The county voted 5-2 to approve spending about $312.5 million for its share of the ballpark costs from revenue generated by a bed tax that can only be spent on tourist-related and economic development expenses. The St. Petersburg City Council approved spending $417.5 million for the stadium earlier this month.

The $1.3 billion ballpark will guarantee the team stays put for at least 30 years. It’s part of a broader $6.5 billion redevelopment project that supporters say would transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) tract in the city’s downtown, with plans in the coming years for a Black history museum, affordable housing, a hotel, green space, entertainment venues, and office and retail space. There’s the promise of thousands of jobs as well.

“This is so much more than a baseball stadium. It is poised to become, if we do it right, a world-class tourist destination,” said Commissioner Janet Long. “It’s more than about the baseball stadium. It’s a transformational, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,”

The linchpin of the project is the planned roofed stadium, scheduled to open for the 2028 season. It caps years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future, including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or to Nashville, Tennessee, or even to split home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal, an idea Major League Baseball rejected.

The rest of the project would mainly be funded by a partnership between the Rays and the Houston-based Hines global development company. It will take decades to complete.

The site, where the Rays’ domed, tilted Tropicana Field and its expansive parking lots now sit, was once a thriving Black community displaced by construction of the ballpark and an interstate highway. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch says one of his priorities is to right some of those past wrongs in what is known as the Historic Gas Plant District.

The Rays typically draw among the lowest attendance in MLB, even though the team has made the playoffs five years in a row. This year, the Rays have a 54-52 record, placing them fourth in the American League East division.

The ballpark plan is part of a wave of construction or renovation projects at sports venues across the country, including the Milwaukee Brewers, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Oakland Athletics, who are planning to relocate to Las Vegas. Like the Rays proposal, all the projects come with millions of dollars in public funding that usually draws opposition.

A citizen group called No Home Run and other organizations opposed the deal, with the conservative/libertarian Americans for Prosperity contending the track record for other publicly financed sports stadiums is not encouraging.

County Commissioner Chris Latvala said he’s a huge baseball fan and recounted many fond memories of following the Rays, but he still voted against the project.

“I want professional baseball to stay here, I want the Rays to stay here, but at what price?” he said. “This will be a $1 billion publicly funded subsidy to a billionaire. I’m not willing to put my name on that.”

The post Pinellas County Commissioners approved deal to build a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

Now they’ve had cycles in back-to-back seasons.

Xavier Edwards became the second Marlins player ever to hit for the cycle Sunday, as the rookie went 4 for 4 and hit his first career homer in a 6-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. He also scored both of Miami’s runs.

The Marlins had their inaugural season in 1993, but they’d never had anyone hit for the cycle until Luis Arráez accomplished the feat while going 4 of 5 with two runs and a pair of RBIs in an 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on April 11, 2023.

“Really cool,” Edwards said. “Luis’s the first and we were teammates for about a month-and-a-half last year. He’s a great guy, great hitter and great teammate. Really cool to kind of follow in his footsteps and get the second one. Definitely very excited and very grateful for it.”

Edwards homered off Tobias Myers on the opening pitch of the game, drew a leadoff walk from Myers in the third, doubled against Jakob Junis in the fifth and tripled off Joel Payamps in the seventh. The triple also was the first of his career.

The homer came on Edwards’ 185th career plate appearance. Myers noted after the game that he and Edwards were former teammates in the Tampa Bay Rays’ farm system.

“He’s a good hitter,” Myers said. “He’s always been that way. He’s always been able to put the ball in play and make things happen.”

By the time Edwards stepped to the plate for the final time with two outs in the ninth inning, he was well aware how close he was to a milestone. But he also had to face Devin Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year.

“I hate to say it, but I’d been thinking about it for the last two innings or so leading up to my last at-bat,” Edwards said. “I was like, ‘All right, I think I’ve got a single left.’ For whatever reason, I was thinking in my head two-strike hit. I don’t know why. Probably not that great a thought process.”

Sure enough, Edwards hit a grounder to the left side on a 1-2 changeup, sprinted down the line and reached first just ahead of the throw from shortstop Willy Adames.

“I would have been pretty upset with myself if I didn’t hit a single,” Edwards said. “I usually spray a lot of singles, so I would have been pretty upset about not getting a single. So I’m really glad I did.”

