There is perhaps no bigger star playing Major League Baseball today than Shohei Ohtani. Throughout his career in both his native Japan and the United States, Ohtani has proven himself to be the sort of generational talent who becomes synonymous with baseball as a contemporary sport and an institution. 

Last week, Ohtani was named in connection to a sprawling federal investigation into alleged gambling bookkeeper Mathew Bowyer and Ohtani's since-fired interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, the Los Angeles Times reported. Ohtani's representatives claimed he had been the "victim of a massive theft" of millions of dollars. Mizuhara claimed to ESPN that Ohtani had agreed to help him pay off a large gambling debt, then later recanted. While multiple money transfers from Ohtani's bank account were wired to an associate of Bowyer, Mizuhara said, the baseball star himself had "zero involvement in betting" or any debts.

Career at stake
While the details of the case are murky, what's at stake for Ohtani "couldn't be clearer," said The Ringer. At risk is not only the "career and reputation of baseball's best, highest-paid and most famous player" but more broadly Major League Baseball's "perceived integrity in an era of ever-tightening ties between sports leagues and sportsbooks." There are many possibilities, said Defector. Ohtani could merely be a "loyal yet incompetent friend" or perhaps a "degenerate gambler" setting Mizuhara up for a fall or even a "semi-amiable lummox caught in a series of bizarre switches beyond his comprehension."

The saga is shaping up to potentially be the "biggest gambling scandal for baseball since Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban" more than three decades ago, The Associated Press said. The MLB is investigating.

'Cautionary tale'
While Ohtani's case centers on gambling done illegally in California, it comes amid "growing scrutiny about the rise of legalized sports gambling" in the U.S., said NBC News. It's a "cautionary tale for the NFL," as well, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said, speculating that some players bankroll legal wagers using friends as strawmen to place the bets.

The powers within MLB are committed to Ohtani as a "moneymaker, cultural icon and active ballplayer," Defector said. "Just how bulletproof is Shohei Ohtani?" That remains unresolved, but "based on early returns, that answer is 'as bulletproof as MLB needs him to be.'"

Where do you go if you are not at school, work or home? For some, the answer is, well, nowhere. With the growing cost of living, the prevalence of social media and the residual social-distancing mentality from the pandemic years, third places, or locations designed for socialization, have largely disappeared. And a loneliness epidemic has appeared in their stead. 

Why are they disappearing?
Society is losing its places to chill — "spaces that are neither home nor work but locations somewhere in-between," said the BBC. Some examples include coffee shops, libraries, bars and parks. 

Much of the shift can be attributed to the rise of social media and, more recently, social-distancing measures. "Our relationships and responsibilities used to be easily compartmentalized: the intimate pieces at home and the professional at work," the BBC said. However, following the pandemic, the "two sides folded into each other." 

Some argue that the internet has become a third place. Nonetheless, a lack of human connection has spawned a loneliness epidemic. "It's a strange paradox; Gen Z are hyperconnected in the virtual world but socially disconnected," said Forbes. 

How have they shifted over time?
The systematic restructuring of cities has greatly affected social spaces. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said to Insider, "Wealthy people live in places where they can have big gated houses and their own swimming pool and their own private park." In contrast, lower-income and "even middle-class families find themselves living in places where there aren't enough trees, there aren't enough public spaces."

With the shift, limited third places have become less conducive to just hanging out. This is the "consequence of a culture obsessed with productivity and status, whose subjects might have decent incomes but little recreational time," said The Atlantic. 

Still, all is not lost. Third places remain, and making the effort to visit them will likely create demand for more. "Socializing is a learned skill," Kathy Giuffre, a professor at Colorado College, said to The Atlantic. "So be kind to yourself, because you might be out of practice."