Elantra loaded with the latest tech.
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So get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com. For details. All right, let's just dive into this new 30 for 30 podcast. Tisha Thompson coming up next.
The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Right now, O'Reilly Auto Parts gets you back to savings. Pick up select Royal Purple Fuel System Additives, buy one, get one free. Plus, receive four times O rewards points. Stop by your local O'Reilly Auto Parts store or shop online at O'ReillyAuto.com.
Rich Eisen here for Gusto. After all these years talking to athletes, coaches, entertainers, and people at the top of what they do, one thing is pretty clear. Success usually depends on getting the details right. For small business owners, that includes payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, you know, the work that keeps everything moving, even if it's not the reason you started the business in the first place. That's why there's Gusto.
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Terms and conditions apply. Didn't he know?
Okay, I have so many questions here. Yeah, yeah. The investigative reporter behind Breaking the Story that wound up. Blowing up what was going on with Ipe Mizuhara, the longtime interpreter for Shohei Otani.
So, okay, a few things here. Because the interview that you had with Ipe that broke this whole thing wide open, that Sort of change the narrative that existed for about half a day or a full day that Shohei was gambling.
Well, and then you found out through this interview that Ipe's like, no, it's me. And I was listening to the, again, episode two, it's the entirety of that episode is basically your interview with the interpreter. And it just sounded so damn sad to me because you busted him. I mean, is what it sounded like. Like he knew that he was now caught here.
And is what it sounded like to me.
Well, and I have a lot of skepticism when I'm doing that interview. I mean, you can hear it in your voice. Yeah. As a reporter, you are trying to go into these interviews As well sourced as you can be. And I had people who told me one thing.
Ella. I was very interested to see if ePay was going to tell me the same thing. What was that one thing?
Well, I mean, there was a number of one things, but you know, how much money it was. I had very good sourcing that said it was at least $16 million. And. I then, sort of in the final hours of getting ready to move forward with the story, had heard: well, it might just be 4.5. Because that may be what the feds know about is 4.5 million.
So when I go to do the interview with epe, I say, you know, he doesn't want to tell me, you'll hear it. He doesn't want to tell me how much it is. He says it's very embarrassing. He doesn't want to tell me. And I say, well, I have sourcing that it's at least 4.5 million.
And he says, yeah, that sounds about right. By the way, I shouldn't, again, this is not funny, but I audibly laughed in my plane seat when I heard that. He's just like, yeah, that sounds about right. That sounds about right. Like what a neighborhooding of money.
And then you then followed up. I say, is it more than that? And he goes, I don't think so. And I had multiple sources telling me it was more than that.
So that's a place where, as the reporter, I can tell you in my head, I go, hmm. That's interesting. At any point in time, were you going into it to hunt and peck to see if he covering for Shelly? Oh, I absolutely ask him that. I I mean, I had been tipped off that Uh epe was prepared to say That he was the one betting, and Shohei was covering his bets.
I was told that as early as January.
So I spent the next couple of weeks into months with my editor, Link Tang, and I. We really tried to. Figure out well, what the heck's going on? Because Matt Boyer, the book he said, he has. Plenty of clients who are athletes who have had accounts that they either share with a friend or they have a beard.
And that's, you know, lingo for someone's making the bets on behalf of a celebrity or someone famous who really needs to stay out of the spotlight.
So was Ipe the beard? Was Ipe the gambler? Was Shohei the gambler? And Ipe was taking the fall? You know, what was it?
And we had sourcing that was kind of all over the place on that.
So that was a lot of what took us so long to get to March, to get to the place where we felt like we could go forward and say to Otani's people, hey, the time has come. We want to understand what's going on here.
Well, I mean, and then at one point, you could hear as he's going through this interview. Again, this is an episode two that did drop today, the portrayal of Shohei Otani, 30 for 30 podcast series out wherever you get your podcasts. Um Where it's clear with every word that's out of his mouth, he understands that the jig is now up. And he also, at one point, he said that he's telling you stuff his wife didn't even know yet. Oh, yeah.
