In Nomo's Biggest Windup Yet, He Winds Up Rookie of the Year : Baseball: Pitcher becomes fourth consecutive Dodger to receive the honor by outpolling the Braves' Chipper Jones.

By BOB NIGHTENGALE

Nov. 10, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo, who had hoped to become the Greta Garbo of Japan and go into seclusion this winter, learned Thursday that that will be impossible.

Nomo was voted the National League’s rookie of the year, becoming the fourth consecutive Dodger to win the award and setting off a celebration in Japan.

Nomo polled 18 first-place votes from the 28-member committee of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America, and totaled 118 points. Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones received the other 10 first-place votes and finished as runner-up with 104 points. Second baseman Quilvio Veras of the Florida Marlins, who was ranked ahead of Nomo on one ballot, was third with 14 points.

“A year ago today, we didn’t know his name,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president. “When [agent] Arn Tellem called me and said, ‘Do you want to sign Hideo Nomo,’ I said, ‘Who is Hideo Nomo?’

“This is unmatched not only in our history, but the history of baseball. Even with Fernando [Valenzuela], people had an awareness. He at least had pitched in our organization. I don’t think anyone could have expected this but one person.

“I think Hideo had thought all about this. He believed it could happen. And he made it happen.”

Nomo, hailed as a conquering hero by 1,000 fans at Narita International Airport in Tokyo upon his return home after the season, and the subject of three documentaries and an autobiography, figures to become Japan’s greatest national celebrity since home run hitter Sadaharu Oh.

“If Nomo thought he was under a lot of scrutiny last year, he better hang onto his shorts next year,” Dodger closer Todd Worrell said. “The attention will be unbelievable.

“I still don’t think the American ballplayers really realize how big he is in Japan. He’s a huge superstar. How many other ballplayers do you know where people will fly 14 to 16 hours just to see them play and go home again?”

Nomo, the first Japanese athlete to win a major U.S. baseball award, becomes the 15th rookie of the year in Dodger history, the eighth in the last 16 years under Manager Tom Lasorda. No other franchise has won the award more than seven times.

“I think I proved that there’s a chance for any player to play in the United States, even if you don’t have a chance of playing baseball in Japan,” said Nomo, the rookie of the year in Japan in 1990. “If a young talent, a young prospect, would like to get that chance and opportunity, they are welcome to come and should follow me.”

Nomo, 27, who spent five years playing for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan, knew no one in the United States, nor any English, when he signed with the Dodgers. He simply wanted the opportunity to prove he could pitch against the world’s best hitters. He finished with a 13-6 record and a 2.54 earned-run average, becoming the first rookie to lead the league in strikeouts, with 236, since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.

“He had a tough, tough assignment, coming into a league he knew absolutely nothing about and yet being in a glass case,” Lasorda said. “Everybody was watching him. . . . He was under a tremendous strain to accomplish what he did.”

Said Worrell: “People don’t realize the pressure that Nomo was under to perform well. He had to deal with a lot of things and inconveniences that the rest of us have never had to deal with.”

Nomo, who plans to apply for his green card and continue studying English this winter, reiterated that he wants to return to the United States to pitch for the Dodgers. He still is two years shy of arbitration eligibility and probably will be offered a one-year contract for about $500,000. He is hoping for more than $1 million, but doesn’t anticipate a bitter contract dispute.

Besides, Nomo says, there’s still some unfinished business.

“I would really like to play in the World Series,” he said. “I want to compile each of my winnings to the championship.”

Although Jones was able to win a World Series ring in his rookie season, he was disappointed at not being named rookie of the year.

“I had set my sights on it since I was drafted,” said Jones, who batted .265 with 23 homers and 86 RBIs. “But with all the hype and good start [Nomo] got off to, I think it really overshadowed everything I did.

“No matter what, though, he’ll always have something I’ll never have, and I have something I hope he never has.”

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The Voting

Balloting for the 1995 National League rookie - of - the - year award, with first-, second- and third-place votes and total points on a 5-3-1 basis:

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Player 1st 2nd 3rd Tot. Hideo Nomo, Dodgers 18 9 1 118 Chipper Jones, Atlanta 10 18 -- 104 Quilvio Veras, Florida -- 1 11 14 Jason Isringhausen, New York -- -- 4 4 John Mabry, St. Louis -- -- 4 4 Carlos Perez, Montreal -- -- 4 4 Chad Fonville, Dodgers -- -- 1 1 Brian Hunter, Houston -- -- 1 1 Charles Johnson, Florida -- -- 1 1 Ismael Valdes, Dodgers -- -- 1 1

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Baby Blue

DODGER ROOKIES OF THE YEAR

Year: Player

1947: Jackie Robinson

1949: Don Newcombe

1952: Joe Black

1953: Jim Gilliam

1960: Frank Howard

1965: Jim Lefebvre

1969: Ted Sizemore