My first trip to Atlanta to watch the Dodgers was on June 15, 1996, with Hideo Nomo pitching in his second season. He was a fun pitcher to watch with his windup turning around almost like Luis Tiant. They called him “The Tornado” because of his corkscrew windup and delivery. I also got to see one of the rarest plays in baseball. In the first inning, the Dodgers turned a triple play. The Dodgers won 6-2 that day, and Nomo was dominant. He only allowed 1 run in 6.1 innings and struck out 6. In his career, he led the league in strikeouts twice. He threw a forkball that was just nasty. He would sleep with a tennis ball taped to his fingers, gripping it like he did the forkball, so he could get it down right.
Nomo essentially opened the doors for Japanese players to come to the United States. He was the second Japanese player in the majors. The first came in 1964, and his name was Masanori Murakami. He was also a pitcher and went 5-1 with the Giants over two seasons. When Nomo came, he was a star. He was Rookie of the Year over Chipper Jones, which many said was unfair because Nomo played in the Japanese league. I saw nothing wrong with it since back then they compared the Japanese league to Triple A here…whether that was accurate, I don’t know, but it would work out the same. The Japanese league is now more advanced, so I think they are really close to MLB. Pitching translates over here more than hitting. There are big-time exceptions like Ichiro Suzuki (for me, one of the best pure hitters period), Ohtani, Hideki Matsui, and a few more I’m missing.
I remember Nomo was treated by some, like Fernando, like a rock star. A huge Japanese media followed the Dodgers around because of him. It brought attention to Japanese players, and Ichiro soon followed. He never got to the level of Fernando, but was up there.
Nomo pitched two no-hitters in his 12-year career. He pitched them at the two places, one was the hardest to pitch. Coors Field in Colorado, which I still can’t believe! The second one was Camden Yards in Baltimore. He was a quiet guy and just got on with his business. He had almost 2000 strikeouts in those 12 years after being injured in a few of those.
The reason I’m doing this post? Now, the Japanese invasion has really taken root, I mean that in the best way, in part of what Hideo Nomo did in the mid-nineties. He was a pioneer and a tough pitcher. He could pump it up there at 95-97 mph.
P.S. Sidenote… in 1980, my stepfather Bob offered to take me to Atlanta to see the Dodgers. These were my hero Dodgers. Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, Steve Yeager, Reggie Smith, and Steve Garvey. What did 13-year-old Max do? I had a baseball game to play, and I was the pitcher, so I skipped going to see the Dodgers to instead join my team to play a game. Arghhhhhhh
Nomo’s no-hitter at Coors Field.