And that one also hit me when I'm like, okay. Yeah. Now you just gave me a look, though. Are we? Because again, I haven't heard the rest of this podcast.
Is there still a doubt as to what happened? The feds would tell you no.
Well, I mean, I read the affidavit and it sure seems like Otani got ripped off. We interview the man that wrote that affidavit in the very first interview he's ever done. He's an IRS, he's retired now. He's an IRS agent who does these kinds of cases. And he's never done an interview before.
And he is one of the agents that read 40,000 text messages between Ipe and Shohei. And they were all in Japanese.
So the feds had to translate them. They had agents that helped them with that from the Department of Homeland Security and from the IRS. And they went through all the bank records. They went through all of the Bookie's bank records and his phone that they had seized. And they basically create this timeline.
And he walks us through it. They ended up seizing stuff out of Ipe's car that ends up being important to the story. And they They are waiting for Ipe when he gets off the airplane coming back from Seoul because he was fired in South Korea after he did the interview with me. We're getting ready to publish the story that says Ipe says that he was the gambler and Shohei helped him pay off the debt, and that Shohei and he did it together, paid that money off together. And right before, I mean, right, Rich, right before we're about to hit publish, I get a call from the crisis spokesperson who says, wait, wait, wait.
Ipe lied. He lied. And was telling me that in real time, that Shohei was only finding out now that we were working on this story and that Ipe had lied to all of them.
So we scramble. I do another interview with Ipe. He says, I say, Ipe, did you lie to me? He says, yes. I said, did you lie to Shohei?
He says, yes. And we end up publishing. You know, in that moment, you're publishing what you've been told. It's so weird what just happened. Then again, the lying is that, hey, I went to Shohei to say, can you bail me out?
And Shohei is like, I got you. Yes. And that they combine together to make these payments. And then the last second, you're hitting publish on that. They're like, no, no, no, I lied to you.
Shohei knew nothing about it. I mean, I've had people lie to me in interviews over 20 years of being an investigative reporter. That's not a new phenomenon, as you can imagine. But this was different because 16 hours later, he was recanting. Almost, and I say almost because there's a couple of things he doesn't, recant, everything he told me.
And now he's being accused by someone he had described to me in the interview as closer than a brother. who he spends more time with in his own wife. uh was now accusing him of massive theft. But I mean, in episode five, I believe, do we have this? Play it for me here.
This is, you got sound of Ms. Uhara calling Bank of America. Yeah, it came out during the court hearing. It is a recording of a Bank of America. You know, when they say this call may be recorded, they are actually recording it.
They're recording you. Let me tell you. They're recording you. Quality assurance, by the way, another great fantasy. Is that a cover band?
And I will, Rich, I will tell you, I was dying to hear this recording. This was a really important recording. I knew that banks record these calls. I know that you can't just wire $100,000, $200,000, or $500,000 with the bank doing its due diligence.
So I really wanted to know who the voice was when they were trying to wire this money. Sure, sounds like the guy I heard all over episode two, hit it. This is a Bank of America recording from February 2022. Who am I speaking with? Shohari O'Connell.
Thank you. How may I help you?
So I tried to log into uh online banking and it told me that it's not available to me at this time and I'm gonna call. Seymour would track the Bank of America call to the same cell phone number I called when I interviewed ePay. Could you tell me the name of the payee and the amount of the transaction, please? It's for two hundred thousand dollars. Uh Well, again, that sounds just like the interpreter in question, right there.
That is Ipe Mizahara's voice.
So now, all right.
Well, I have to tell you: the Bank of America woman didn't buy it. They shut down Johe's account. And we talk about that in the podcast. They say, they're like, no, because he says, they say, well, what is it for? And he says, a car loan.
