PORT ST. LUCIE – A shudder went through the Japanese baseball community last week with the announcement the Mets were going to release the once-great Hideo Nomo.
No player has done more to open the eyes of American baseball fans and executives to the potential of Japan as a source of talent, but now that Nomo has been let go, there will be questions about whether Japanese players can perform here at high levels over long periods of time.
Currently there are a handful of Japanese pitchers in the major leagues, but none has approached the success Nomo had in 1995 as the first Japanese starting pitcher in the majors (13-6, 2.54 ERA for the Dodgers).
Masato Yoshii went 6-8 last year with a 3.93 ERA, Hideki Irabu is struggling with the Yankees, and Shietoshi Hasegawa (Angels) and Masao Kida (Tigers) have not been very impressive. So the ignominious departure of the man who led the way is cause for concern, especially in the Mets’ clubhouse.
If it weren’t for what Nomo accomplished, Yoshii probably would not even be pitching in the majors today.
So for Yoshii, it is almost embarrassing that Nomo – NL Rookie of the Year in 1995, the focus of an international craze known as Nomomania – has been dropped from a team that Yoshii is still on.
“It is strange,” Yoshii said through his interpreter, Kota Ishijima. “It is very strange. When we were together in Japan we were always very different pitchers, and so we never compared who was better than the other. Certainly, after he came to America he has grown larger in everyone’s eye.”
In the Mets’ eyes, Yoshii is now better than Nomo. The same held true last year when Nomo was dropped from the rotation and Yoshii kept his spot.
So what impact does Nomo’s predicament have for the future of Japanese baseball players in America? Bobby Valentine, who managed in Japan in 1995, said whether or not Nomo can bounce back – and Valentine is confident he can – will have a bearing on the next wave of Japanese pitchers.
“What happens next with him is what matters,” Valentine said.
For those who may have thought Nomo would open the floodgates, the lesson of the 30-year old is a cautionary one. When word broke that his friend might be released, Yoshii began getting many e-mails and phone calls from shocked friends and family who wanted to know what was going on.
“I think this will make people understand how hard it is to keep a position in the major leagues,” Yoshii said. “It is a constant challenge and you can never rest. Hopefully, all those future candidates that make the crossover from Japan will understand it is not easy at all. It is a constant battle playing here and surviving.”
If Nomo was a groundbreaker in terms of success, then he could be in terms of failure as well. Over the past couple of days Nomo and Yoshii have spoken, and Nomo told his friend not to worry about him, to continue to pitch well and help the Mets to make it to the World Series.
“It is very unfortunate the way things turned out,” Yoshii said. “But that is what happened. What I can do now is pitch well so as not to let it happen to me.”
Besides losing a role model and a trailblazer, Yoshii is also losing a close friend and companion. Yoshii is an outgoing, friendly person in any language, and his American teammates have picked up on that. But when Nomo came over on June 4, Yoshii finally had someone he could talk to in the dugout, go to a restaurant with on the road, share a laugh with on the bus.
But now that his friend is gone, Yoshii will not let that affect him.
“This is not a social club,” Yoshii said. “We are all professionals here.”
