Hideo Nomo...he and his wife, Kikuko, have two children, Takahiro and Yoshitaka...graduated from Seijyo Kogyo High School in 1986...was a member of Japan's national baseball team that won a silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea...nicknamed "The Tornado" because of his distinctive pitching delivery...was extremely popular in Japan during his rookie season in 1995 as NHK-TV televised his games on giant big-screen televisions on streets and buildings in high-traffic areas in 13 Japanese cities...a 12-hour TV special on Nomo ran on New Year's Eve in Japan...was greeted by an estimated 1,000 fans at Narita Airport outside of Tokyo when he returned to Japan following his rookie season...on Dec. 1, 1995 he became just the second athlete to receive the honorable Kikuchi Award, given to individuals who are instrumental in introducing the Japanese culture to other countries...appeared on stage with the Eagles at a concert at the Tokyo Dome on Nov. 15, 1995...was selected as the top sports story of 1995 in Japan by Kyodo News Service and The Daily Yomiuri...also selected as the third-biggest news event in 1995...participated in the Farmer John Strikeout program in 2002 in which $100 was donated for each strikeout he recorded, garnering $19,300 for charity...participated in a clinic for more than 200 Little Leaguers at Dodger Stadium in 2003...has appeared in commercials for Jive Coffee, Nike, Toyota and Sumitomo Life Insurance.
2004
Was 4-11 with an 8.25 ERA in 18 starts...spent two stints on the disabled list, first May 20-June 7 with a split nail on his right index finger and then July 1-Aug. 31 with right rotator cuff inflammation... went 2-6 with an 8.26 ERA in nine home starts and 2-5 with an 8.25 ERA in nine road starts...had a career-worst 10-game losing streak from April 27-Sept. 1...start on Sept. 12 vs. St. Louis was his 300th career appearance.
2003
The right-hander led the Dodger staff and tied for fifth in the National League with 16 victories, equaling his career high (1996, 2002)...his 3.09 ERA was sixth-best in the NL...led all of baseball with a 0.83 ERA during day games, the lowest single-season mark in baseball since 1960...was fifth in the NL with a 2.69 ERA on the road...his 218.1 innings pitched led all Dodger pitchers and tied for sixth-most in the National League...his 177 strikeouts were ninth-most in the league...allowed three earned runs or less in 24 of his 33 starts...the Dodgers scored just 13 total runs in his 13 losses... with a complete-game shutout in his first start of 2003, ran his career-high winning streak to eight games (July 26, 2002- March 31, 2003)...pitched a complete-game 8-0 shutout at Arizona on March 31, beating Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks...allowed four hits, walked one and struck out seven...it was the first complete-game shutout by a Dodger pitcher on Opening Day since Fernando Valenzuela accomplished the feat against Houston on April 19, 1981 and only the fourth in L.A. Dodger history (also Sandy Koufax in 1964 and Don Sutton in 1974)...it was also the first complete game on Opening Day by a Dodger starter since Valenzuela did so on April 7, 1986...lost his start on April 5 at San Diego, 3-0, snapping a personal career-best eight-game winning streak...for Nomo, it was his first loss since July 16, 2002 vs. St. Louis, a span of 15 starts without a loss...did not win again until April 20 vs. San Franciso when he defeated the Giants 16-4 for his 100th career victory...pitched a two-hit shutout, winning 6-0 on May 24 at Milwaukee...had a no-hitter for 6.1 innings before surrendering consecutive bloop singles in the seventh...walked four and struck out eight in recording his 16th career complete game and ninth career shutout...he won three straight starts from June 15-25 vs. Cleveland, Anaheim and San Francisco, posting a 0.83 ERA (2 ER/21.1 IP) in those games...won his first three starts after the All-Star break...defeated St. Louis 6-3 on July 17, allowing two hits in 6.0 shutout innings while slugging his third career homer and driving in a career-high three runs...won 1- 0 at Arizona on July 27, pitching 7.2 innings of shutout baseball...was the starter and loser in L.A.'s 2-0 setback on Aug. 1 at Atlanta, snapping a three-game winning streak...allowed a solo homer to Andruw Jones in 2.0 innings of work before the game was halted for one hour and 26 minutes due to rain...Nomo did not come back after the rain delay...combined on a 3-0 shutout at Chicago on Aug. 17, pitching 7.0 shutout innings...did not pitch from Sept. 2-14 when he faced San Diego due to inflammation in his right rotator cuff.
