Nomo, Park Honored Today

From a BZAPR release:

NOMO, PARK TO BE HONORED IN CEREMONIES ON JULY 18

Two former Los Angeles Dodger All-Star pitchers will be honored on Friday, July 18.

Hideo Nomo will be inducted into the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame. Ceremonies will be held on the field to honor the 2014 inductees prior to the Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game at Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa (near Tokyo), Japan. Chan Ho Park will receive recognition during retirement ceremonies prior to the Korean Professional Baseball All-Star Game at Champions Field, Kwangju, South Korea.

Nomo became the youngest player elected to the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame at age 45 and 4 months on January 17, 2014. He is only the third player in history elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Victor Starffin, a Russian who pitched and won 303 games in Japan and Tokyo Giants’ superstar Sadaharu Oh, the all-time leader in home runs with 868, were the others elected to the Hall in their first year of eligibility.

Peter O’Malley, president of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1970-1998, will participate in the induction ceremonies in support of his friend Nomo. O’Malley is chairman of Historic Dodgertown. In 2012, Nomo and Park became founding partners of Historic Dodgertown – Vero Beach, Florida and each has helped encourage teams from Asia to train there.

“Nomo and Park are both true pioneers,” said O’Malley. “They opened the door for more players from Japan and South Korea to participate in Major League Baseball. Today, there have been 40 players from Japan and 14 from South Korea who have played in the major leagues. I am very proud of their leadership and their on-going commitment to youth baseball in Japan and South Korea.” [...]

Park, 41, signed as a free agent pitcher with the Dodgers on January 14, 1994. He enjoyed 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, including nine with the Dodgers (1994-2001, 2008). In 2001, he was a National League All-Star for the Dodgers. Park’s 124 major league wins are the most by a pitcher from Asia. He also pitched in three postseasons, including the 2009 World Series for the Philadelphia Phillies. Park pitched in 1,993 innings and had 1,715 strikeouts.

Park, from Kong Ju City, first pitched at Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida during 1994 Spring Training as a rookie. Park made his first pitching appearance indoors on February 19, after a second consecutive day of rain cancelled his original debut at Holman Stadium.

Since retiring from his playing days in the United States in 2010, Park pitched one season for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan and one year for the professional Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization in South Korea, where he remains one of the nation’s most popular athletes.

Today, Park is developing a baseball training center and entertainment complex in South Korea.

Congratulations to two Dodger pioneers!

Post-Game 51 Thread: Beckett Throws Dodgers' First No-Hitter in 18 Years

DODGERS 6, PHILLIES 0

This was pretty much the only thing that could make a 5-4 road trip against crappy teams seem like a huge shot in the arm for the Dodgers. Congratulations to Josh Beckett, who threw the Dodgers' first no-hitter since Hideo Nomo's miracle in Colorado on September 17, 1996.

Let's look at what had to happen to make today's achievement possible:

1. A.J. Ellis PowerPointed Beckett. If you haven't read it yet, check out Pedro Moura's excellent piece on how Ellis convinced Beckett to utilize his curveball more.

Of course, a curve isn't very useful without a fastball to contrast it against. Consider that Beckett threw two 93-mph fastballs in the ninth inning (he threw 128 pitches overall) and struck out Chase Utley to end the game on a 94-mph fastball. Ellis? One less rib? Whatever it is, it's working.

2. Runs! The good kind! The Dodger bats gifted Beckett with a relative windfall of six runs, including two RBI by Adrian Gonzalez and a solo home run by Justin Turner. Yasiel Puig went 2 for 5 with a run scored.

But most important may have been the three runs (two unearned) scored by the Dodgers in the seventh inning, giving Beckett the wiggle room he needed to finish the game. With a three-run lead, maybe not so much.

Also lost in the chaos: Whither Matt Kemp? Perhaps left field? I don't know when Kemp went from being a Gold Glover to a defensive liability, and you have to wonder if the problem is physical or mental. Or both.

