"Mizuhara was the real decoy" - Fans troll Dodgers as team announces another Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night ft. pet Decoy

As if the massive $700 million contract that was given to Shohei Ohtani by the Los Angeles Dodgers this past offseason was not enough, the team has recently announced yet another Bobblehad night involving the star. His second of the season, the Aug. 28 giveaway is set to feature a figurine of Ohtani and his dog, Dekopin.

Ohtani's Kooikerhondje Dekopin became part of his family this past offseason, only shortly before the 29-year-old reigning MVP announced his marriage to Mamiko Tanaka. It did not take long for Dekopin, whose named means to flick one's forehead in Japanese, to gain a following of his own.

"The Dodgers are giving away a Shohei Ohtani and Decoy bobblehead on August 28th" - MLB

While fans understand how important Ohtani's brand is to the Los Angeles Dodgers, that did not stop certain fans from having some fun in response to the announcement. Several fans made references to Ohtani's disgraced former interpreter, who dragged the star into a gambling scandal earlier this season.

Ippei Mizuhara, a longtime friend who has worked for Ohtani for years was brought up on Federal charges of fraud earlier this month. As per Ohtani's legal team, Mizuhara stole up to $16 million from the superstar to fund an illicit gambling habit.

"Should've been holding bet slips"

"Why did they make Ippei hairy?"

Although Ohtani was cleared of any personal misgivings, many fans seem to be employing some wordplay on the term "Decoy" to suggest that Ohtani may have had more to do with the Ippei Mizuhara controversy than is publicly ackowledged.

"only change needed is ippei’s face bc he the ultimate decoy"

"Is it true he named his dog after what his last interpreter was?"

"Mizuhara was the real decoy"

The prevailing thought among fans also seems to be that the Shohei Ohtani Bobblehead promotions have become slightly over-supplied. On May 16, the Dodgers had a similar giveaway prior to their game against the Cincinnati Reds.

Ippei Mizuhara's controversy continues to haunt Shohei Ohtani

Although the the controversy has now largely shifted to beyond Ohtani's immediate life, the reputation is still damaging. However, without Mizuhara, the star's teammates believe that Ohtani has come out of his shell, as Hannah Keyser recently wrote in her profile of Tyler Glasnow in GQ:

"Multiple people around the Dodgers indicate that Ohtani has become much more accessible in the absence of his longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara"

Although the chirping from fans may be funny, everyone knows that it is harder to get better than Shohei.