Success in Japan
Nomo was on the silver medal winning Japanese baseball team at the 1988 Olympics, and the Kintetsu Buffaloes drafted him in 1989. Nomo debuted with them in 1990 and was an immediate success, going 18–8 but more impressively striking out 287 hitters in just 235 innings. The strikeout numbers are attributed to his unorthodox wind-up, where he turns his back to the hitter, raises his pivot leg, and freezes for a second before throwing. The windup gave him the nickname "Tornado". In his first four seasons, Nomo was as consistent, and consistently good, as any pitcher in Japanese baseball, winning 17 or 18 games each year. His fifth season in 1994 was marred by a shoulder injury and only netted him eight wins. Nomo was famous for his forkball which was unpredictable for hitters and catchers alike.
Read more about this topic: Hideo Nomo
Famous quotes containing the words success in, success and/or japan:
“The best augury of a man’s success in his profession is that he thinks it the finest in the world.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Success is the space one occupies in the newspaper. Success is one day’s insolence.”
—Elias Canetti (b. 1905)
“I do not know that the United States can save civilization but at least by our example we can make people think and give them the opportunity of saving themselves. The trouble is that the people of Germany, Italy and Japan are not given the privilege of thinking.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)