Hot, New Import? : Other Potential Major League Players Are in Japan, but Few to Follow Nomo

The manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines was on the phone from Japan, rhapsodizing about Hideki Irabu, his 26-year-old pitching ace.

A lot like Roger Clemens in that he throws his fastball 95 m.p.h, Bobby Valentine said.

A little like Hideo Nomo in that his forkball doesn’t have as big a break but is delivered with similar velocity.

Said Valentine: “I could walk into any major league camp with Irabu and say this guy is going to be one of your starters and they’d watch him throw on the side and say ‘Yeah, we’ll take him’ because he’d be that impressive.

“I have a third-place team and a 10-man pitching staff and I think the entire staff could make major league teams.

“Not with the impact of Nomo, perhaps, but they could make the team. I think there are two pitchers on each of the six teams in the [Pacific] League who could match Nomo in quality.�

The question has suddenly become: How many, if any, will follow Nomo? How many will be inspired and encouraged by his success with the Dodgers? How many will test the gate and find it ajar?

Valentine, the former Texas Ranger manager who played for the Dodgers and Angels and is in his first year of managing in Japan, doesn’t think there will be a tidal wave of Japanese players landing here.

He and others think Nomo--as attorney Arn Tellem said--represented a unique combination of courage, character and competitiveness, and that most Japanese players will be reluctant to give up a comfortable lifestyle.

Valentine and others think that the biggest result of Nomo’s successful transition could be the encouragement and leverage it gives Japanese players--who can gain free agency only after 10 years with their team--in contract negotiations.

He and others are also hopeful that Nomo will become the catalyst for a reciprocal agreement broadening competition between American and Japanese teams and ultimately leading to international expansion, but there has been speculation that Japanese officials are in the process of closing the contract loophole by which Nomo left.

“The creative minds on both sides should be sitting down right now and planning a meeting of dream teams in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics,� Valentine said. “They should feed off the interest Nomo has generated to create a real worldwide competition. The way out of baseball’s doldrums is in new venues. The future of the game is in international competition.

“If 50% or more of the TVs here are tuned to Nomo when he pitches, imagine how many would watch the Dodgers play the Tokyo Giants. Nomo should represent a step forward. It would be a real shame if he only serves to close the door, but there needs to be some form of compensation and reciprocity.

“Nomo left on a one-way ticket. Aside from Cuba, Japan is the only other talent pool of major league quality. It’s inevitable [with expansion and the need for talent] that U.S. teams would turn to Japan, but it can’t be one way. The talent here is very good, but the depth is limited. There’s probably 35 quality players in each organization, and then the drop-off is significant. Each major league team has only one farm team and they fear the possibility of depletion. They can’t survive a series of raids.�

Nomo didn’t leave in a raid. Determined to prove himself at the major league level, he retired from the Kinetsu Buffaloes and slipped through a loophole discovered by Tellem, the Los Angeles attorney who was hired by Nomo and agent Don Nomura to handle contract complexities.

Tellem discovered that the Japanese contract doesn’t prevent a retired player from playing for another team in another country. An American team can seek an injunction preventing one of its retired players from going elsewhere. An American player who goes to Japan has generally been released or is a free agent or is part of a deal in which his American club is being compensated financially.

“There were two critical aspects,� Tellem said of Nomo’s situation. “The Japanese had to recognize that the escape provision was legitimate, and the commissioner’s office had to accept it and acknowledge that Nomo couldn’t be prevented from signing with an American team, although they initially tried to prevent it.�

Based on a measure of inside information, Tellem said: “It’s my guess that a handful of Japanese players are exploring the possibility of coming here and that a couple more [could join Nomo in the United States] next year.

“I’m confident that Nomo’s success has awakened the interest of a number of teams [to the possibility of signing a Japanese player], particularly those on the West Coast, where there is a large Asian population, and teams like the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves, who have the financial resources.

