Sports: Nomo elected to Japan Baseball Hall of Fame

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Hideo Nomo, a founding partner of Historic Dodgertown, was recently elected to the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hideo Nomo, a founding partner of Historic Dodgertown was elected to the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame Jan. 17, becoming the youngest player ever to be honored at age 45 and 4 months. Nearly 19 years ago, pitcher Nomo signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers to become the first player to make the move from Japan’s professional baseball league to Major League Baseball in 30 years. Nomo reported to 1995 Spring Training at Dodgertown surrounded by multitudes of media from Japan and the United States documenting his every move.

Nomo becomes one of only three players in history elected to the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Victor Starffin, a Russian who pitched and won 303 games in Japan and Tokyo Giants’ superstar Sadaharu Oh, the all-time leader in home runs with 868, were the others elected to the Hall in their first year of eligibility.

Known as “Warrior,” Nomo visited Historic Dodgertown last year to help welcome the baseball team from Meiji University, one of the largest and most prestigious Japanese universities, located in Tokyo, which trained there.