Edwards was the eighth player ever to hit for the cycle during the same game in which he hit his first career homer, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The last person to do that was San Francisco’s Fred Lewis in 2007.

This has been an eventful year for Edwards, who missed the start of the season with a foot infection but has come on strong lately. Edwards, who turns 25 on Aug. 9, is batting .379 with a .462 on-base percentage in 25 games.

“He’s hitting the ball the other way, he’s walking, hitting it with power,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “His at-bats are super calm at the plate. There’s not much swing-and-miss. He’s never off balance. He puts it in play. You like him in leverage spots. He’s been outstanding. I’ve said it before: I knew he was going to be pretty good at the plate. I didn’t know he was going to be this good at the plate.”

Even so, Edwards seemed an unlikely candidate to hit for the cycle because he hadn’t hit a homer before Sunday. Only 10 of his 56 career hits have gone for extra bases.

He managed to leave Milwaukee with a couple of souvenir baseballs — one for his first career homer and one for completing the cycle. Edwards had a good idea where he planned to send them.

“Once we’re back home, I’ll probably give them to my mom,” Edwards said. “She’ll take good care of them and put them somewhere safe.”

___

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The $6.5 billion project, supporters say, would transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) tract in the city’s downtown, with plans in the coming years for a Black history museum, affordable housing, a hotel, green space, entertainment venues and office and retail space. There’s the promise of thousands of jobs as well.

The site, where the Rays’ domed Tropicana Field and its expansive parking lots now sit, was once a thriving Black community driven out by construction of the ballpark and an interstate highway. A priority for St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is to right some of those past wrongs in what is known as the Historic Gas Plant District.

“The city’s never done anything of this scope,” said Welch, the city’s first Black mayor with family ties to the old neighborhood. “It’s a momentous day for our city and county.”

The linchpin of the project is the planned $1.3 billion ballpark with 30,000 seats, scheduled to open for the 2028 season. That would cap years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future, including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or to Nashville, Tennessee, or even to split home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal, an idea MLB rejected.

Stu Sternberg, the Rays’ principal owner, said approval of the project — which also requires a vote by the Pinellas County Commission — will settle the question of the team’s future location.

“We want to be here. We want to be here to stay,” Sternberg said Wednesday.

The Rays typically draw among the lowest attendance in MLB, even though the team has made the playoffs five years in a row. This year, at this week’s All-Star break, the Rays have a 48-48 record, placing them fourth in the American League East division.

The financing plan calls for the city to spend about $417.5 million, including $287.5 million for the ballpark itself and $130 million in infrastructure for the larger redevelopment project that would include such things as sewage, traffic signals and roads. The city envisions no new or increased taxes.

Pinellas County, meanwhile, would spend about $312.5 million for its share of the ballpark costs. Officials say the county money will come from a bed tax largely funded by visitors that can be spent only on tourist-related and economic development expenses. The county commission is tentatively set to vote on the plan July 30.

The rest of the project would mainly be funded by the Rays and the Houston-based Hines development company.

The ballpark plan is part of a wave of construction or renovation projects at sports venues across the country, including the Milwaukee Brewers, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and the Oakland Athletics, who are planning to relocate to Las Vegas. Like the Rays proposal, all of the projects come with millions of dollars in public funding that usually draws opposition.

Although the city’s business and political leadership is mostly behind the deal, there are detractors. Council member Richie Floyd said there are many more ways the ballpark money could be spent to meet numerous community needs.

“It still represents one of the largest stadium subsidies in MLB history. That’s the core of my concern,” Floyd said.

A citizen group called “No Home Run” and other organizations oppose the deal, with the conservative/libertarian Americans for Prosperity contending the track record for other publicly financed sports stadiums is not encouraging.

“The economic benefits promised by proponents of publicly funded sports stadiums fail to materialize time and time again,” said Skylar Zander, the group’s state director. “Studies have consistently shown that the return on investment for such projects is questionable at best, with most of the economic gains flowing to private interests rather than the general public.”

Still, the project seems to have momentum on its side. For former residents and descendants of the Gas Plant District neighborhood, it can’t come soon enough.