3. Arruebarrenacuda! Do you trust Hanley Ramirez to play no-hitter-caliber defense? Miguel Olivo eats Alex Guerrero's ear, Hanley goes down, and defensive specialist Erisbel Arruebarrena (who also just happened to have an RBI single today) steps up. Not an insignificant series of coincidences.

We said earlier the Dodgers need a cure. Let's hope Josh Beckett's shot in the arm contains some good medicine!

Nomo Returns to Dodgertown

From a Historic Dodgertown press release:

March 9, 2014
Hideo Nomo Returns to Historic Dodgertown for the First Time as Japanese Hall of Famer.

VERO BEACH, Fla. – Now a Founding Partner of Historic Dodgertown, Hideo Nomo has returned to visit the facility fresh off his election into the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame. Nomo partnered with former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley, his sister Terry O’Malley Seidler and former teammate Chan Ho Park in managing Historic Dodgertown in 2012.

On January 17, 2014, Nomo became just the 3rd player to be voted into the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, joining Sadaharu Oh and Victor Starffin. He also is the youngest player (45 and 4 months) in Japan’s history to ever to receive induction. He pitched four seasons in the Nippon Professional League earning 17 or 18 victories each season.

O’Malley, a longtime force in the growth of international baseball, signed free agent Nomo on February 13, 1995, making him the first Japan-born player to permanently relocate to the United States and Major League Baseball. “Nomomania” soon ensued as he led the league in strikeouts, finished second in E.R.A and started the All-Star Game while winning the National League Rookie of the Year. He would go on to be one of only five men to throw a no-hitter in both the National and American Leagues. His no-no’s are also the only to be thrown at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies and Camden Yards, home to the Baltimore Orioles.

When asked about Historic Dodgertown’s influence on his career, Nomo said, "This was the very first place that I was exposed to the Major Leagues upon joining the Dodgers. Baseball was my life, it was everything to me at that time and I was so inspired to perform well because I felt the history and the atmosphere. Historic Dodgertown was very important because much of my career was with the Dodgers, and with people like Peter O’Malley and Tommy Lasorda."

On a day that included high school and college baseball, along with a junior college women’s softball tournament during his walking tour, Nomo hopes these young athletes take in the experience of playing at Historic Dodgertown. “I wish for this to be a place where people can come back to see both what it was and also what it is now. To preserve the history of a place that was home to people Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax is special, and I hope kids can feel the nostalgia while also creating new memories for themselves”, said Nomo.

Nomo finished with 123 victories in the Major Leagues, which was preceded by 78 wins in the Nippon Professional League. A hero in Japan, Hideo Nomo opened the door to more than 40 players from Japan playing in Major League Baseball, which has since included Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui among others.

Great to see Nomo back in the Dodger fold, even if it's across the country. Now, who is Victor Starffin?

Hideo Nomo, HOF Candidate

Realistically, Hideo Nomo probably won't make the Hall of Fame. But, in addition to Jay Jaffe's SI.com piece on Nomo as a pioneer, there was a more tongue-in-cheek series on Deadspin last month that chronicled the impact of a number of MLB players up for HOF candidacy, and the post about our own Nomo was pretty sweet:

Nomomania wrapped you up in something that you didn't quite understand. It had nothing to do with winning or losing; it was excitement built on a foundation of excitement. In retrospect, the most fascinating thing about it was the relative absence of the man himself. You didn't find Hideo Nomo speaking at elementary schools or shilling breakfast cereals like Fernando Valenzuela did in 1981, or sitting courtside at Lakers games like Yasiel Puig in 2013. Other people talked about Nomo; the man himself didn't.

He went into his ritual windup, summoning pitches from a place no one else had access to. He walked back from the mound, keeping his eyes on the grass. He disappeared from the public eye between starts. They called him the Tornado, but he was quiet and still, even at the center of a storm of tchochkes and sellout crowds at Dodger Stadium and kids who were mesmerized by his windup, his forkball, and even his name. We said it a lot. Nomo, Nomo, Nomo.

