HIDEO NOMO
Name: Hideo Nomo
Born: 31 August 1968
Hideo Nomo (born August 31, 1968 in Minato-ku, Osaka) is a
right-handed pitcher who has achieved success both in Japan and the United
States. In 2007, he played in the Venezuelan Winter League with the team Leones
del Caracas. He is currently signed to a minor league contract with the Kansas
City Royals.
Nomo was on the silver medal winning Japanese baseball team at the 1988 Olympics,
and the Kintetsu Buffaloes drafted him in 1989. Nomo debuted with them in 1990
and was an immediate success, going 18–8 but more impressively striking out 287
hitters in just 235 innings. The strikeout numbers are attributed to his
unorthodox wind-up, where he turns his back to the hitter, raises his pivot leg,
and freezes for a second before throwing. The windup gave him the nickname "Tornado".
In his first four seasons, Nomo was as consistent, and consistently good, as any
pitcher in Japanese baseball, winning 17 or 18 games each year. His fifth season
in 1994 was marred by a shoulder injury and only netted him eight wins. Nomo was
famous for his forkball which was unpredictable for hitters and catchers alike.
Nomo had become one of the most popular baseball players in Japan but after the
1994 season Nomo got into a contract dispute with team management. The Buffaloes
rebuffed Nomo's demands to have a contract agent and multi-year contract.
Instead of working things out with the Buffaloes, Nomo and his agent, Don Nomura,
"exploited a loophole in the agreement between Japanese baseball and the major
leagues: if a player retired, he was free to play for whomever he wished." This
led to him heading to the U.S., where in February of 1995, the Los Angeles
Dodgers signed him. Nomo's parents begged for him to come home, and Nomo was
soon disowned by his family for "disgracing" them.
Hideo Nomo made his U.S. pro baseball debut with the Bakersfield Blaze on April
27, 1995 against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Placed on a 90-pitch limit, and
throwing mainly fastballs, Nomo pitched 5⅓ innings, taking the 2–1 loss against
the Quakes. Despite this loss, and after a month in the minors, necessitated by
a season shortened by a player's strike, he became the first Japanese-born
Japanese Leaguer since Masanori Murakami in 1965, to appear in a major league
game on May 2. The pressure on him would be tremendous, and Japanese media and
fans appeared in large numbers in games he started. Nomo's games were regularly
broadcast live to Japan, despite the fact most people would be waking up when he
started games. Nomo more than lived up to their expectations.
The tornado delivery that baffled batters in Japan had the same effect on major
league hitters, and he led the league in strikeouts (while finishing second in
walks) and was second with a 2.54 ERA. He also started that year's All-Star Game,
striking out three of the six batters he faced. But he only barely won NL Rookie
of the Year honors that year over future MVP Chipper Jones, as most voters felt
that his Japanese success made him anything but a rookie, although by major
league rules he was one. Nomo only dropped slightly in 1996 as he had another
fine season, which was capped by a no-hitter thrown on September 17 in the
unlikeliest of places, Denver's Coors Field, a park which was notoriously known
as being a hitters' park because of its high elevation, semi-arid climate, and
lack of foul territory. Nomo remains the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter at
Coors Field.
Nomo also found commercial success in America. Nomo had a signature sneaker,
called the Air Max Nomo, produced by Nike in 1996. Also, he appeared on a Segata
Sanshiro commercial for the Sega Saturn in 1997.
As batters caught on to his delivery, his effectiveness waned somewhat in 1997,
although he still went 14–12, and then crashed down on him in 1998 when he
started the year 2–7 and earned a trade to the New York Mets, where he was not
much better and got released. He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1999 and made
three starts for their AAA minor league team before refusing further starts in
the minor leagues, and got a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he went
12–8 with a 4.54 ERA. He reached the 1,000 strikeout mark in 1999, the third
fastest to reach that mark in major league history. The Brewers waived him after
contract issues and the Philadelphia Phillies claimed him, then granted him free
agency only 24 hours later after more contract issues. Finally signed by the
Detroit Tigers in 2000, he went 8–12 with a 4.74 ERA and was released again.
Nomo signed with the Boston Red Sox in 2001 and had a decent season again, but
it started off with a bang, as he threw his second no-hitter in his Sox debut,
on April 4, against the Baltimore Orioles, walking three and striking out 11 in
the first no-hitter in the 10-year history of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and
becoming just the fourth player in baseball history to have thrown a no-hitter
in both leagues (joining Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Nolan Ryan). It also was the
first no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher since Dave Morehead in 1965, and is also
the earliest, calendar-wise, that a Major League Baseball no-hitter has been
pitched. Nomo also led the league in strikeouts for the first time since his
first American campaign. A free agent after the end of the year, Nomo returned
to where it all began with the Dodgers in 2002, and ended up having his best
season since 1996, when he finished with a 16–6, 193 K, and 3.39 ERA, finally
regaining the form he brought from Japan. The following year he had another fine
season, where he went 16–13, 177 K, and a low 3.09 ERA. During September 2003,
he began showing signs of injury and fatigue.