“All over this country our history is erased. That will not happen here,” said Gwendolyn Reese, president of the African American Heritage Association of St. Petersburg. “Our voices will be heard. And not just heard, but valued.”

The post City council vote could enable a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark — and the old site’s transformation appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. wore a Blue Jays jersey with Hernández’s name and No. 37 on the back as he watched the competition, honoring his friend from their time as Toronto teammates from 2017-22.

“That was a surprise of the night,” Herrnández said. “He brings my jersey from Toronto, and when he goes to home plate. He was trying to calm (me) down, and so he had passed two times, and it works. He said he wanted to help me going into the last round.”

Hernández won the Home Run Derby when he beat local star Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals 14-13 in the final round Monday night.

The 31-year-old Hernández hit 49 homers over three rounds that totaled 3.98 miles and became the first Dodgers player to win the derby among 11 who have tried. While not participating in the derby this year, Guerrero gave Hernández advice during breaks.

“If I have to bet, it doesn’t matter who I’m going against, I’m going to bet on myself,” Hernández said when asked if he felt like the underdog. “People maybe underestimate myself.”

Witt, needing one home run to tie with one out remaining, drove a ball to one of the deepest parts of Globe Life Field in left-center, where it hit halfway up the wall to the left of the 410-foot sign.

“When I hit it I knew I kind of — I didn’t hit it great. But, yeah, I just was trying to blow on it or something,” Witt said with a chuckle. “The first thing I thought was just no pop. … We got to do a couple more curls or something.”

Kansas City has never had a derby winner.

Both finished their two-minute final round with 11 homers, before bonus swings were added. Witt came up short of his first two bonus swings, then hit two homers in a row — one a 457-foot drive that got him one more swing.

Witt was the No. 2 overall pick by the Royals in 2019 out of Colleyville Heritage High School, about 15 miles north of the Rangers’ stadium. It was his first time in the derby, but he was the high school home run champion in Washington in 2018 — and is the only player to compete in both contests.

The 24-year-old Witt finished with 50 homers overall that traveled 3.8 miles.

Witt had knocked out Cleveland switch-hitter José Ramírez 17-12 in the semifinals. Hernández beat Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm 16-15 after a tiebreaker when both got three swings — Hernández hit two out, and Bohm one. They were tied at 14 after the three-minute segment and their bonus rounds, and Bohm came close to avoiding that, but the last ball he hit then landed on the warning track in left-center field.

Ramírez and Bohm both hit 21 homers to pace the first round. Witt started with 20 homers and Hernández had 19.

The New York Mets’ Pete Alonso fell short in his bid to join Ken Griffey Jr. as a three-time derby champion when he hit only 12 homers in the first round.

Instead of a single-elimination bracket like last year, the four hitters with the most homers in the first round advanced to the semifinal round. It then became a bracket-style competition.

Alonso hit a 428-foot homer to left-centerfield on his first swing, but couldn’t get into a rhythm. The others knocked out after the first round were hometown favorite Adolis García of Texas, Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson.

“It’s disappointing, but for me, I think it’s really just a blessing and it’s just fun being out there,” Alonso said. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t my day.”

Ozuna did have the longest homer of the night at 473 feet. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels in 2022, and Oakland’s Seth Brown in 2021 have both hit 472 feet homers in games at the stadium that is now in its fifth season.

Bohm, one of a franchise-record eight Phillies named All-Stars, has only 11 homers this season — the fewest among the eight derby competitors. He said he was going to try to hit as many balls as he could to left field and did — pulling all 21 of his homers that way in the first round.

It still felt like 100 degrees (38 Celsius) outside the ballpark when the derby began, but the retractable roof was closed on the stadium that opened in 2020. When the Rangers hosted the 1995 All-Star Game across the street in their old stadium without a roof, the derby wasn’t yet a prime-time event and was held in the sweltering mid-afternoon heat.

Frank Thomas won in 1995 with 15 homers over three rounds in a different format. Albert Belle finished with a total of 16, then a Home Run Derby record, but Thomas beat him 3-2 in the final round.

The post Dodgers’ Hernández beats Royals’ Witt for HR Derby title, Alonso’s bid for 3rd win ends in 1st round appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

The sixth-inning shot — part of a five-run rally that helped Toronto beat Tampa Bay 8-2 on Thursday — traveled an estimated 450 feet.

