NOMOMANIA : ROUND 2 : No Matter How You Interpret It, He’s Still Big News

The Dodger front office was in high gear. It was time to spread the word that Hideo Nomo had signed his contract and news outlets from Vero Beach to Tokyo were being called.

Interpreters were summoned and camera lights were set up. The Far East was waiting.

There was just one little problem.

The guest of honor was missing.

This was headline news in Japan--Nomo had just signed the most lucrative contract ever given to a Dodger player after his rookie season--but he shrugged and headed for the weight room, leaving instructions that he wouldn’t be available until work was done.

“My job is to play baseball and to help the Dodgers win the World Series,” Nomo said through his interpreter. “That’s what’s significant to me, not some contract.”

Nomo considers news conferences a pain, anyway. You want to talk to a star player? Go talk to Mike Piazza, Eric Karros and Ramon Martinez. Nomo just wants to be one of the guys.

The happiest day of Nomo’s baseball career will be the day he pitches, is upstaged by a teammate, and no reporter bothers to talk to him. He grins at the thought of that.

There have been 82 press credentials issued here to Japanese reporters, who chronicle his every move.

When Nomo pitched an intrasquad game last week, 30 Japanese journalists were charting every pitch.

When the working day ends, Nomo is besieged by autograph requests. The fans line up as if they were waiting to ride Space Mountain at Disney World. The Dodgers station someone from their publicity department to break off the session after 10 minutes and the fans then berate the Dodger official while Nomo scurries off to the clubhouse.

And Nomo cannot live away from the Dodgertown complex, as most veterans do. He would like to get a beach condo, but fans and reporters would stake it out.

“It would be too crazy,” he said.

The Dodgers, trying to keep up with it all, have hired an interpreter and a public relations assistant for Nomo. They are printing their notes in Japanese, as well as English, and soon will issue an abridged version of their media guide in Japanese.

“It’s crazy what he has to go through each day,” relief pitcher Todd Worrell said. “I can’t even imagine it. . . . I mean, you know it’s bad when he can’t even get away from the players who are asking for autographs.”

Nomo also is subjected to rumors and innuendo. Some of the Japanese tabloids will print whatever they hear, whether it’s truth or fiction.

“Some of the things they say,” Nomo said, “I don’t understand how they can say that. It makes you very private. You guard your privacy with your life.”

Nomo was mobbed by 1,000 fans at Narita International Airport when he returned home last fall. He became only the second athlete in Japanese history to receive the Kikuchi Award, given to a person instrumental in introducing the Japanese culture to other countries. NHK-TV of Japan produced two shows on Nomo that drew audiences of more than 20 million.

Instead of celebrating New Year’s Eve, many Japanese stayed home to watch a 12-hour special on Nomo. It was the longest televised show on an individual in Japanese history.

A high school in Japan collected 20,000 recyclable cans to create a mural, 12 by 15 meters.

And in Jiyu Kokuminsha’s annual “New Japanese and Popular Words award,” Nomo was the most popular name or word used in 1995.

“It’s like he was the first guy to walk on the moon or the first guy to climb Mt. Everest,” said Don Nomura, Nomo’s agent. “I’m happy for Hideo because this is what he always wanted. . . . You’ll never see anything like this happen again in Japan . . . because Nomo was the first.”

Nomo earned about $12 million in endorsements during the off-season, and has turned down nearly $10 million in other endorsement opportunities. He can be seen four or five times an hour on Japanese prime-time TV, selling everything from coffee to life insurance. Toyota announced that sales in Japan have increased by 110% since he did his first car commercial.

More? There have been 12 books published in Japan about Nomo since September.

“I’ve fulfilled a big dream by pitching in the major leagues, and good things happened to me as a result,” Nomo said.

The scrutiny may be just as intense this season--particularly in light of Nomo’s three-year, $4.3-million contract--but the staggering pressure that besieged Nomo last year should ease.

“My God, after what he had to go through last year, I think this season will be a lot easier for Hideo,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “Last year, he didn’t know what he was going to do. There was always a doubt, ‘Can I do it?’

“He knows he can do it now, and that should make things so much easier for him.”

Nomo’s even temperament may help him through whatever is coming. His teammates swear they never have seen him lose his temper. The only time he shows annoyance is when reporters are camped in front of his locker.

“He is very serious about his profession and is team oriented,” said Fred Claire, the club’s executive vice president. “You have players who have outstanding talent, but with Hideo, it’s the total person. His presence is uncanny. He’s very humble, but yet, very confident.”

Nomo’s only regret is that, again, he will be the only Japanese player in the major leagues, unless Makoto Suzuki makes a dramatic jump with the Seattle Mariners. No other player was able to leave Japan after last season for the major leagues because Japanese baseball officials plugged the loophole that enabled Nomo to retire, become a free agent, then play in the United States.

“I know a couple of players who want to come over here,” Nomo said. “One is negotiating right now with a team, but another one gave up on the ’96 season. I don’t think they should hold players back from coming over here. That needs to change.

“There should be more opportunities for players to play where they want, to see just how they compare in the major leagues.”

Nomura said, “It’s sad because it looks like we might have to wait 30 years for another Nomo. . . . If Nomo had only pitched in Japan, he would never have experienced a lifetime dream. There’s only one life to live. Their dream shouldn’t be stopped.”

Certainly, there are no detractors in this country, where it’s chic to be friends with Nomo. Piazza has become famous in Japan for being Nomo’s catcher, and has realized $2.5 million in endorsements. Pitcher Ismael Valdes, Nomo’s best friend on the team, got nearly 100 fan letters from Japan over the winter.

“It’s been cool for all of us,” Piazza said. “He’s the Michael Jackson of Japan, and we’re like his entourage.”

The question now, of course, is whether Nomo’s success will continue. He was 13-6 with a 2.54 earned-run average, but only 7-5 with a 3.05 ERA after the All-Star break. Hitters who were clueless in the first half suddenly had Nomo figured out.

Yet, if hitters take Nomo for granted this season, Piazza says, they’re making a serious mistake.

“Whoever says they have him figured out is full of . . ., “ Piazza said. “It’s ridiculous. I don’t know too many guys who can make adjustments off 90-mph fastballs with that nasty forkball.

“I mean, I saw him throw first-pitch fastballs to Frank Thomas and [Carlos] Baerga in the All-Star game. They knew what was coming, and they still couldn’t touch him.

“You ask me, the guy will even be better this year. Nomomania is here to stay.”