And as we ask in the podcast, who needs a $200,000 wire for a car loan from a friend, for a friend? And so Bank of America doesn't buy it. EPA calls back. There's actually, I want to say it's roughly two dozen phone calls between ePay and Bank of America. That's just one instance of it.
And he convinces a different bank employee to reopen the account because he knew everything about Shohei. He had helped set up that bank account with Shohei when they first come to the United States and they're at spring training in Arizona. All right.
So, what questions remain unanswered for you right now, two years in? I would love to interview Shohei Otani.
Well, that's not going to happen, is it?
Well, why not? White why? Why? How thrilled are the Dodgers with your third?
Well, I'm infantry.
Well, you know, let's be straight up here. You know what I mean? Like, this is. happened. World Series M V P M I'm the only one.
You know, marriage, beautiful dogs, you know, that run around. I should mention that before the dogs go. I mean, you know, yes, he won't World Series, but he also now has kids. No, right, right. Yeah.
So, like. What's the point of rehashing this?
Well, and we get into that. The interpreter's in jail. The interpreter said, this is me. I mean, The affidavit, again, I read it. Like, there wasn't a single, to me, a shred of, like, you would know better.
I didn't see a shred of, like, it's 100% that he knew about it, that he was directing it, that he was doing this, that he, and, and, and, the bookie you talked to, does he even say, oh, yeah, he came to me with a paper. Oh, no, he says I only dealt with EPEC. Yeah, I mean, so. Here's the question I have. Oftentimes when you're Looking at these tragedies, when you're looking at these sad stories, for me, it is: okay, what is the lesson?
What do we learn from it? How do we protect athletes? Whether it's Johe Otani or some kid who's coming up in high school right now who's about to be another phenom, right? What are we doing? And when I say we, I'm talking about the teams, the leagues, the agents, the media.
Like, what do we learn from this? Because oftentimes, these athletes are really young men and women who are making a whole lot of money. And when you make a lot of money and you're young, who is near you? Who's getting close to you? What kind of choices are you, the athlete, making?
What kind of choices are the people you trust making? And, you know, this is not the first time that someone close to an athlete. Made some really questionable choices and really jeopardized the athlete's career stole from them. And you know, look at Pete Rose. There's athletes that have made terrible decisions.
So you're saying Shohei should talk about it as a cautionary tale? I mean, I would like to talk to Shohei to know from Shohei what happened. I've had other people tell me. What Shohei knew and what he didn't know, and what Ipe said, and what Ipe didn't say, and when Ipe told him, and when he did and didn't know that the story was coming. But I'd like to hear it from the man himself.
I always want to hear it from the person who really went through it, who experienced it.
Now, will Shohei ever let anyone ask him questions? It is fascinating. I'm not the only reporter who thinks this. He is one of the most, if not the most inaccessible athlete a reporter has ever tried to get near. I mean, my colleague Tim Cuehan, who's in the podcast, is a tremendous, tremendous reporter.
And he's done more cover stories for ESPN Magazine. than any other reporter at ESPN. And he has been trying to profile and has written beautiful profiles to show you Otani since he first came to the United States. And he says he is the most inaccessible, most The biggest enigma that he's ever tried to wrap his head around. Yeah.
I mean, there. The uh the one time I met him Was at a Rams game. Did you get to ask him any questions?
Well, I mean, I would love to know. Actually, he couldn't have been nicer. He took a picture with my son, and the person who got his attention and say, Hey, this kid wants to talk to you, was Ipe. There you go. You know what I mean?
You just nailed it, Rich. And he's like, Hey, this kid wants to take a picture. Hopped right up. Couldn't have been nicer, couldn't have been cooler. My kid was.
Over the moon, you know? And so that's the whole question here: is it possible? He didn't know he's getting a ripped off. Hold on. He didn't go.
I'm giving you a scenario.
