The real-life made-for-TV drama around the gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s former translator Ippei Mizuhara is indeed heading for the small screen.
Lionsgate Television is developing a scripted series about the absurd situation that engulfed baseball’s biggest star and revealed one of his closest friends had allegedly stolen nearly $17 million from Ohtani to cover gambling debts to an alleged California bookmaker, the studio announced.
“Station 11” producer and Tony Award winner Scott Delman and former Sports Illustrated editor Albert Chen have been tapped to produce the series that will examine Ohtani’s rise to becoming one of the biggest baseball stars on the planet and the controversy that developed when allegations against Mizuhara broke at the start of the MLB season.
“This is major league baseball’s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose – and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on. We’ll get to the heart of the story – a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame,” Chen said in a statement.
News of the planned show came just a day after Mizuhara pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.
He faces up to 33 years in prison along with a slew of others including paying full restitution to his victims.
As of now, the series does not have a name nor did Lionsgate say which network or streamer would air it.
“With a strong track record of creating daring, boundary-pushing series, Lionsgate Television is the perfect partner to bring this unbelievable story to the screen,” Delman said in a statement. “In addition, Albert’s extensive sports journalism background will enable us to connect the dots to make sense of the startling turn of events we’ve seen play out on the world stage.”
Despite the off-the-field issues that surrounded Ohtani with the Mizuhara situation, he has come as advertised in his first season with the Dodgers, who he signed a massive 10-year, 700 million deal with as a free agent in December.
Ohtani leads the majors in batting average (.355), slugging percentage (.678) and hits (54) this season.