Rays get taste of Nomo-time
A sports hero to many in Japan, Hideo Nomo brings the limelight to the opening of training camp.
By MARC TOPKIN
Published February 19, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG - Hideo Nomo hadn't come out of the clubhouse for Friday's first workout of the spring and it already was obvious how big a deal it is to have him in a Devil Rays uniform.
About 30 Japanese journalists, more than their colleagues from U.S. newspapers and TV/radio stations, gathered and spent the morning following Nomo around the Ray Naimoli training complex as he stretched, ran and threw lightly.
"It's because he is the pioneer," said Yasuko Yanagita, staff editor for the Hochi Shimbun, a Tokyo-based all-sports paper. "He is a hero to most Japanese players. If Nomo didn't do anything then nobody else could have come (from Japan)."
While it has been 10 years since Nomo left to become the first native to go from Japan's top pro league to the major leagues, and many others have followed, he is still headline news.
"He is still one of the biggest stars in Japan such as Ichiro and (Hideki Matsui)," said Gaku Tashiro, a writer for the Sankei sports newspaper.
The fans in Japan are proud of what Nomo has done, pitching two no-hitters, winning the 1995 NL rookie of the year award, starting an All-Star Game, compiling a 118-101 record over 10 seasons with six big-league teams and ranking sixth all time with 8.93 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Rays, though, are more interested in what he can do for them now, hoping the 36-year-old right-hander can bounce back from a horrid 2004 season and provide some depth and stability to an otherwise young rotation.
"He has to prove that he's healthy and show that he can get some people out in the spring," manager Lou Piniella said. "He certainly can help this pitching staff."
The Rays probably won't know for at least a few weeks how much he can help, though the publicity of having their first Japanese player is already a bonus.
Nomo didn't throw very hard Friday, but said he wasn't concerned about velocity, and the Rays are willing to let him proceed at his own pace.
"He's more than a year removed from surgery, and it takes a while to get that arm strength built up," Piniella said. "Probably what he lacked last year more than anything else was arm strength. To throw that split finger (pitch) the way he does, you need a good variance of speed between his fastball and split finger. Obviously the stronger your arm is the more velocity you're going to get on the ball."
When Nomo is healthy and pitching well, he can be close to unhittable. He starts with an unorthodox delivery that disrupts hitters' timing with a twist and a pause, then mixes a decent high fastball with a devastating splitter that starts on the same plane but drops suddenly and sharply.
"His first year, he pitched back-to-back games against (Pittsburgh), and he struck out like 32," said Denny Neagle, another veteran pitcher trying to catch on with the Rays. "Our guys had no chance. His splitter is one of the nastiest pitches I've seen in my 15 years."
After a strong start to his major-league career, winning 13, 16 and 14 games his first three seasons with the Dodgers, Nomo bounced around for the next four years, pitching for five organizations with limited success, going 39-42. He went back to the Dodgers and won 16 games in 2002 and again in 2003, but had shoulder surgery after the season and came back in 2004 to go 4-11 with an 8.25 ERA, the highest ever by a pitcher with at least 15 decisions.
Nomo said the problem was that he was never fully healthy last season, and is better now.
"It feels very well," Nomo said in Japanese, preferring to do interviews through an interpreter even though he speaks some English. "I'll keep doing things and hopefully be on the roster when the season starts."
What the Rays are counting on is that Nomo wants to succeed.
"Mr. Nomo is known in this game as one of the finest competitors that any of us will ever meet," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said. "Some might think he's done; he doesn't think he's done. I think he'll give us every bit of ability and effort that he has."
Further motivation could come from being on the verge of a significant milestone, needing four wins to total 200 for his pro career (78 with Kintetsu in the Japanese Pacific League, 118 in the majors)
That would be big news for Japanese baseball fans, enough to put Nomo in the meikyuukai, the association of great players, and spark conversation about his worthiness for the Japanese. Nomo, though, downplayed it as well as the idea of any pressure to get there.
"It doesn't make much difference to me to have a lot of media around," he said. "When the season starts, if I win a lot of games then I'll get the fans' attention."
Nomo, who is signed to a minor-league deal with the chance to make $800,000 plus $700,000 in incentives, said his priority is winning a spot in the rotation.
"He competes very, very well," Piniella said. "He's strong. He's pitched a lot of innings. Japanese athletes, they compete very well. They keep themselves in good shape. He's had a really nice career, and hopefully we can add on to it here this year."