CAREER SUMMARY: Has posted a 114-90 record with a 3.85 ERA in 283 career Major League appearances for Los Angeles, New York (NL), Milwaukee, Detroit and Boston...has a 77-55 mark (.592) with a 3.41 ERA in 173 career starts as a Dodger...in each of his last three seasons has lowered his ERA...his .583 winning percentage ranks 11th in alltime franchise history...has a lifetime record of 40-29 with a 3.16 ERA in 88 starts at Dodger Stadium...ranks fifth in the Major Leagues with 1,802 strikeouts over the last nine seasons (since 1995), trailing only Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens...is one of four pitchers in Major League history to toss a no-hitter in both the National and American League, joining Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Nolan Ryan...is the only pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter at Colorado's Coors Field...also is one of 10 pitchers in Major League history to register 200 or more strikeouts in a season in both leagues...has averaged 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in his Major League career and 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings in his professional career in Japan...his 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings for his career trails only Randy Johnson (11.2) and Pedro Martinez (10.6) among active pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched and 100 career decisions...has struck out more batters than innings pitched in five of his nine Major League seasons...his 0.83 ERA during day games in 2003 was the lowest in baseball since 1960...has held opponents to a .230 batting average from 2002-03, the tenthlowest mark among all Major League pitchers during that span...made Major League debut on May 2, 1995 at San Francisco and picked up first career win on June 2, 1995 vs. the New York Mets.
2002
Had a triumphant return to the Dodgers, posting a team-leading 16 victories (16-6) with a 3.39 ERA...matched his career-best victory total set in 1996 (16-11)...won his last seven decisions and did not lose after July 16 vs. St. Louis, a span of 14 starts...the club won 22 of his last 26 starts, while Nomo went 14-1 with a 3.24 ERA (62 ER/172.0 IP) over that span...won seven straight from July 26-Sept. 21 to tie his then career-best winning streak for the third time, June 2-July 15, 1995 and May 17-July 1, 2002...finished tied for seventh in the NL in wins, tied for the fifth longest winning streak in the NL, tied for fifth in winning percentage (.727), seventh in innings pitched (220.1) and eighth in strikeouts (193)...had 25 quality starts (3 ER or less/6.0 IP or more) in 34 starts, including eight of his last nine...the Dodgers scored a total of seven runs in his six losses, being shut out three times...was 7-3 with a 3.89 ERA in 17 home starts...struck out 10 batters for the first of three times on May 1 vs. Cincinnati and allowed three earned runs in 8.0 innings in a 4-0 loss...won 14 of his final 15 decisions...won his next seven decisions from May 17-July 1, as he posted a 2.76 ERA (18 ER/58.2 IP) in nine starts...his strikeout of Brian Daubach in the third inning was the 1,500th of his career....combined with Paul Quantrill and Eric Gagne to shut out Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 on July 1 in Phoenix...reached the All-Star break with a 9-5 record and a 3.16 ERA in 18 starts...victimized by three unearned runs in the seventh inning on July 16 vs. St. Louis and lost 9-2, his last loss of the season...matched a season high with 10 strikeouts on Aug. 5 at Philadelphia, but had no decision in the Dodgers' 7-5 loss...registered his third 10-strikeout game of the season and his 31st double-digit strikeout game of his career...defeated the Giants 7-3 on Sept. 11 at Pac Bell Park, running his record to 8-0 with a 1.78 ERA lifetime in games at San Francisco...allowed two runs in 6.2 innings, but did not allow a hit to the last 16 batters he faced (3 walks)...beat San Francisco in his next start on Sept. 16 at Dodger Stadium, 7-6, to move the Dodgers into a tie with the Giants in the wild card race...picked up his final victory and career-best tying seventh straight win on Sept. 21 at San Diego, 5-3, to improve to 16-6 on the season...allowed four hits and struck out seven in 8.0 innings...had no decision in his final start of the season, a 6-5 Dodger win vs. San Diego, allowing five runs in 6.0 innings...hit a solo home run in the sixth inning off Jake Peavy to break a 3-3 tie...it was his second career home run (other on April 28, 1998 vs. Milwaukee's Jose Mercedes) and set a franchise record as he became the fifth Dodger pitcher to homer in 2002, joining Andy Ashby, Kevin Brown, Omar Daal and Odalis Perez.
