Nomo Cold, Lasorda Hot, Dodgers Done : Baseball: Manager vows to curb Japanese star’s activities after 17-4 loss to Phillies.

The Dodgers have witnessed the circus atmosphere for months, shrugged their shoulders, and sat back and smiled watching Hideo Nomo dominate the National League and make millions of dollars for the franchise.

Perhaps the Dodgers should have stopped it earlier. Maybe they blame themselves for allowing it to get out of hand. But now, more than ever, they realize the need to make changes.

In the aftermath of their humiliating 17-4 defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night, with Nomo struggling for the third consecutive start, Manager Tom Lasorda vowed that attempts will be made to curtail Nomo’s activities.

Nomo, who was taking pictures with friends and entertaining a famous singer from Japan less than one hour before game time, experienced his worst outing in the major leagues. Nomo yielded six hits and seven runs (six earned) in only three innings.

Why, before Nomo even finished showering, first baseman Gregg Jefferies became the first Phillie player in 32 years, since Johnny Callison, to hit for the cycle--by the fifth inning; starter Jeff Juden hit the first grand slam by a Phillie pitcher since 1984 when Steve Carlton homered off Fernando Valenzuela; Phillie All-Star catcher Darren Daulton suffered a possible season-ending knee injury; the Dodgers gave up their most runs in a game since a 20-3 loss to the Cubs in 1967; and Jefferies’ wife, Melanie, went into labor.

“I just think [Nomo] is doing too much,” Dodger right fielder Raul Mondesi said. “A half-hour before the game, he’s got 10 people around his locker. People have got to leave him alone.”

Nomo, who emerged at his press conference with six camera crews awaiting, 53 Japanese journalists and an entourage of photographers leading the way, took full blame for the Dodgers’ defeat. The pain was eased since the entire National League West lost, leaving the Dodgers (59-53) with a half-game lead over Colorado, but it hardly minimizes the concern over Nomo.

“That’s the starting pitcher’s fault,” said Nomo, 10-5 with a 2.59 earned-run average. “I just didn’t have my control. And my forkball wasn’t sinking well.”

It was Nomo’s third consecutive poor outing. He is yielding an 8.10 ERA in his last three starts. Most alarming, he gave up another home run Friday and now has given up six homers in his last four starts. He had yielded only eight homers in his previous 18 starts.

“Hey, he just had a bad day,” Dodger pitching coach Dave Wallace said. “I believe [Sandy] Koufax had a bad day or two.”

Yet, there are those who believe there is cause for concern. Dodger catcher Mike Piazza agrees with scouts who say that Nomo might have a tired arm. Nomo, who barely is hitting 90 m.p.h. on the speed gun, already has thrown 153 innings this season.

Nomo pitched only 114 innings last season after missing the last half of the 1994 season with shoulder tendentious. He pitched only five innings after July 8, 1994, for Kintetsu in the Japanese League, and then shut it down Aug. 24 for the remainder of the season.

“I know people are going to read a lot into this,” Piazza said, “but I just think he’s a little tired. He’s thrown a lot of pitches for us. The fastball is a little off, and he’s struggling with the location.”

Said Wallace: “It’s possible he’s going through a dead-arm period, I don’t know.”

If Nomo has a tired arm, the distractions may have little bearing on his performance. But considering the only time he is alone at his locker is during team meetings, Lasorda will urge Nomo today to curtail his activities.

“The guy can’t even walk around without being bothered,” Lasorda said, “everybody wants a piece of him. We’re going to try to minimize it.”

The attention on Nomo became so absurd in Philadelphia that the Phillies were promoting Nomo throughout Thursday’s game as if he was their own player. The scoreboard kept flashing: Nomo, 8:05. Don’t believe the Phillie players didn’t notice.

“I got tired of seeing his name up there,” said Juden, who pitched his first career complete game, and the Phillies’ first since June 22. “This is our town. What is that? It teed me off. I respect him as a pitcher, but I don’t believe the hype. The hype is like a circus.”