Dodgers Outfox Nomo : Team Drops Japanese Pitcher From Roster After Trade Demand

It was only three years ago that Japanese huddled around TVs to watch their new hero, Hideo Nomo, become the first Japanese superstar in the major leagues. They chartered flights to watch their man pitch and bought up huge amounts of Nomo memorabilia. “Nomo” became a household name in Japan.

“Nomo” became a household name among the Japanese and a national symbol of pride that their nation could compete with the best American baseball players.

Now, stunned that their hero’s time in a Dodger uniform has been cut short, many Japanese blame coldhearted greed and callousness for his imminent departure from Los Angeles. That their beloved Nomo could possibly have been fired is only more evidence of the differences between American and Japanese cultures, many said.

Whereas Japanese value loyalty and long-term commitment, they say, Americans primarily respect only short-term profits.

“Now that Peter O’Malley is gone, the organization has changed--it has become a ‘money first’ team,” a Nippon TV commentator told viewers as the morning news led with the report that Nomo had been removed from the Dodger roster.

Baseball commentator Kazuo Ito agreed. “I was so surprised at comments from the Dodgers that they could fire him if there was no trade,” Ito said in a telephone interview. “I never thought they’d go that far. Japanese companies tend to keep employees almost permanently. But Americans fire people as soon as they find out they’re not doing well.”

The news came too late to make Tokyo’s morning newspapers. Other Japanese television stations portrayed the move as the Dodgers’ decision and Nomo’s acceptance of the situation. But as word spread, people were in shock, despite earlier reports in the Japanese press intimating that a trade or dismissal was imminent at the conclusion Nomo’s three-year contract.

Told the news as he traveled by train from a Tokyo suburb to his job as president of a market research firm, Koichi Hoki, 59, was incredulous. He said he’d only believe it when he heard Nomo himself talk about it.

“I don’t understand American society,” he said. “We have to understand that American society is moved by money. Everything is money in American society.”

In Japan, a country rabid about baseball, major stars are rarely traded or dismissed, although such deals do occur among lesser-known players. Baseball teams are owned by major corporations such as department stores, newspapers and yogurt makers. They are as much public relations vehicles as profit-makers, and therefore fan opinion is critical.

Nevertheless, most Japanese seem to have forgotten that Nomo had a similar experience in Japan. though he got off to a stellar start in his first season in 1990--becoming rookie of the year with the Osaka-based Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan’s Pacific League, the Buffaloes let him go after a poor 1994 season when he suffered arm problems and reportedly had disputes with management over a multiyear contract. The Dodgers then picked him up.

“From the Japanese point of view, the Dodgers’ treatment of Nomo may seem cold or severe, but in the U.S. business is business, so this is normal,” former Yomiuri Giants star-turned-commentator Tatsuo Hiraoka said in a telephone interview.

Mostly, people felt sorry for their home-country hero--whose first name Hideo literally means “Hero” in Japanese. They said he had contributed so much to the Dodgers only to be let go.

“I’m so curious about what’s happening in L.A. right now,” student Tetsuya Nebashi said on a rush-hour train en route to his classes. “It’s too bad. I’m very sorry for him. . . . I think the whole social structure is different from Japan.”

Of course, a few were less charitable, suggesting that Nomo needs to play by American rules now that he is in America. Shoichi Kaneda, a former Yomiuri Giant star now in his 50s, called the Dodgers’ move “courageous.”

“With Nomo’s current performance, he should have been sent to the minor leagues a long time ago,” Kaneda said in a telephone interview. “In the U.S., players who don’t contribute to performance are sent to other teams. Nomo has to appreciate that he can still play baseball.”

Japanese baseball players are “very spoiled,” Kaneda added. “Japanese baseball is still at a childlike stage. American baseball is more mature.”

Most Japanese fans prefer to think of it as Nomo’s decision to leave and not the Dodgers forcing him out. “If he is happy to leave the Dodgers, that’s great,” said Mari Ishii, 29, a waitress. “He deserves another chance, even if he has not been doing well lately.”

And they retain hope that he’ll get another chance to prove himself.

Said waitress Tomoko Tajima, 34: “I haven’t been much of a baseball fan, but I really like the fact that Nomo was playing on a major league team, especially the Dodgers. But I hope he’ll do well and prove that he’s a talented pitcher to both American and Japanese audiences.”

Chiaki Kitada, Makiko Inoue and Etsuko Kawase of the Times’ Tokyo bureau contributed to this story.