2001
Pitched a 3-0 no-hitter in his first start of the season and in his Boston debut on April 4 at Baltimore, the earliest time in Major League history a no-hitter has been pitched in a season...allowed three walks and struck out 11 in the 110-pitch masterpiece...it was the first no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher since Dave Morehead on Sept. 16, 1965...it was also the first time a pitcher had tossed a no-hitter in his first start for a team since current teammate Wilson Alvarez of the Chicago White Sox at Baltimore on Aug. 11, 1991...named co-winner of the American League Player of the Week award for the week of April 1-8...led the AL with 220 strikeouts...won 2-0 on April 26 vs. Minnesota, allowing one hit in seven innings, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning until surrendering a single to Torii Hunter...went 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA in five April starts...pitched a one-hitter on May 25 vs. Toronto, striking out a season-high 14 batters and retiring 27 of 28 batters faced...struck out seven consecutive batters from the sixth to eighth innings, one shy of the AL record of eight, set by Roger Clemens, Ron Davis and Nolan Ryan...became the first Major League pitcher to hurl a no-hitter and one-hitter in the same season since Kevin Brown did it for the Florida Marlins in 1997...struck out 12 batters and had no decision on June 22 vs. Toronto...also reached double-digits in strikeouts in wins on July 26 vs. Toronto (10) and Sept. 18 vs. Tampa Bay (11)...in all, registered 10 or more strikeouts five times...won five straight starts from July 2-26, going 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA to lead the league in wins for the month of July...held opponents to the fifth best batting average allowed (.231) and was sixth best in the league when pitching with runners in scoring position (.225).
2000
Signed as a free agent with Detroit and pitched the entire season with the Tigers, striking out a team-high 181 batters...named the Tigers' Opening Day starter and defeated Baltimore 7-4 on April 3 to become the first Japanese pitcher to start an Opening Day game...struck out a season-high nine batters in a no decision vs. the Chicago White Sox on April 30...was named the Tigers' Pitcher of the Month for April as he finished the month with a 2.54 ERA, which ranked second in the AL...pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the second game of a doubleheader on June 24 at Cleveland, his second career relief outing...placed on the 15-day disabled list from July 30-Aug. 17 with a strained right hand...returned to action on Aug. 18 and allowed one run in 7.0 innings to pick up a win...pitched a season high 8.0 innings for the fourth time and defeated the Yankees at New York, 12-2, on Sept. 22, while matching a season-high by striking out nine batters...was 3-1 with a 3.34 ERA and 30 strikeouts in September to be named the Tigers' Co-Pitcher of the Month along with current teammate Jeff Weaver.
1999
Signed to a minor league contract by Milwaukee on April 29 and went on to lead the Brewers with 12 wins and 161 strikeouts...had gone to Spring Training with the New York Mets, but was released on March 26...signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs on April 2...made three starts and went 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA for Triple- A Iowa before being granted his release on April 23...made one start and pitched 7.0 shutout innings and picked up a victory for Double-A Huntsville in the Milwaukee organization before having his contract purchased by the Brewers on May 9...started that night at San Francisco and won 3-2, allowing one earned run in 6.1 innings...won five consecutive decisions from May 31-July 6...his strikeout of Jay Bell vs. Arizona on Sept. 8 was the 1,000th of his career...the milestone came in his 147th game, making him the third fastest Major Leaguer to reach the 1,000- strikeout plateau behind Roger Clemens (143 games) and Dwight Gooden (145 games)...ranked sixth in the NL by holding opponents to a .212 average when batting with runners in scoring position...collected 12 hits as a batter (12-for-56, .214) to tie a Milwaukee Brewers' record for most hits by a pitcher in a season.
