Hideo Nomo
| Hideo Nomo | |
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| Pitcher | |
| Born: August 31, 1968 Ōsaka , Japan 
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| Strikes: Right | Throws: Right |
| Debut in Major League Baseball | |
| May 2, 1995 with the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Last MLB assignment | |
| April 18, 2008 with the Kansas City Royals | |
| Win-Loss record | 123-109 |
| Earned run average | 4.24 |
| Strikeouts | 1.918 |
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Hideo Nomo ( Japanese 野茂 英雄 , Nomo Hideo ; born August 31, 1968 in Osaka , Japan ) is a former Japanese baseball player of the Kintetsu Buffaloes of the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball League and the US Major League Baseball Club Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , Milwaukee Brewers , Detroit Tigers , Boston Red Sox , Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Kansas City Royals . Nomo played the position of pitcher , was the second Japanese in MLB after Masanori Murakami , the first Japanese thrower with a no-hitter and the first Japanese MLB all-star.
Career
From his youth, Nomo was a talented pitcher who won the silver medal with Japan at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. In 1989 he was committed by the Kintetsu Buffaloes of the Japanese professional league NPB. At the Buffaloes he won 78 games in five years, lost only 43 and threw 1,204 strikeouts with an earned run average of 3.15. Nomo asked in vain for more money and since Japanese clubs sign their rookies for ten years, the Buffaloes insisted on keeping the contract. Nomo declared his career ended without further ado (which made the ten-year contract obsolete) and moved to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995 for a minimal salary.
Despite reservations, he became one of the best MLB pitchers straight away, winning 13 games and losing only 6, recording an ERA of 2.54 and benching 236 batsmen in just 191.3 innings with strikeouts. He was named Rookie of the Year in the National League and played in the All-Star Game. Increasingly, banners in Japanese appeared at Dodgers games, and sushi was sold to fans alongside the usual pretzels . The Japanese press, which had previously been hostile to him because of his maneuver, celebrated Nomo as a “modern samurai ” who beat the Americans with “Japanese virtues” in their own game. Japanese television broadcast Nomos games live, and although they came at nighttime due to the time difference, they were eagerly followed.
With the Dodgers, Nomo won 43 games and lost 29 in their first three years, but dropped out from the age of 30. The batsmen had adjusted to his unorthodox throwing technique (see below), but he remained a decent reservist with the Mets, Brewers, Tigers and Red Sox: he won 37 games and lost 35. When he returned to the Dodgers in 2002, he still won 36 games in three years and lost 30. He then ended his career with the Blue Jays and the Royals.
Nomo is considered to be the pioneer of Japanese stars such as Ichirō Suzuki , Hideki Irabu or Daisuke Matsuzaka , who also moved from the Japanese NPB to the US MLB.
Throwing technique
Nomo had an unusual throwing technique that earned him the nickname "Tornado". In preparation for the throw ( windup ) he stood with his back to the batsman, took his knee almost to his chin ( flamingo kick ) and only threw the ball after he had turned 180 degrees. This unorthodox technique was barely read by batsmen and contributed to Nomo's high strikeout factor. In addition, Nomo was able to throw a very good forkball . Nomos' extremely long turning movement made him vulnerable to fast base runners who liked to steal bases against him.
Web links
- Player information and statistics from Baseball Reference or Fangraphs or The Baseball Cube (English)
- Career Statistics (NPB, Japan)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nomo, Hideo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 野茂 英雄 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese baseball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 31, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Osaka , Japan |