He then exploited a loophole to free himself from his contract, and became the first Japanese major leaguer to permanently relocate to MLB in the United States, debuting with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.

[3] He was the only Japanese pitcher in MLB to throw a no-hitter until the Seattle Mariners' Hisashi Iwakuma did so on August 12, 2015, against the Baltimore Orioles.

Nomo was born in Minato-ku, Osaka, Japan, into the working-class family of Shizuo, a fisherman and postal worker, and Kayoko, a part-time supermarket employee.

[5] Nomo graduated from Seijo Industrial High School in Osaka where he grew to 188 centimetres (6 ft 2 in) and 91 kilograms (201 lb).

During this time, Nomo slept with a tennis ball taped between his fingers in order to perfect his forkball grip.

The strikeout numbers were attributed to his unorthodox wind-up, where he turned his back to the hitter, raised his pivot leg, and paused for a second before throwing.

The delivery increased his pitch speed and made it more difficult for batters to spot the ball coming out of his hand.

Nomo made his U.S. pro baseball debut with the Bakersfield Blaze on April 27, 1995, against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

On May 2, after a month in the minors necessitated by a player's strike, he became the first Japanese-born Major Leaguer to appear in a game since Masanori Murakami in 1965.

The pressure on Nomo would be tremendous, and Japanese media and fans appeared in large numbers in games he started.

Nomo had another fine season in 1996 which was capped by a no-hitter thrown on September 17 in the unlikeliest of places, Denver's Coors Field, a notorious hitters' park because of its high elevation, semi-arid climate, and lack of foul territory.

Nomo also became just the fourth player in baseball history to have thrown a no-hitter in both leagues (joining Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Nolan Ryan.

The stipulation was allegedly included because Devil Rays upper management was unsure if Nomo had fully recovered from his injury.

On July 27, Nomo was picked up off waivers by the New York Yankees, who signed him to a minor league contract, but never recalled him.

In 2007, Nomo signed on with the Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League, managed by his former catcher, Carlos Hernández.

If added to the roster Nomo would have received a $600,000 one-year contract and the chance to earn $100,000 in performance bonuses.

Nomo's success helped inspire other stars from Japan such as Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and Daisuke Matsuzaka to come over to the States as well.

[12] At the time, he was also the youngest player ever elected to that Hall of Fame, although his record was broken in 2018 by Hideki Matsui.

[13] Prior to the 2016 season, the San Diego Padres hired Nomo as Advisor for Baseball Operations, to assist the club with player development and expand their international profile.

He began by slowly raising his arms high above his head before lifting his front leg and twisting his torso until his back faced home plate.

[21] Professional wrestler Mitsuhide Hirasawa adopted the ring name Hideo Saito, partially in homage to Nomo.