1998
Split the season pitching for the Dodgers and Mets, following offseason arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow...went 2-7 with a 5.05 ERA in 12 starts for the Dodgers before being traded along with Brad Clontz to the New York Mets for pitchers Dave Mlicki and Greg McMichael on June 4...went 4-5 with a 4.82 ERA in 17 games (16 starts) for the Mets...struck out seven straight batters in his first start of the season, April 3 at Cincinnati, one short of Johnny Podres' club mark of eight set on July 2, 1962 against Philadelphia...retired just two batters in a start on April 18 at Chicago, allowing eight runs (seven earned) in his shortest career outing...did not strikeout out a batter in the game, the first time in 98 career starts...pitched consecutive complete games on April 23 at Milwaukee and April 28 vs. Milwaukee...hit his first career home run on April 28 off Milwaukee's Jose Mercedes...made his first start with the Mets on June 9 vs. Tampa Bay and had no decision, allowing four runs in 5.0 innings...pitched a complete-game three-hitter on Aug. 26 at San Francisco and struck out 10...made his first career relief appearance on Sept. 27 at Atlanta and pitched 4.0 scoreless innings.
1997
Posted a 14-12 record and a 4.25 ERA in a team-best 33 starts...also led Dodger pitchers with 233 strikeouts, 207.1 innings pitched and tied Chan Ho Park for the team lead in wins...ranked fourth in the NL in strikeouts and third with a 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings...became the fastest pitcher in Major League history to record 500 strikeouts when he accomplished the feat in 444.2 innings with a strikeout of Luis Castillo on April 25 at Florida...broke Dwight Gooden's previous mark of 500 strikeouts in 445.1 innings...it took Nomo 66 games to reach the mark and Gooden only 61...went 5-2 with a 2.88 ERA in his first nine starts, including a season-best threegame winning streak from April 30-May 17...threw his only complete game of the season on June 7 vs. St. Louis when he fanned 10 in a 5-2 win...made Major League history in his start on June 18 vs. Anaheim when he and Angels' reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa became the first players born in Japan to appear in the same game...neither pitcher had a decision in the Dodgers' 7-5 victory...forced out of game after 3.2 innings on July 26 against Philadelphia when he was hit above the right elbow by a line drive off the bat of Scott Rolen...went 4-4 with a 4.01 ERA in his 11 starts after being hit by the line drive on July 26...struck out nine batters on Aug. 28 vs. Oakland to reach the 200 strikeout plateau for the third straight season, matching Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets (1984-86) as the only pitchers in the modern era to fan 200 or more in their first three Major League seasons... pitched exclusively from the stretch in his last three starts, going 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA...underwent arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 7 to remove calcium deposits near his right elbow...the surgery was performed by Dr. Frank Jobe at Centinela Hospital Medical Center.
1996
Went 16-11 with a 3.19 ERA in 33 starts and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young Award voting behind Atlanta's John Smoltz, Florida's Kevin Brown and St. Louis' Andy Benes...finished second among NL pitchers in opponents batting average (.216), strikeouts (234), shutouts (2) and was eighth in ERA...pitched the 20th no-hitter in Dodger franchise history and seventh in Los Angeles Dodger history on Sept. 17 at Colorado...became the first and only Major League pitcher to toss a no-hitter in hitter-friendly Coors Field...was forced to pitch from a stretch from the third inning on after a two-hour rain delay made the mound slippery...walked four and struck out eight...he was the 219th player in Major League history to throw a no-no, the 193rd since 1900...became the first Dodger pitcher to record 200 or more strikeouts in each of his first two seasons and the first Dodger pitcher to register 200 or more strikeouts in back-to-back seasons since Don Sutton in 1972-73...pitched a three-hit 1-0 shutout in Dodgers' home opener on April 8 vs. Atlanta...it was the first complete-game shutout by a Dodger pitcher in the home opener since Fernando Valenzuela accomplished the feat in 1981 vs. Houston...struck out a career-high 17 batters in his next start on April 13 vs. Florida, a complete-game 3-1 victory, his second career back-to-back complete game outings...became the 25th pitcher in Major League history to strike out 17 or more batters in a game...was named NL Player of the Week for the week of April 8-14 as he was 2-0 with 23 strikeouts and a 0.50 ERA...earned Co-NL Player of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 16-22 for his no-hitter on Sept. 17...struck out 75 batters over 57.1 innings in eight starts from June 9-July 18...matched a career-high (third time) with seven walks on Aug. 10 at Cincinnati...was 7-3 with a 2.86 ERA in his final 13 starts...named NL Pitcher of the Month for September as he was 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA...allowed five runs on five hits and struck out three in a 5-2 loss in Game 3 of the NLCS against Atlanta...the Dodgers were 18-15 in his starts allowed more than four earned runs just once, when he surrendered five runs in five innings on June 30 at Colorado...went 0-0 with a 5.14 ERA over 7.0 innings in two starts for the MLB All-Star team that toured Japan in the offseason.