Guerrero, though, wasn’t so sure.

“I thought it was more than 450,” the Blue Jays star said through an interpreter. “But hey, after 400 it’s all good.”

George Springer and Cavan Biggio also homered to pace the season-opening victory. Alejandro Kirk and Bo Bichette drove in two runs apiece for Toronto, which erupted after being limited to one hit — Springer’s solo homer in the fourth — off Rays starter Zach Eflin (0-1) through the fifth.

José Berríos, making his second opening-day start for the Blue Jays and fourth overall, gave up a leadoff homer to Yandy Díaz on his fifth pitch of the day and also yielded an RBI double to the defending AL batting champion in the sixth.

“Obviously, we don’t want to start the game the way it started, but I had a mindset this is an opportunity to bounce back, you know, stay in the game. Do your thing, show people that you can control the damage and I did,” Berrios said. “Our guys scored a bunch of runs in the fifth. … and we win the ballgame.”

The Toronto right-hander allowed two runs and six hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out six in the matchup of AL East rivals who both made the playoffs last season.

Eflin, who won 16 games in 2023 after signing a $40 million, three-year contract in free agency, allowed six runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings in his first career opening-day start. The first three hits off him were homers, including Guerrero’s for a 3-1 lead.

“He got that one pretty good,” Rays manager Kevin Cash acknowledged.

Biggio also homered in the sixth, and the Blue Jays broke it open later that inning after Eflin yielded an infield single to Bichette, hit Justin Turner with a pitch and walked Daulton Varsho to load the bases. Kirk followed with a two-run single before Kevin Kiermaier added an RBI single to make it 6-1.

Despite the rocky sixth, Cash felt good about Eflin’s outing. After only needing 55 pitches to get through five innings, the right-hander threw 26 in the sixth.

“I don’t know if there was that big a difference. It’s a good hitting team over there,” Cash said. “It looks like they got a couple of breaking balls that they could handle. Then, they started piecing together some good at-bats.”

The opener before a sellout crowd of 25,025 at Tropicana Field was the start of a three-city road trip for the Blue Jays, who are playing their first 10 games on the road while renovations are completed at Rogers Centre.

TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: Manager John Schneider said ace Kevin Gausman (shoulder fatigue) could make his season debut Sunday or Monday. The right-hander went 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts last season.

Rays: Opened season with nine players on the injured list, including starting RHPs Taj Bradley (right pectoral strain) and Shane Baz (left oblique strain), who are on the 15-day list. Three other starters — lefty Shane McClanahan (Tommy John), right-hander Drew Rasmussen (right elbow) and lefty Jeffrey Springs (Tommy John) — are on the 60-day list and expected to miss either all or a significant portion of the season.

UP NEXT
Second day of a four-game series between the AL East rivals, with right-hander Aaron Civale (7-5, 3.46 last season) starting for Tampa Bay and Toronto countering with right-hander Chris Bassitt (16-8, 3.60).

The post Springer, Biggio, Guerrero homer on opening day, leading Blue Jays over Rays 8-2 appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

Triolo’s line drive single against Marlins reliever Declan Cronin (0-1) scored automatic runner Ke’Bryan Hayes. Pirates reliever Jose Hernandez then earned the first save of his career, retiring 2023 NL batting champion Luis Arraez, Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz in his only inning of relief.

After Pirates starter Mitch Keller gave up seven hits, five runs (four earned), walked two and struck out three over 5 2/3 innings, Pittsburgh’s bullpen held the Marlins to just one hit.

Luis Ortiz (1-0) pitched critical shutout innings in the 10th and 11th, getting the Marlins to ground into double plays twice, to set up Hernandez.

“I think when I left the game it was 5-2, I said, ‘If we could just get back into it,’” Keller said. “I knew that our bullpen was gonna lock it down, and they sure as hell did.”

Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo allowed two hits and two runs, walked two and struck out eight — one shy of matching the club record of nine opening-day strikeouts set by Josh Beckett in 2004 and Jose Fernandez in 2014.