Loving or not loving Nomo was never a consideration. He wasn't some hero like Mike Piazza or Ramon Martinez; he was a player you were awed by. In Los Angeles, a city that makes men into metaphors just by putting them on television, Nomo transcended his own performance immediately.

In 1995, the year the baseball strike ended, he exploited a loophole to get out of his Japanese contract, and signed in February, coming in essentially as a replacement for Dodgers legend Orel Hershiser. In his first start, he tossed five shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out seven. The Dodgers blew a 3-0 lead, then lost the game in the 15th, but no matter; Nomo was, immediately, the symbol of a Dodger franchise that felt ascendent in both moral and baseball terms, an antidote to strike-related cynicism. As the first player who'd come to the majors from the Japanese league since Masanori Murakami decades earlier, Nomo hearkened back to Valenzuela, to Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson, to the idea that the Dodgers were an innovative and upstanding franchise. [...]

The thing about phenomena like Nomomania or Fernandomania is that they're inherently unsustainable; even had Nomo maintained his early excellence, the hype surrounding him would have calmed. Instead of disappearing altogether, though, he pitched effectively into his mid-30s, bouncing from the Mets to the Tigers to the Red Sox, and back to the Dodgers. His last good season came in L.A. in 2003. He went 16-13 with a 3.09 ERA, even though his strikeout rate had dropped by a third.

The idea that Nomo was some sort of one-trick pitcher was clearly rooted in his foreignness, in his delivery, in the way he made established American ballplayers look like fools chasing pitches in the dirt. He was a big league pitcher who outgrew his own hype, and a harbinger of change. In Nomo's rookie season, he was the only Japanese player in the major leagues. By 2008, the year he attempted his final comeback with the Royals, he was one of 19.

More on Nomo here.

UPDATE: Nomo got 6 votes.

illustration swiped from Deadspin

Game 116 Thread: August 10 vs. Rays, 1p

Zack Greinke (9-3, 3.40) vs. Fausto Carmona Roberto Hernandez (6-11, 4.75)

It's Hideo Nomo Bobblehead Day! The Tornado himself will be on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. That makes three Nomos that will be in the Yard: Real Nomo, BobbleNomo, and yours truly. (Find me on the Field Level and say hi!)

And after last night's astonishing comeback walk-off victory, it's pretty clear the Dodgers don't wanna lose no' mo' either.

First Look(?): Hideo Nomo No-Hitter Bobblehead

From @Dodgers:

First peek at the Hideo Nomo No-Hitter Bobblehead (August 10). Full look is on one of our social media channels

I haven't found the full pic yet. I'll update the post when I do.

The blocked-out face is TOTALLY a tribute to the Sons, right? Right?

No ego here.

UPDATE: Ah, it's on Vine*.

UPDATE 2: A better look. (h/t Ernest Reyes)

*Link isn't to Vine because Vine is weird about linking/embedding. Whatever.

Second image via Dodgers.com

Tornado Bobble!

Well, clearly I was rather excited about THIS announcement yesterday...

Our eighth bobblehead in next season’s series will be former NL Rookie of the Year, Hideo Nomo: twitter.com/Dodgers/status…

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) December 4, 2012

This will be Nomo's second bobblehead. He sported #10 in the one from 2002. Hopefully, this one will bear his original #16.

I was thinking maybe we could start a tradition of having meetups at SoSG-related bobblehead nights. (BobbleStubbs in 2014!)

Sadly, this is, at the time of this writing, the biggest Dodger news to come out of the Winter Meetings.

There's No One Like Nomo

Real Nomo prepares to sue for defamation.
Hello, my name may or may not be Hideo Nomo, and I am honored and grateful to have been elevated (along with my homies-in-crime Baker & Stubbs) from comment section squatter to full-on Son of Steve Garvey. (I just hope Dad knows he has these extra mouths to feed now.)