1995
Won NL Rookie of the Year honors as he went 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA in 28 starts...led the Majors with a .182 opponent's batting average and was first in the NL with 236 strikeouts and three shutouts...finished second to Atlanta's Greg Maddux (1.63) in ERA...narrowly won the NL Rookie of the Year Award by defeating Atlanta's Chipper Jones by 14 votes...was the 15th Dodger to win the award and fourth consecutive, joining previous winners Eric Karros (1992), Mike Piazza (1993) and Raul Mondesi (1994)...also named the right-handed pitcher for the Topps' All-Rookie team...allowed just 124 hits over 191.1 innings for an average of 5.83 hits per nine innings, second all time behind Sandy Koufax with a 5.59 average in 1965...signed by the Dodgers as a free agent on Feb. 13, 1995, after retiring from Japanese professional baseball following the 1994 season...became the first Japanese-born player to join a Major League team after playing professionally in Japan's Central or Pacific Leagues...was a five-time All-Star for the Kintetsu Buffaloes and led the league in strikeouts and wins in four of the five seasons...earned a no-decision after allowing no runs in 5.0 innings in his Major League debut on May 2 at San Francisco, which the Giants won 4-3 in 15 innings...collected no-decisions in his next four starts, tying him with the New York Mets' Bob Moorehead in 1962 and Oakland's Dave Otto in 1988 for most consecutive no decisions as a starter when beginning a career....earned his first Major League win, a 2-1 victory vs. the New York Mets on June 2, by allowing one run on two hits in 8.0 innings...set a Dodger franchise rookie record by striking out 16 Pittsburgh Pirates on June 14 at Dodger Stadium...the previous mark for most strikeouts by a Dodger rookie was 15 by Karl Spooner from Brooklyn in 1954...also set the Dodgers' rookie record for most strikeouts in a season with 236, passing Don Sutton's total of 209 in 1966...set a Dodger record by striking out a total of 50 batters in four consecutive starts from June 14-29, passing Sandy Koufax' 39 strikeouts in a four-game stretch, which he did three times, last time Aug. 1-14, 1965...struck out 13 or more batters five times and 10 or more 11 times in his 28 starts...recorded his first Major League complete game shutout on June 24 vs. San Francisco, 7-0...named the NL Player of the Month for June as he went 6-0 with a 0.89 ERA...became the first rookie to win six games in a month since Cincinnati's Tom Browning in 1985 and Detroit's Mark Fidrych in 1976...started for the NL and fanned three over 2.0 scoreless innings at the All-Star Game at Texas, becoming the first player born in Japan to be selected to the Midsummer Classic...became the first ML rookie to start the All-Star Game since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981...won seven straight decisions from June 2-July 15, the first Dodger to win seven consecutive games since Orel Hershiser won 11 straight and Fernando Valenzuela and Bob Welch each won eight straight in 1985...collected his first career hit on July 15 vs. Florida off Bobby Witt...did not bat in Japan's Pacific League because of the designated hitter rule...pitched a one-hitter and struck out 11 on Aug. 5 at San Francisco in the Dodgers' 3-0 win...had a perfect game until he surrendered an infield single to Royce Clayton with one out in the eighth inning...allowed one earned run and fanned 11 to pick up the win on Sept. 30 at San Diego to clinch the NL West Division for the Dodgers...started Game 3 of the NLCS at Cincinnati and took the loss as he allowed five runs in five-plus innings of the 10-1 setback...the Dodgers were 19-9 in his starts and he was 8-2 with a 1.73 ERA (19 ER/99.0 IP) at home.