Left fielder Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer off Luzardo that briefly tied it in the third, but Pittsburgh’s hitters largely struggled against the left-hander, tallying 18 whiffs as Miami went up 5-2.

“We got his pitch count up,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “We made him throw a lot of pitches. I was happy with the fact that we kept grinding through at-bats. I don’t think when you see a 12-inning game that you see at-bats given away, especially on opening day. And we did not give away an at-bat tonight.”

The Marlins are already facing injuries to several pitchers in their starting rotation, and manager Skip Schumaker opted to take out Luzardo after five innings and 85 pitches despite his dominant start.

“If you ask me, of course I want to go more,” Luzardo said, “but it’s early in the season, understandable. (Schumaker) told me that’s what it was. I definitely felt good to continue.”

Pinch-hitter Eddie Olivares and short stop Oneil Cruz hit solo homers off Miami relievers Andrew Nardi and Sixto Sánchez, and Michael A. Taylor scored against reliever Anthony Bender, tying it 5-5 in the eighth.

Bell singled twice, and Jake Burger had three hits for the Marlins, who have now lost six straight opening-day games played at home dating back to 2014.

Former AL batting champion Tim Anderson, who signed a one-year deal with Miami in the offseason, had an RBI double in his first at-bat as a Marlin. Arraez was 0 for 6.

Brazilian soccer star Neymar threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (right elbow inflammation) and Colin Holderman (illness) were placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to Monday. C Yasmani Grandal (left foot plantar fasciitis) went on 10-day IL, retroactive to Monday.

Marlins: 3B Jonah Bride was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville, filling roster spot opened up in the trade that sent Jon Berti to the Yankees. … LHP Braxton Garrett (left shoulder impingement) went on 15-day IL, along with RHP JT Chargois (neck spasms), Eury Pérez (right elbow inflammation) and Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement), all retroactive to Monday.

UP NEXT
LHP Martín Pérez will start for the Pirates on Friday against LHP A.J. Puk, who will make his first career MLB start.

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MLB announced its investigation Friday after the Dodgers fired Ohtani’s interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well over $1 million. Ohtani said Monday he never bet on sports or knowingly paid any gambling debts accumulated by Mizuhara.

“Given the way the story unfolded, it’s important in terms of assuring our fans about the integrity of the game that we verify the things that Mr. Ohtani has said, and it’s really that simple,” Manfred said Thursday on the MLB Network.

The IRS has confirmed that Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles field office.

“It’s really difficult for the federal authorities to cooperate with us fully when they have their own ongoing investigation, so I think this is one where we’ll have to proceed on our own,” Manfred said.

MLB has limited ability to compel cooperation.

“We never have the kind of authority that law enforcement people have, but we manage to get these investigations done and find the facts and I’m sure we will on this one,” Manfred said.

Asked about the length of the investigation, Manfred said: “I hope short, but I just don’t know.”

Manfred defended the commercial relationships MLB and its teams have with legal gambling companies.

“Sports betting is going to go on in the United States whether we have a relationship with any particular company, any gambling enterprise, or not,” he said. “I don’t think it’s unusual to have a set of rules that apply to fans and executives and private citizens out there on the one hand, and players and people who have the ability to affect the outcome of the play on the field.”

“There are all sorts of situations in which you have a privilege, in this case the privilege to play in Major League Baseball, and that comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior, in this case gambling. that are legal for other people,” he added.

Manfred also discussed the uncertainty in revenue from regional sports networks. Following the bankruptcy filing last year of Diamond Sports’ Bally networks, MLB took over local broadcasts of San Diego and Arizona last season and is producing and distributing their telecasts this year along with those of Colorado.

“Local media is about 25% of our revenue,” Manfred said. “There’s absolutely no question that that particular revenue stream is challenged right now, but we see it as a trough. There’s going to be a little downtick here, but we believe over the long haul … clubs will be back to and beyond where they have been historically.”

“Everybody is to some extent affected by the changes that are going in the cable bundle,” he added. “The clubs that have actually seen revenue declines would be Seattle, Colorado, San Diego, Arizona, and then small declines in Texas, Minnesota and Cleveland.”

Manfred said local media contributed to a slower free agent market that led to some top players getting shorter-term contracts.

