Famous People in Japan



Nomo Hideo

Date of Birth 31 August 1968
Place of Birth Osaka

Nomo Hideo is a pitcher for Los Angeles Dodgers. He is the first Japanese player to play in the American Major Leagues since Masanori Murakami who pitched for the Giants between 1964 and 1965.

He wanted to be a professional baseball player ever since he was in elementary school. He learned to play baseball by playing with the other kids.

At first, he played in the Japanese Minor Leagues between 1986 and 1989. In 1988, he participated in the Seoul Olympics as an ace pitcher for the Japanese team, and won a silver medal.

He joined the Kintetsu Buffaloes of the Japanese Pacific League in 1990. His record was 78 wins and 46 defeats, and he took part in the All-Star game all five of his seasons. He was famous for his strange pitching motion which was called 'Tornado'.

In 1995, Nomo burst upon the Major League scene. Though he couldn't win his debut game, he struck out the opponents one after another. He recorded his first Major League victory vs. New York on June 2, and took part in the All-Star game as the starting pitcher of the National League. He thus became very popular among not only Japanese but also Americans.

His current record is 13 wins and 6 defeats, which helped The Dodgers to win the National League Western Championship in 1995.

Update: Nomo was traded to the New York Mets in June of 1998.

References: "Major League Baseball" http://www2.pcy.mci.net/mlb/nomo/index.html (Link dead 12/98)

Reported by: Mika Kamei
Data verified by: Shinko Sawada
Date of Report: November 1995

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