Okay. Okay. No, I'm talking about an investigative report where you've heard it all, you've been through it all. Is it possible here he didn't know about it? Dipe did in fact tell you the truth that that Shohei Helped him get out of it because he's basically like, Oh, I can't believe you've ripped me off.
But let me help you out here. I got the money. Just take it. You're done. And He didn't think anything of it until somebody on his side goes, even you doing that.
Put you In trouble with Major League Baseball, you didn't know anything about the gambling, got it. It's going to be tough to prove that if you've paid the money with your guy, and so suddenly Ipe calls you up and goes, No, no, no, I lied. And that's the truth that Shohei would never want to talk about the rest of his life. Right.
So, those are very reasonable questions, considering the strangeness about how the interviews went down. That's why I think episode five is so important. Is we don't just say this is what the Fed's Found because you know the feds have subpoena power. The feds can get people, haul them in, and interview them. They interview Shohei.
We come to find out Shohei was playing the Giants. Um and Earlier that day, he had been through, I believe it was two days of interviews with the federal government. They interview his bookkeepers, his financial planners, his agent. The feds really talk to as many people as they can. They talk to Shohei.
This agent that we do an interview with went through 40,000, he and his team went through 40,000 text messages between Shohei and Ipe. He says there wasn't a single text message, not one. That showed anything about betting or interest in betting or even stuff like how's the meal cooking? You know, like nothing that they could see. Right.
And so that's why I think episode five is so interesting. Is it's one thing to sit, you know, read a court document. I mean, I do that for a living, I find them fascinating, but I understand they can be kind of dry. This is actually the people who were, you know, raiding. The bookie's house pulling out.
$40,000 watches and casino chips and tying all of that to what's on Ipe's phone as he's coming back from Seoul, South Korea. I mean, it's fascinating how they did their investigation. And it's interesting to hear why they believe so firmly that Shohei is innocent. It's called The Betrayal of Shohei Otani premieres today with the first two episodes. And a new episode is going to drop every Tuesday and Thursday through August 11th.
So it's a grand total of six episodes. Six. Six episodes. First two episodes. Yep.
And we tackle all those questions you're asking, Rich.
Okay. All of them.
Well, I appreciate, again, I truly did appreciate when you made yourself available. I'm like, it was a crazy time. Yeah, it had to have been. Yeah. Had to have bad.
It's a story that just never seems to stop. I would say, oh, let's go take on a Dodger game, but I don't know. Red Sox are in town this week. Is that right? Yeah, yeah.
Mm-hmm. Just saying. Great stuff. Thank you. ESPN.com, the ESPN app, wherever you get your podcasts, all of 30 for 30, ESPN's 30 for 30 podcasts can be found there, just like the portrayal of Shohei Otani.
Anytime. Thank you, Rich. Love being here. Thank you. Right back at you.
Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, moving forward, Terrell Davis will be joining us on an Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. Uh The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high-interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an Audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required.
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Make life brighter. with palo windows. Indoors. Woo! That was a fascinating conversation right there.
Oh, man. Yeah, I don't think Shoe Otani's ever going to talk about this. Nor would I if I were him. If I was advising him, if I was him, I would never speak on this ever. Yeah.
There's the nothing good can come out of it. Again, I remember for like 24 hours, we're like, oh, God. Oh, yeah, he's getting suspended. And then the 48 hours after that is like, hold the phone. And then a week later, I read this affidavit, and they're like, There's nothing.
There's not even a code that one would sit here and think, like, we can't even. You know, see one exchange between the two that could even be viewed as code as to wondering what's going on. Right.
I mean If Again. I were ever in a position of placing a wager for you. Would you not send me One text. Born emoji or something. Anything to say, what happened?
Yeah. Where are we? What's going on? Just we good. It's something, anything.
I don't know. I would call you. I wouldn't text you.
Okay, because you're very careful. Carrier pigeons. You don't leave any footprint. It's not like a mob movie where they're like, go to a payphone or do this or get a burner, you know, breaking bad, get a burner. Right.
And it doesn't seem to me that they're really um Again, in these inter in the interview that I heard, it didn't seem to me like the The interpreter was any criminal mastermind. No, no. Not at all. It's not that phone. He's just calling up.
This phone call is recorded for your state your name. Show me Otani. For quality assurance. What's your name? I am the most famous baseball player on planet Earth.
What's yours? You know, I mean. Oh, hi, Mike. Oh, and I want $200,000 for a car loan. A car load, that's some car.
But you're getting a Bentley. Rolls. Rolls? Because if you're taking $200,000 out for a car loan. Aren't you just going to take the $200,000 out and buy a car?
Exactly. You know what I mean? Like, so. All of this, I'm listening to it, I'm like. What the hell am I listening to?
It's crazy. It's like you're watching D-Wine or something and you're like, man, these are the dumbest criminals alive. You know, yeah, I'm excited to dive into this. 844-204-Rich number denial. All rise.
Terzo and Ile would like to join us. What's up, Terzo? How are you, brother? What's going on? Oh, this is player 249.
Okay. Oh, hi, Rich. Do you want to interpret that? Was that a gambling reference? Yeah, you don't use your real names, you use like a number code.
Oh, is that right? Yeah. Oh, gosh. Unless you're calling the bank. Right.
Yeah. My wire number is 487-329. Careful. Anyways, yeah.
So, hey, Rich, I got a couple comments for you. First one being: like, I love all of the LeBron hate that he's going to Philly. Like, come on, man. This is a great storyline. This is going to be the.
a fun last chapter of his career. It wouldn't have been like it would have been nice to see him go back to Miami. It would have been nice to see him go back to Cleveland and bookend that whole story. But him going to Philly and the storylines and the matchups we're going to have all year long, it's going to be fantastic. And all of the LeBron hate just needs to stop.
if he wins one in Philly, that would be a great story and a great way to end his career. And for that city, for that team, TJ, that'd be awesome. It's just I think all the MJ haters just don't want to see that happen because if he wins a title with four teams. That just makes his argument for the goat even more even more relevant.
So that's just kind of my thought. Let's just enjoy these last two seasons with him. I agree. Thanks for the call. Terrizone, Iowa.
There you go. Is LeBron going to Philadelphia? You know what I'd love to hear? I'd love to hear from a Philadelphia fan who will fully admit that they thought about LeBron in a similar way that you have been talking about him. And now that he's a sixer, you're like, oh, he's ours.
I just want to hear that. He's done a complete 180. There's 1,000% those fans. That's what I want to hear. Oh, I booed him.
I screamed at him when he came as a calf and a heat and a laker.
Now I love him. I can't wait to watch him play Point Guard.
Well that's part of Shams is saying that's the plan. That's Nick Nurse. They're going to put him at point. which, by the way, I totally get it. I can't wait to see it.
I mean, you've got score I mean, what this guy does to facilitate Is all time great. That rhymes. I know I'm going on Walt Fraser here. Clyde. And.
How many times early part of his career is like he passes too much?
Okay, so let's get Edgecombe and let's get Maxie, let's get Brown all. Facilitated by LeBron. And Slash into the basket. There's MB protecting it on the other end. LeBron, by the way, are you aware that LeBron Is Fourth, On the all-time assists list.
Well, he's played 300 years in the league. I got it, but still. And he's not playing third.
So that's very impressive as a guy who played the fourth. He's only about 300 assists shy of Chris Paul, I believe. No kidd. Jason Kidd is next up, and he's 400 shy of... of um of Chris Paul.
Yeah, spectacular career. He's accumulated a lot of stats and a lot of numbers. I think if I'm a Philly fan, I don't know why you want to take the ball out of Maxie's hands. He's your best player. Because LeBron James is the most, probably the most intelligent basketball player of all time and having him facilitate for that team, I'm willing to take that chance.
Hour one in the books here on The Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