“We have a market-based system,” he said, “and when you have issues like the RSN issue … that affect a significant number of teams and all the teams see problems on that horizon, it’s going to affect the market for players. It has to.

“I think the players understand that they bargained for a market system and that markets are going to vary year to year. I think the bigger issue in terms of talking with players is making sure they understand what’s going on with respect to local media so they can appreciate the impact that it has on the market.”

Manfred also said MLB is planning for Willie Mays, who turns 93 in May, to attend the June 20 game between San Francisco and St. Louis being played in his honor at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The 10,800-seat stadium, opened in 1910, is the oldest professional ballpark in the U.S. and was home to the Birmingham Black Barons from 1924-60. Mays, an Alabama native, began his professional career with the team in 1948.

—

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Interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, 39, was let go from the team Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker. The team is in Seoul, South Korea, this week as Ohtani makes his Dodgers debut, and Mizuhara was in Los Angeles’ dugout during their season-opening win.

Mizuhara was seen regularly chatting with Ohtani, who was the Dodgers’ designated hitter, seemingly discussing his at-bats over a tablet computer.

“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,” law firm Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement Wednesday.

Sports gambling is illegal in California, even as 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of it.

Mizuhara is a familiar face to baseball fans as Ohtani’s constant companion, interpreting for him with the media and at other appearances since Ohtani came to the U.S. in 2017. He even served as Ohtani’s catcher during the Home Run Derby at the 2021 All-Star Game. When Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels to sign a $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December, the club also hired Mizuhara.

The Dodgers said in a statement they were “aware of media reports and are gathering information.

“The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated,” the statement said. “The team has no further comment at this time.”

On Tuesday, Mizuhara told ESPN that his bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball and also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

“I never bet on baseball,” Mizuhara told ESPN. “That’s 100%. I knew that rule … We have a meeting about that in spring training.”

The Associated Press could not immediately reach Mizuhara for comment Wednesday.

Mizuhara was born in Japan and moved to the Los Angeles area in 1991 so his father could work as a chef. He attended Diamond Bar High School in eastern Los Angeles County and graduated from the University of California, Riverside, in 2007.

After college, Mizuhara was hired by the Boston Red Sox as an interpreter for Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima. In 2013, he returned to Japan to translate for English-speaking players on the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. That’s where he first met Ohtani, who joined the team that same year.

After Ohtani signed with the Angels in 2017, the team hired Mizuhara to work as his personal interpreter. ESPN said Mizuhara told the outlet this week he has been paid between $300,000 and $500,000 annually.

ESPN said it spoke to Mizuhara on Tuesday night, at which point the interpreter said Ohtani had paid his gambling debts at Mizuhara’s request. After the statement from Ohtani’s attorneys saying the player was a victim of theft, ESPN says Mizuhara changed his story Wednesday and claimed Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

Mizuhara said he incurred more than $1 million in debt by the end of 2022 and his losses increased from there.

“I’m terrible (at gambling). Never going to do it again. Never won any money,” Mizuhara said. “I mean, I dug myself a hole and it kept on getting bigger, and it meant I had to bet bigger to get out of it and just kept on losing. It’s like a snowball effect.”

It would be the biggest gambling scandal for baseball since Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation for MLB by lawyer John Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team.

The MLB gambling policy, posted in every locker room, prohibits players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball and also bans betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers. Betting on baseball is punishable with a one-year ban from the sport. The penalty for betting on other sports illegally is at the commissioner’s discretion.

Ohtani’s stardom has spread worldwide, even as the two-way player has remained largely media-shy. The news of his recent marriage to Mamiko Tanaka shocked fans from Japan to the U.S. While he underwent surgery on his right elbow last September and will not pitch this season, he will be used as a designated hitter and there is a possibility he could play in the field. He went 2 for 5 with an RBI in his first game, the season opener against the San Diego Padres in Seoul.

The post Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter fired by Dodgers after allegations of ‘massive theft’ from Japanese star appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

Pawol’s spring training debut marked the first time since 2007 that a woman umpired a major league spring training game, last done by Ria Cortesio. With a ponytail coming out of her ballcap, Pawol was stationed at third base.

After the traditional pregame meeting with the umpires and managers at home plate, the group posed for pictures. Nationals manager Dave Martinez shook Pawol’s hand and chatted with her briefly.