A bit of my history with the Dodgers:

• I was christened a Dodger fan at birth, as most kids born in L.A. in the ‘70s were.
• I learned how to both love and hate the Dodgers from my great-grandfather, for whom saying “You goddamn Bums!” was as easy as breathing.
• I consider myself a lifelong Dodger fan, though there were long stretches of my life where I didn’t care at all about them. We’ll call those the dark times.
• The most recent dark time ended in 2008 when I went to a game and saw Chad Billingsley strike out 13 Marlins. I was back in with a vengeance.
• Prior to that game, the Dodgers had lost just about every game I attended.
• I attended two baseball camps in my youth, one “run” by Joe Torre and the other by Ron Cey. I couldn’t really play a lick, though.
• I had the 5-4 Dodgers square in my mom’s office pool for Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Thanks again for the 50 bucks, Gibby.
• I attended a game at Dodger Stadium on the first night of the L.A. Riots. (I probably should have skipped it and snagged a TV.)
• I remember loving Mariano Duncan as a kid, for some reason that escapes me now. I think it was because I chanted his first name along with the tune that builds up to “Charge!”
• I have met only one Dodger in person.
• I sat in the Left Field Pavilion for the infamous “Two Dollar Tuesday” game of 2005. Drunk people are fun!

As I mentioned above, my fandom was reborn back in 2008. At that time, I scoured the internet for every nugget of Dodger info I could get my hands on, trying to make up for lost time.

That brought me here. A baseball blog that made stupid nerdy jokes and pop culture references? It’s like chocolate and something equally delicious that you may not have thought to mix with chocolate! I pulled up a seat at the “bar” and never left. Who’d have thought you could make genuine friends on the internet?


"Your nickname will be Nomo!"
Now, the Sons have deemed me worthy to actually contribute content to this great place they’ve built. What am I going to bring to the site? To be honest, I’m not quite sure yet. Despite some questionable non-Kemp-related offseason moves, I’m probably the most excited about an upcoming season I’ve been in years. There’s going to be some crazy stuff to talk about, people, and I can’t wait.

In the meantime, maybe I’ll start working on bringing Abes vs. Babes back.

Nomo photo: BBC Sport.

O'Malley Returns to Dodgertown

From a press release:

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Minor League Baseball™ announced today the formation of a new entity to operate Vero Beach Sports Village (VBSV), formerly known as Dodgertown. In addition to MiLB, the participants include former Dodger President Peter O'Malley, his sister, Terry Seidler, and former Dodger star pitchers Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo.

MiLB will submit the proposed transfer of its VBSV lease to officials of Indian River County, which owns the facility, for approval.

Each of the five participants would have an equal ownership share in the new entity. O'Malley would be the Chairman and CEO, MiLB President Pat O'Conner President and COO and Craig Callan will continue in his current role in the operation of VBSV. Callan has worked for 33 years at the historic facility.

The VBSV grounds are where the Dodgers held their spring training camp dating back to 1948, before relocating to Arizona in 2009. [...]

"I embrace this wonderful opportunity to use this iconic facility that my family has cherished for decades to promote baseball," said O'Malley. "Vero Beach Sports Village should always be an asset and a jewel to the citizens of Vero Beach and Indian River Countyand I look forward to adding further luster to its rich history.

"We know the Dodgers have a long-term spring training commitment with the community of Glendale, Arizona, and our endeavor in Vero Beach in no way impacts that relationship.

"I am very happy longtime friends Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo have joined me in this opportunity – it's exciting. Dodgertown will always be a treasure for the good people in Vero Beach and throughout baseball and anything I can do to help Dodgertown flourish is high on my list of things to do." [...]

Minor League Baseball began operating VBSV in 2009. Since then, the 67-acre sports complex and conference center facility has hosted several international teams, including the Chinese National and Italian National Baseball teams on two occasions. The Chinese National Boxing Team has also trained at VBSV.