Name: Hideo Nomo
Born: 31 August 1968
Hideo Nomo (born August 31, 1968 in Minato-ku, Osaka) is a
right-handed pitcher who has achieved success both in Japan and the United
States. In 2007, he played in the Venezuelan Winter League with the team Leones
del Caracas. He is currently signed to a minor league contract with the Kansas
City Royals.
Nomo was on the silver medal winning Japanese baseball team at the 1988 Olympics,
and the Kintetsu Buffaloes drafted him in 1989. Nomo debuted with them in 1990
and was an immediate success, going 18–8 but more impressively striking out 287
hitters in just 235 innings. The strikeout numbers are attributed to his
unorthodox wind-up, where he turns his back to the hitter, raises his pivot leg,
and freezes for a second before throwing. The windup gave him the nickname "Tornado".
In his first four seasons, Nomo was as consistent, and consistently good, as any
pitcher in Japanese baseball, winning 17 or 18 games each year. His fifth season
in 1994 was marred by a shoulder injury and only netted him eight wins. Nomo was
famous for his forkball which was unpredictable for hitters and catchers alike.
Nomo had become one of the most popular baseball players in Japan but after the
1994 season Nomo got into a contract dispute with team management. The Buffaloes
rebuffed Nomo's demands to have a contract agent and multi-year contract.
Instead of working things out with the Buffaloes, Nomo and his agent, Don Nomura,
"exploited a loophole in the agreement between Japanese baseball and the major
leagues: if a player retired, he was free to play for whomever he wished." This
led to him heading to the U.S., where in February of 1995, the Los Angeles
Dodgers signed him. Nomo's parents begged for him to come home, and Nomo was
soon disowned by his family for "disgracing" them.
Hideo Nomo made his U.S. pro baseball debut with the Bakersfield Blaze on April
27, 1995 against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Placed on a 90-pitch limit, and
throwing mainly fastballs, Nomo pitched 5⅓ innings, taking the 2–1 loss against
the Quakes. Despite this loss, and after a month in the minors, necessitated by
a season shortened by a player's strike, he became the first Japanese-born
Japanese Leaguer since Masanori Murakami in 1965, to appear in a major league
game on May 2. The pressure on him would be tremendous, and Japanese media and
fans appeared in large numbers in games he started. Nomo's games were regularly
broadcast live to Japan, despite the fact most people would be waking up when he
started games. Nomo more than lived up to their expectations.
The tornado delivery that baffled batters in Japan had the same effect on major
league hitters, and he led the league in strikeouts (while finishing second in
walks) and was second with a 2.54 ERA. He also started that year's All-Star Game,
striking out three of the six batters he faced. But he only barely won NL Rookie
of the Year honors that year over future MVP Chipper Jones, as most voters felt
that his Japanese success made him anything but a rookie, although by major
league rules he was one. Nomo only dropped slightly in 1996 as he had another
fine season, which was capped by a no-hitter thrown on September 17 in the
unlikeliest of places, Denver's Coors Field, a park which was notoriously known
as being a hitters' park because of its high elevation, semi-arid climate, and
lack of foul territory. Nomo remains the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter at
Coors Field.
Nomo also found commercial success in America. Nomo had a signature sneaker,
called the Air Max Nomo, produced by Nike in 1996. Also, he appeared on a Segata
Sanshiro commercial for the Sega Saturn in 1997.
As batters caught on to his delivery, his effectiveness waned somewhat in 1997,
although he still went 14–12, and then crashed down on him in 1998 when he
started the year 2–7 and earned a trade to the New York Mets, where he was not
much better and got released. He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1999 and made
three starts for their AAA minor league team before refusing further starts in
the minor leagues, and got a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he went
12–8 with a 4.54 ERA. He reached the 1,000 strikeout mark in 1999, the third
fastest to reach that mark in major league history. The Brewers waived him after
contract issues and the Philadelphia Phillies claimed him, then granted him free
agency only 24 hours later after more contract issues. Finally signed by the
Detroit Tigers in 2000, he went 8–12 with a 4.74 ERA and was released again.
Nomo signed with the Boston Red Sox in 2001 and had a decent season again, but
it started off with a bang, as he threw his second no-hitter in his Sox debut,
on April 4, against the Baltimore Orioles, walking three and striking out 11 in
the first no-hitter in the 10-year history of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and
becoming just the fourth player in baseball history to have thrown a no-hitter
in both leagues (joining Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Nolan Ryan). It also was the
first no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher since Dave Morehead in 1965, and is also
the earliest, calendar-wise, that a Major League Baseball no-hitter has been
pitched. Nomo also led the league in strikeouts for the first time since his
first American campaign. A free agent after the end of the year, Nomo returned
to where it all began with the Dodgers in 2002, and ended up having his best
season since 1996, when he finished with a 16–6, 193 K, and 3.39 ERA, finally
regaining the form he brought from Japan. The following year he had another fine
season, where he went 16–13, 177 K, and a low 3.09 ERA. During September 2003,
he began showing signs of injury and fatigue.