Hideo Nomo

In 1995, Hideo Nomo became the first Japanese-born baseball player to permanently relocate to the MLB (Major League Baseball).

Biography

Born on August 31, 1968 in Minato-ku, Osaka, Hideo Nomo began his professional baseball career in 1990 for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. Apart of the silver-medal winnig Japanese baseball team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Nomo was was immediately drafted in 1989 and found great success in the Nippon Baseball League. However, a contract disagreement allowed his agent to exploit a loophole regarding foreign players in the MLB and negotiated a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.

MLB Career

Nomo pitched for 13 seasons in the MLB with 8 different teams (LA Dodgers, NY Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, LA Dodgers, TB Devil Rays, and KC Royals). He retired in 2008 with the Kansas City Royals with a career Win-Loss record of 123-109, ERA (earned run average) of 4.24, and 1,918 strikeouts.

Accomplishments

In his rookie season, Nomo was awarded the Rookie of the Year award and led the league in strikeouts. He also started the All-Star game of that year. Nomo also had two career no-hitters. He is only one of five players to throw a no-hitter in both the National and American Leagues in MLB history.

Commercial Success

In 1996, Nomo had a signature sneaker called the Air Max Nomo produced by Nike in 1996.

Pop Culture References

"There's No One Like Nomo" by Jack Sheldon. Written by Marvin Hamlisch and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, produced by Neil Norman and released by GNP Crescendo Records in 1996.

Impact

Although Hideo Nomo was not the first Asian player in the MLB, he is often accredited with spawning a "wave" of Japanese players and eventually, other Asian players from China and South Korea. In the 2009 season, there were 41 Japanese-born players that played in the MLB. This paved the way for players such as Ichiro Suzuku (Single-season hits record holder) and Hideki Matsui (2009 World Series MVP)