Former Brewer Hideo Nomo retires from baseball

[jwaltz]

Today former Brewer Hideo Nomo announced his retirement from baseball. He was a pioneer who paved the way for Japanese stars to come to the US and play in MLB.

[Invader3K]

Kind of sad to see. I always liked "The Tornado." He had a successful career, though, and I'm sure his kids are set for life.

[jwaltz]

He'll probably still make a nice profit from personal appearances and endorsements.

 

He had a nice career here.

[bjkrautk]

I guess all the lightning was out of the bottle.

 

Fare thee well, Nomo-san.

[SeriesFinale]

He was an entertaining pitcher to watch, even when he was bad...what a crazy stretch. I'll never forget seeing him rounding third and getting nailed at home at a game against the Royals in County Stadium in '99.

[RightFieldCoder]

Didn't even know he was still playing. Don't have a lot to say about a guy that came to Milwaukee when he sucked and took off as soon as possible when he became good.

[SeriesFinale]

Don't have a lot to say about a guy that came to Milwaukee when he sucked and took off as soon as possible when he became good.

So what? He said in the press he sincerely appreciated the opportunity he was given here by the team to resuccitate his career and he seemed to enjoy himself while he was here (running the sausage race, etc). The team wasn't going to nor should have paid him what his market price was going to be after the job he did here. Are you going to be chapped with CC when he splits?

[2hoophead]

My favorite Nomo memory is when he ran in the Sausage Race!

 

J/S story

[Invader3K]

Am I crazy, or didn't he end up actually getting less than what the Brewers offered him to re-sign? I seem to remember hearing that his agent basically misjudged the market.

[SeriesFinale]

Am I crazy, or didn't he end up actually getting less than what the Brewers offered him to re-sign? I seem to remember hearing that his agent basically misjudged the market.

That wouldn't surprise me...I looked over his stats earlier and they weren't nearly as good as I remembered them being.

[joepepsi]

Always one of my favorite players to watch. If I remember correctly he was well liked by teammates on all his stops. Could probably make a lot of money as a consultant for players who go to or come from Japan to play.

[pitchleague]

He was an entertaining pitcher to watch, even when he was bad...what a crazy stretch. I'll never forget seeing him rounding third and getting nailed at home at a game against the Royals in County Stadium in '99.

I was there for that, too. Wasn't that the game in which the lights went out and delayed the game for a good 20 minutes?

 

[SeriesFinale]

Sure was.

 

They gave away "Last Year at County Stadium" hats that night if I remember correctly. Kicker being Big Blue had collapsed two days earlier..it was laying in a crumpled heap with much of MP's brick walling just beyond the outfield the whole time. Pretty eerie.

[hawing]

That makes at least three posters (myself included) who were at the game with the "lights out delay." I don't remember a giveaway that night, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. When the lights went out, the first thought I had was whether it was somehow related to the stadium accident.

On the day of the accident, as we watched open-mouthed the live coverage that even the Madison local news carried, I remember thinking about the "Bringing Down The House" motto they'd been using for the 1999 season, and figuring that phrase had reached the end of its useful life.

 

Happy retirement to Nomo, I guess.

[bjkrautk]

The promotional giveaway / Big blue references reminded me....didn't Nomo start the rain-delayed, umbrella night giveaway that season? I suddenly got the mental image of an entire stadium spinning blue and white umbrellas during the break. Anyone else remember that?

[ccbrew]

Am I crazy, or didn't he end up actually getting less than what the Brewers offered him to re-sign? I seem to remember hearing that his agent basically misjudged the market.

I do seem to recall reading somewhere that one reason he chose Detroit was his good relationship with Phil Garner.

 

[RockCoCougars]

I think that I was there for that Royals game too. Was that the game that Burnitz got drilled in the hand?

[berniebrewer4life]

Meh, i hold no ill will towards Nomo. I enjoyed his stay here, and am glad to have watched him play in Milwaukee.

[rluzinski]

1999 Milwaukee Brewers $250,000

2000 Detroit Tigers $1,000,000

2001 Boston Red Sox $4,500,000

2002 Los Angeles Dodgers $4,500,000

2003 Los Angeles Dodgers $7,750,000

2004 Los Angeles Dodgers $9,000,000

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he made the right move by leaving Milwaukee.

[SeriesFinale]

I think that I was there for that Royals game too. Was that the game that Burnitz got drilled in the hand?

All this talk about that game made me want to look it up and you're right, I had totally forgotten about that:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL199907170.shtml

 

Loretta went 5 for 6 that night, not bad

 

And how about that KC lineup: Damon, Beltran, Sweeney, Dye and Joe Randa in his career year and yet they were still garbage

 

 

 

 

[southpaw121505]

But how long will he stay retired? I wonder if he's already getting the itch?

[Jimbo]

Don't have a lot to say about a guy that came to Milwaukee when he sucked and took off as soon as possible when he became good.

Are you going to be chapped with CC when he splits?

Milwaukee isn't resurrecting C.C.'s career.

[RockCoCougars]

All this talk about that game made me want to look it up and you're right, I had totally forgotten about that:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL199907170.shtml

 

Loretta went 5 for 6 that night, not bad

 

And how about that KC lineup: Damon, Beltran, Sweeney, Dye and Joe Randa in his career year and yet they were still garbage

Cool, thanks for the link. Kind of weird that I only vaguely remember the blackout delay, but I remember Burnitz's injury like it happened yesterday. Probably because I was concerned that it would affect the team's charge for the wildcard (only one under .500 at that point).

[bball123h2]

I'll bet he ends up with a nice exhibit in the HOF. I doubt he'll be inducted as a player, but he opened the door for players like Ichiro, Johjima, Matsui, DiceK amongst others.

[crewcrazy]

Yeah, I think Nomo at least deserves mention in the Hall for his contributions to the game -- without him, we would never see Ichiro, the Matsuis, Matsuzaka, Fukudome, etc. in the Majors. Not to mention he's the only guy to ever throw a no-hitter in Coors Field. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif