The party was planned months ago to celebrate Mathew Bowyer’s 50th birthday Friday with 140 family members and friends who stuck by him during his troubled times, and only those he still wanted to remain in his life.
This was not only going to be a lavish five-hour affair at the Bottega Angelina restaurant in Laguna Niguel, California but also a celebration of life and bringing closure to a dark chapter in his life.
It was the day, April 4, Bowyer was also going to be sentenced by the federal government for running one of the largest illegal bookmaking operations in the country, captivating the nation and all of Japan, with the ugly involvement of Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Bowyer’s sentencing has instead been delayed to Oct. 3, giving him more time to get his life in order, but also adding six more months of stress while thinking about his fate.
“I would have preferred to get this over with, man," Bowyer told USA TODAY Sports. “I know people have told me that the longer the delay, the better for sentencing. It’s just the anxiety of the unknown that sucks.
“I feel like I’m in a pickle between second and third base, but closer to second base."
Bowyer, who pleaded guilty last August to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and false tax returns, faces 18 years in prison, but says he expects receive a sentence of 17 to 37 months after cooperating with government officials. He’ll certainly receive a lighter penalty than the 57 months in prison that Mizuhara was sentenced for bank and tax fraud, and stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani.
Mizuhara, one of more than 700 clients of Bowyer, placed at least 19,000 bets in excess of $300 million with Bowyer’s bookmaking operation from Sept. 2021 to Jan. 2024, gambling up to $100,000 a game.
It’s the Ohtani-Mizuhara relationship that has fascinated film producers and national media outlets. Bowyer says he has written a 87,000 word, 16-chapter book on his life called, “Recalibrate," that will also be published once he knows his fate.
“My life was like the 'Wolf of Wall Street,’ but if Shohei’s name wasn’t involved in this,’’ Bowyer said, “nobody would give a [expletive] about me. You’re talking about the biggest athlete in the world. I don’t think we’ll ever see a player like this again in our lifetime."
We may also spend the rest of Ohtani’s lifetime wondering just how much Ohtani knew about Mizuhara’s gambling addiction, and whether he had even the slightest involvement.
“I know the whole world wants to know," Bowyer says, “but to this day, I truly don’t know. They are the only two people in the world who really know the truth, Shohei and Ippei.
“I truly believe that Shohei doesn’t gamble, but I think he knew some area of demise with Ippei, just maybe not to that extent."
The federal government and Major League Baseball believe Ohtani was nothing more than a victim of fraud. He was quickly cleared by federal investigators and MLB of having no knowledge that Mizuhara was stealing from his account, nor aware of any of the 19,000 bets Mizuhara placed with Bowyer for nearly 2 ½ years.
“It’s definitely possible Ohtani didn’t know anything, but plausible is a different answer," Bowyer says. “I gambled bigger than most. I hid my emotions better than most. But you can only hide so much when you’re in serious turmoil. And clearly, he was in serious turmoil.
“If this is true that Ippei was the guy, and gambling all by himself the whole time, I don’t know how you could hide that from your best friend, ...