“I’m sure that there are a number of teams who regret that they didn’t go after Nomo when they had the chance, including the Angels. They would have clinched the pennant by now if they had a dominant right-handed pitcher.�

Baseball’s talent pool is expanding. U.S. teams now have players from Cuba, Japan, the Caribbean, Russia, South America, Australia, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and elsewhere.

John Schuerholz, the Brave general manager, said Nomo’s success is certain to intensify international scouting by those clubs that had only a “baseline involvement,� but he doesn’t think it will precipitate a wave of Japanese imports because of the contract restrictions and the obvious social and cultural differences.

Terry Reynolds, the Dodger scouting director, agreed. The Dodgers signed Nomo on word of mouth and have not assigned a full-time scout to Japan.

“I think he’s piqued interest, but I don’t see a mass exodus,� Reynolds said. “It takes a unique personality with a real desire to come here and play, and I don’t think there are a lot of players standing in line there to do that.

“How often do you see one of our star players in the prime of his career leaving his family and giving up his salary and security to go there ?�

The average salary in Japan is about $250,000, but players are virtually assured of a lifetime job with the corporations that own the teams.

“It’s a question of motivation,� said Valentine, reflecting on the possibility of Japanese players following Nomo. “I mean, the players here make good money, they can play until they drop, they have potential jobs for life, and they know the language, food and travel.

“Nomo had a special motivation. He was the best here, and he wanted to prove he could be the best in the major leagues. I don’t know how many other Japanese players have the same desire to delve into the unknown.�

Or had established the confidence and financial security that made Nomo’s transition easier.

“His mental makeup is as good as any player I’ve met,� Tellem said. “Besides his physical ability, he has incredible inner strength.�

Nomura, Nomo’s agent, played in Japan. He expects players to follow Nomo, but at a trickle. He cited the cultural differences and the need for the right physical and mental makeup.

“How do you measure it,� he asked, citing Shane Mack, an outstanding player in the United States who is struggling in Japan, and Tom O’Malley, a utility player in the United States who became a superstar in Japan.

“I think most Japanese players would consider the risk and stay in Japan,� Nomura said. “It’s very difficult to throw everything away and start a new life.

“I also think Nomo made a history-making move, but the real measure of it is that it should enhance the position of Japanese players, who have been restricted by a system similar to the Communist party, with no reserve rules, no free agency, no real voice in negotiations. They have been like puppets on a string to the corporations owning the teams. Whether they follow Nomo or use it as leverage, they are now in position to negotiate a better deal.�

Nomura, through his management company, has attempted to introduce a player management system in Japan, but been stonewalled. Agents are anathema there, and if Nomura was unwelcome before Nomo left, his name is mentioned only in whispers since.

“I’ve been kicked out, bad-mouthed and my phone calls unanswered,� he said. “There’s a big wall I’ve had to climb, but I’m happy for Nomo, happy for the Dodgers and happy for the players in Japan because they have another form of leverage now and their conditions should continue to get better.�

In the meantime, will Irabu be next? Or Masumi Kuwata of the Tokyo Giants? Or Sigetoshi Hasegawa of the Orix Blue Wave? Or Yutaka Ohno of the Hiroshima Carp? All highly regarded pitchers whose named have been connected at times to possible moves to the United States.

How about a position player such as outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, 21, of the Blue Wave. Suzuki had 211 hits in 130 games last year, runs to first base in 3.5 seconds and throws like Raul Mondesi, Valentine said.

“There are a lot of pitchers here who could be impact players in the States but not a lot of position players,� he said.

Ray Poitevant, a veteran scout widely respected and connected in Japan, disagreed some with Valentine, saying he felt there was only one pitcher on each of the Japanese major league clubs who could make it in the United States and only six in all, perhaps, who would could make an impact.

“On a given day, the quality of Japanese baseball is major league, but on a consistent basis it’s not,� Poitevant said. “It’s improved a lot, but it’s still basically little better than triple-A.

“For their baseball to continue to grow to a point where we can actually have a real World Series, we can’t keep going in and skimming the cream of the crop.