Nomo’s Responses Are Subject to a Great Deal of Interpretation

Kent Brown, an unemployed insurance man, found himself in the spotlight of the baseball world Monday afternoon.

Brown was Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo’s interpreter.

Brown, 42, had given up his insurance business four years ago to go to Japan to learn the language. He returned to the Dallas area in April, and on Saturday was asked if he would like to be Nomo’s interpreter at the All-Star game.

“This is the biggest day of my life, the ultimate,” Brown said. “I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and have been a lifelong Dodger fan.”

Brown entertained the media all day with his snappy answers from Nomo. In fact, Nomo’s responses were his most colorful since he arrived in the United States.

A little too colorful, it turned out. Brown later confessed that he had been embellishing Nomo’s answers.

In fact, quite a lot changed in the translation.

For instance, when Nomo was asked how important his All-Star start would be, Brown quoted him as saying: “He’ll play as if his life depended on it.”

The translation, according to a Japanese reporter, should have been: “He will try his utmost.”

Said Brown, “I knew going in that his answers were very terse and short, so I tried to get his thoughts before the press conference.

“I guess in a way, I embellished a few things, but I tried not to exaggerate. There is a difference.”

Said Michel Okumura, Nomo’s interpreter with the Dodgers, “Hmm, that was very interesting today. Very interesting. You learn a lot by watching.

“Maybe, I’ve been translating too literally.”