Good morning. It's Thursday, March 28. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
Dodgers come home, but not without drama
The Dodgers' off-season has played out like a Hollywood script. After a disappointing end to the 2023 season, the team signed Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani who had spent his first six seasons playing for the Dodgers' Orange County rival, the Angels.
That was just the first of several moves that placed the Dodgers, and their almost $300-million payroll, as the favorites to win the World Series. Times columnist Bill Plaschke wrote, "It could — and should — be the best season in the franchise's 141-year history. It could — and might — be the greatest sporting disaster in the annals of Western civilization."
The team touted its glitzy lineup throughout spring training leading up to a season opener in Seoul, where the drama unfolded.
A gambling scandal casts a shadow over the home opener
The Times broke the story that the Dodgers fired Ohtani's interpreter and longtime friend, Ippei Mizuhara, over accusations from Ohtani's representatives that Mizuhara had engaged in a "massive theft." Ohtani's lawyers accused Mizuhara of paying off gambling debts to an Orange County bookmaker using millions of Ohtani's dollars he stole.
ESPN reported that the funds involved in the wire transfers were at least $4.5 million.
Shohei Ohtani, left, with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, whom the Dodgers fired amid a gambling scandal in which many questions remain unanswered. (Darryl Webb / Associated Press)
Ohtani has not been accused of a crime, but it's unclear how much Ohtani knew about the situation before it became public.
Mizuhara and an Ohtani spokesperson initially gave statements to ESPN that implied Ohtani knew about Mizuhara's debts.
A day later, Mizuhara, the spokesperson and a law firm representing Ohtani said that those statements were inaccurate, and that Ohtani knew nothing about the debts or transfer of funds. The law firm released a statement accusing Mizuhara of stealing the funds.
On Monday, Ohtani broke his silence on the ordeal and addressed the gambling accusations saying, "Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies," Ohtani said through his new interpreter, Will Ireton. "I never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the bookmaker."
A video screen displays Shohei Ohtani, right, and interpreter Will Ireton during a news conference at Dodger Stadium. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
He accused his former interpreter of "theft and fraud."
Major League Baseball and the Internal Revenue Service are currently conducting separate investigations.
Read more:
Arrivederci, Gondolas?
A proposed gondola from Union Station to Dodger Stadium may be gone before it's even built. My colleague Rachel Uranga reported that the developers for the gondola are facing legal and political backlash as they aim for completion before the 2028 Olympics.
A lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of a group of environmental and community activists against the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority over its approval of a "fatally flawed" environmental review of the project. The group also implied the city of Los Angeles should have conducted the report.
LA Parks Alliance wants the court to disregard the analysis of the initial report and the "appropriate" agency to complete it.
Renderings of the Gondola Skyline to Dodger Stadium. (Courtesy LA Aerial Rapid Transit)
Uranga reports that the lawsuit comes "days after the Los Angeles City Council approved a half-million-dollar traffic study aimed at delaying the project."
The proposed motion by Chinatown's representative, Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, would require "the City Council to consider the results of the study before issuing permits or making decisions on land use," Uranga writes.
Jon Christensen, founding member of LA Parks Alliance, told Uranga, "I don't think the project will survive real scrutiny."
The project has an expected cost of $500 million with many residents in Chinatown split on how it would affect their community.
There's a game!
Baseball is back at Chavez Ravine with the first pitch of the Dodgers' home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals coming at 1:10 p.m. Whether you're watching the game at Dodger Stadium, at a bar or at home, here is everything you need to know about the "World Series or bust" Dodgers:
Roster moves
Columns
How to watch
More than a game
Today's top stories
The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
(John Raoux / Associated Press)
Disney vs. DeSantis
Diddy's sex-trafficking investigation
More big stories
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Today's great reads
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
How Dodgers fans built a gigantic community of L.A. hikers. Every year a group of Dodgers fans rings in the start of baseball season in an especially Angeleno way: Decking themselves in all blue and hiking through Griffith Park's peaks.
Other great reads
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your downtime
(ABSteak by Chef Akira Back)
Going out
Staying in
And finally ... from our archives
Will Smith took a swing at Chris Rock at the Oscars, then wins best actor award. (Los Angeles Times)
Two years ago, the slap heard around the world happened at the Oscars when Will Smith took a swing at Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
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