Eight years ago, Pawol, a former New Jersey high school softball star who played at Hofstra, became just the seventh women to umpire a minor league baseball game.

“I greatly appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm, everyone’s welcoming attitude on the field,’’ Pawol said after the 7-4 Astros victory before 3,655 fans. “Tonight was very, very special. Both managers shared congratulations, (everyone was) welcoming, enthusiastic. The players on the field, so many said congrats and great to see you up here. A gentleman, Javier (Bracamonte, Astros bullpen coach), he ran out early in the game and said he has a daughter playing all kinds of sports. It’s good to see you out here.’’

Across the next few weeks, Pawol, 47, will be based in Palm Beach County to work other spring training games. No woman has ever been assigned to umpire a regular season game in the majors.

On Sunday, Pawol will work behind the plate in Jupiter for the Nationals-Marlins game. She has no timetable on when she might work a regular season contest.

With a rotation set for every three innings, Pawol switched to second base in the fourth. She then went to first base in the seventh inning, where she saw her most action. She called out two straight Astros batters off groundouts in the top of the seventh. In her closest call in the bottom of the seventh, Pawol motioned safe after Nationals’ Travis Blankenhorn appeared to beat out a grounder to first that was bobbled.

Pawol’s most noteworthy maneuver occurred at the start of the bottom of the fourth when she stopped play after noticing the Astros didn’t have a centerfielder. Astros’ Justin Dirden bounded out of the dugout and raced to centerfield.

“Tomorrow I got to get out there and do it all over again,’’ Pawol said. “That’s my next job. Anybody in baseball will tell you to keep it simple and work hard, put your all into it and get ready for the next day.’’

MLB’s move comes 27 years after the gender barrier for game officials was broken in the NBA, nine years after it ended the NFL and two years after the men’s soccer World Cup employed a female referee.

“This is a viable career becoming a professional umpire – men and women, girls and boys,’’ she said. “I didn’t know that the first several years when I got into umpiring in amateur ball for 10 years.’’

Pam Postema, who worked in the 1970s and 1980s, became the first woman to umpire a spring training game.

“It’s in my DNA,’’ Pawol said. “Once I started umpiring, I said this is for me.’’

Crew chief Lance Barksdale called it “a neat experience.’’

“It was a big deal for Jen,’’ Barksdale said. “She’s earned this opportunity to get here. I told her in the sixth inning we didn’t have many plays at first but the only thing supervisors can watch is the way you present yourself and get in position to make calls. She did a very good job. And later on she had close plays at first and nailed those plays. I don’t want her to put extra pressure on herself.’’

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The deal for the shortstop is pending a physical, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet announced. The agreement is worth $5 million, according to ESPN.

Anderson is Miami’s first big free agent addition of the offseason. The two-time All-Star became a free agent in November after the Chicago White Sox declined a $14 million option, completing a $25 million, six-year contract.

The 30-year-old Anderson had spent all eight of his major league seasons with the White Sox. After leading the major leagues with a .335 average in 2019, Anderson hit .245 last year, the second-lowest of his big league career ahead of only .240 average in 2018.

Anderson had just one home run and 25 RBIs over 123 games for Chicago. His RBIs matched his total in 2022, when he played in just 79 games because of injuries. He dealt with sprained left knee and right shoulder soreness this past season.

And Anderson brings a fiery temper to his new team.

In August, he and Cleveland’s José Ramírez threw punches that led to a benches-clearing brawl and suspensions. Anderson, who took a hit to the jaw in the fracas, had his penalty reduced from six to five games under a settlement with Major League Baseball.

He had kept his tag on Ramírez’s back as he stood over and straddled him. Ramírez seemed irritated and, after getting up, he pointed his finger in Anderson’s face and yelled. They then fought.

Anderson took off his glove and threw the first punch and then another that missed before Ramírez countered to the Chicago star’s jaw, dazing him and knocking him on his rear end on the infield dirt.

In April 2019, he was suspended one game for a confrontation with Royals pitcher Brad Keller. Anderson flipped his bat after hitting a home run off Keller, then was hit on the buttocks by a Keller pitch in his next plate appearance. Keller was suspended for five games.

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