30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, March 4, 2013

Nifty 90's Nostalgia #12: Nomo-mania!

I'm not a Dodgers fan.  I've never been a Dodgers fan.  And I will never be a Dodgers fan.  With that out of the way, I must say... they sure have a knack for finding pitchers with international ties and cool windups.

First there was Fernando-mania during the 80's.  Then in 1995, Hideo Nomo came over from Japan and took the league by storm with his unique "tornado" delivery.  


That year he was the starting pitcher in the MLB All-Star game and also took home the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year Award


He would go on to have an up and down career that was highlighted by two no-hitters... only the fourth pitcher in MLB history to pitch a no-hitter in both the American League and National League.


In twelve MLB seasons, he won 123 games and struck out 1,918 batters.  Those statistics won't land him in Cooperstown, but there's no denying the fact that he made his mark on baseball.


His success attracted other Japanese baseball players like Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and Yu Darvish to cross the Pacific and test out their skills against the best in the world.

Long live Nomo-mania!

Happy Monday and sayonara!

22 comments:

The Lost Collector said...

I was in 5th grade when Nomomania hit, and I remember my whole Little League team imitating him.

Daniel Wilson said...

I was a Dodgers fan in the early to mid 90's (D-Backs weren't around until 1998) and I was a huge Nomo fan! He was also part of the Dodgers back to back to back to back to back Rookie of the Years!

Spiegel83 said...

Are all those graded Nomos part of your collection, Fuji? Wow, that is an impressive showing and puts some shame on my Nomo collection.

Dawgbones said...

I really got to agree with you there Fuji... I'm not a Dodgers fan. I've never been a Dodgers fan. And I will never be a Dodgers fan.

Arno said...

Those are fantastic rookie cards. Fantastically graded too. I just posted my Cespedes, btw. ; )

Spankee said...

Great cards...though I've always found horizontal graded cards to look a little strange.

Fuji said...

Lol... had it been ten years earlier, I would have been imitating him too.

Anonymous said...

i remember staying up late to watch Nomo pitch...and listen to Vin Scully...

Fuji said...

Yeah... they were recent additions. They were $7/each... except for the Upper Deck, Select Certified, and Japanese Zenith. They were $8, $8, and $9. I figured that's the same price it costs to have them graded... so pulled the trigger.

Fuji said...

I totally agree. Wasn't sure how to scan them.

Zippy Zappy said...

Nice cards, I didn't know you were the kind of guy who gets some of his cards graded (unless you bought them like that).
I know you probably aren't but, this blog post strikes me as maybe you're hinting that you're rooting for Team Japan in this year's WBC.
*Sorry if that sentence didn't make sense, my brain doesn't work on days ending with y.

gcrl said...

the dodgers had some american guys with unique windups, too - like rick sutcliffe.

nice nomos.

night owl said...

I'm happy to say that as a Dodger fan, who has always been a Dodger fan and will never not be a Dodger fan, that I have all those Nomos.

Not graded, of course. I don't believe in that.

Fuji said...

I've never had a card graded in my life. I just came across these and the price was right. As for the WBC... I always root for Team USA and Team Japan. I love the fact that this year there are no MLB players on the Japan squad... should make things interesting for them.

Fuji said...

I remember Sutcliffe... but can't remember his windup. I'll have to track it down on YouTube.

Fuji said...

;-D

jamicfin said...

I was mildly indifferent to the Dodgers, until they picked up Greinke and McGwire. Now I'm a little worried, ha ha!

Chris P said...

I really wanted his 96 SLU soooooo bad. Never got it. The only one I ever found was his 98 SLU in his warm up jacket

Stealing Home said...

nomo-san will always be the most sought after japanese player for my collection. he really was great...and even though you characterized his career as "up and down", i never saw it that way.
he always was bad-ass to me.

Fuji said...

I'm in the same boat as you... I have the 98 piece, but want the 96. Looks like you can buy the 96 figure off of eBay for $7.50.

Greg Zakwin said...

that is some Nomo Collection! I was too young to really remember the Nomo craze but I do have a few oddball items featuring Hideo.

Skroeker said...

Nice, I have a Nomo Jersey card that highlights my baseball collection!