The SK Wyverns, a South Korean Professional Baseball Team, are the latest international team to train at VBSV. They arrived on November 1 and will hold their winter camp at the facility through the end of the month. [...]

Over the last two years, VBSV has also hosted events such as the Minor League Baseball Youth Leadership Academy, a six-day event that combines the history, principles and structure of the game of baseball to provide an opportunity for at-risk youth to develop and master leadership and life skills; spring training for high school and college baseball teams; the University of South Florida’s football training camp; the Washington Freedom professional women’s soccer team’s training camp; and various other baseball, football, soccer and lacrosse camps.

Beginning in January 2012, VBSV will also be home to The Umpire School, a 28-day state of Florida accredited school operated by Minor League Baseball that trains umpires in the latest techniques, theories and interpretations.

If O'Malley doesn't end up taking over the Dodgers, at least he'll still be busy with Dodger-related activities. But it does beg the question: what happens to Camelback Ranch after the Dodgers are sold?

Injury Train Keeps on A-Rollin'

The Dodgers held a memorial service for Willie Davis at Dodger Stadium yesterday.

• Anotherpitcherarminyosling. Wade to miss at least three months (Ken Gurnick, Dodgers.com)
• Tony Jackson's great, great piece on Jaime Jarrin. Face Of The Franchise (ESPNLosAngeles.com)
• Classic Tommy. Tommy Lasorda Speech Highlights (Dear (Tommy) John Letters)
• Nomo, Kuroda. Kuroda, Nomo. Hiroki Kuroda is hoping for a full, healthy season (Dylan Hernandez, LA Times)
• Kudos, Mr. Dilbeck. Alert the media: It's Steve Dilbeck for President (Steve Dilbeck, Dodgers Blog)

photo by Reed Saxon/AP

Murakami Paved Way For Nomo

Reading my copy of today's Daily Yomiuri, I found an interesting feature piece on Masanori Murakami, whose experience with the San Francisco Giants decades before the Dodgers' Hideo Nomo helped pave the way for future Japanese talent to cross the Atlantic:

If Masanori Murakami's father had had his way, Hideo Nomo would have been Japan's first major leaguer. Murakami made his debut on Sept. 1, 1964 for the San Francisco Giants in New York--30 years seven months and one day before Nomo first pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yet, if Nippon Professional Baseball had learned its lessons from Murakami's accidental major league career, it might be managing the current exodus of its best players in a more orderly fashion.

"The Japanese style, I'm afraid to say, is to see what happens and think about it then," Murakami said last week.

[...]

The whole event should have taught NPB two lessons: 1) that Japanese players could compete in the majors, and 2) teams need to understand their contracts.

NPB learned neither and paid for it.

A loophole allowed Nomo to flee to the bigs in 1995, and his success created a new market for Japanese talent. Free agency, instituted here in the winter of 1993, allowed players to enter that market.

"Players have to make the most money they can and find the best place to play, and for many players, that's in the majors," Murakami said.

Hideo Nomo Retires

The Dodgers of the 1990's are slowly fading away. First Mike Piazza; now Hideo Nomo has announced his retirement. From AFP via Diamond:

TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo, who won National League Rookie of the Year honours in 1995, on Thursday announced his retirement from baseball.

The 39-year-old Nomo, who pitched two no-hitters in the US Major Leagues, announced his decision on his website, saying only: "Retiring. July 17, 2008. I announced my retirement from my playing career."

He told Japanese media that while he wanted to keep playing, he could no longer pitch competitively.

"I want to continue, but I don't think I can deliver a professional-level performance anymore. I believe many clubs think the same way," Nomo told Kyodo News.

"I knew I had to make some kind of decision. I knew I had to let my fans know," he said.

Nomo never was one for many words, but his impact on the Dodgers—and baseball—is worthy of celebration.

"Sully Baseball" brought this up months ago: How should the Dodgers commemorate Hideo Nomo?

photo by Rick Silva/AP