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Despite the fact that rumors and reports are swirling around Shohei Ohtani’s involvement in a gambling scandal, the league’s biggest team, the New York Yankees, is remaining full steam ahead with their sports betting promotions.
Opening their 2024 season on Thursday, March 28 with a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros, the Yankees remained committed to their sports betting partners FanDuel while live tweeting the game from the team’s official account.
One tweet in particular got the attention of baseball fans given the current climate around Major League Baseball and sports betting.
The tweet highlights Nestor Cortez’s strikeouts from the game, with the caption “Nestor Settled In.” Below that, are the odds he had to record 5+ strikeouts in the game and the odds the bet was on FanDuel (+112).
“On the first day of baseball after the biggest gambling scandal this sport has seen in half a century and the league’s most recognizable team does this,” said one viral tweet in reply to the Yankees’ post.
On the first day of baseball after the biggest gambling scandal this sport has seen in half a century and the league’s most recognizable team does this: https://t.co/tmCMC6CCGZ
— Stephen Josiah (@StephenJosiah13) March 29, 2024
As the viral tweet points out, the circumstances surrounding Ohtani have created the biggest gambling scandal that baseball has seen since the days of Pete Rose, who infamously got caught betting on MLB games while working as a manager for the Cincinnati Reds.
Here is a concise breakdown of what’s happened with Ohtani in recent weeks, via The Los Angeles Times:
“The first [story] suggested that there was no link, and that Ohtani had no comment in response to a Times query about the Dodger, Bowyer and the investigation, according to a representative for the ballplayer. Next came the version that Ohtani generously paid off the gambling losses Mizuhara owed to Bowyer, ESPN reported after The Times story was published.”
“Then came the current narrative, made public March 20: Mizuhara stole the money. Ohtani said Mizuhara had invented every other rendition of events. In a meeting at their Seoul hotel, Ohtani said, Mizuhara admitted to him the theft and the deception.”
Despite the controversy surrounding Ohtani, the 29 year old Japanese superstar was in the Los Angeles Dodgers starting lineup for the 2024 season home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, March 28.
Ohtani — who will not be pitching this year while he recovers from an elbow injury — played as a designated hitter and went 2/3 with a walk and a run scored in the Dodgers 7-1 win over the Cardinals.