Nomo notches No. 200

ST. PETERSBURG -- Hideo Nomo took to the mound at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night making his 313th Major League start with the hope of gaining his 200th career win -- combined between Japan and the Major Leagues, of course.
Considering the gifts he once carried to the mound -- nasty splitter with a mid-90 mph fastball -- Nomo must curse the baseball gods when those same pitches now arrive at home plate at speeds ranging anywhere from the mid 70s to mid 80s.

Yet there is something noble about the way a professional like Nomo continues to compete, using guile, wits and a lifetime of baseball wisdom, which explains how this 36-year-old can still retire Major League hitters. He did that on Wednesday night in a 5-3 Rays victory in front of an announced crowd of 8,801.

"You know that [Nomo] has to work hard," said Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella. "To stay where he can compete at the big-league level and win some baseball games. I remember him when he was with the Red Sox and he was basically the same type of pitcher. The only difference was, he had a lot more velocity on the ball, struck out a lot more hitters. [His] split finger was a little harder.

"And now he has to locate more, where before he just overpowered you. But you know, if you want to pitch into the later stages of your career, those are the adjustments you have to make as a Major League pitcher."

Nomo's reward finally came against the Brewers on Wednesday night, when he pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits to claim victory No. 200 -- a huge accomplishment to the Japanese baseball-following public.

Many in the crowd huddled around the home dugout after the game to pay tribute to Nomo when he returned to the field. A large contingent of Japanese media was on hand to chronicle the event.

"I think it will be a real good memory one day," Nomo said. "I got to celebrate with my teammates and the fans. One day I can look back and it will be a real good memory."

Nomo remains an icon in Japan. Since arriving in the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, Nomo has cobbled together 122 wins -- which makes up more than one-third of the 343 games (entering the 2005 season) won by Japanese pitchers in the Major Leagues all-time.

With the win, Nomo has reached the milestone to become the 45th member (16th pitcher) of Meikyukai. There are two Hall of Fame equivalents in Japanese baseball. One is the Japanese baseball Hall of Fame; the other is Meikyukai. Hall of Fame members are elected. Membership in the Meikyukai is automatic after a position player reaches 2,000 career hits, or a pitcher reaches 200 career wins. The totals are roughly the equivalent of 3,000 hits or 300 wins in the United States because the Japanese season is shorter.

"Quite an accomplishment," Piniella said. "He's had a great career. And this is a special win. ... We didn't have champagne but we had the beer -- so he got doused with beer and everybody gave him a standing ovation. It was really respectful of a heck of a competitor and a great pitcher."

Nothing comes easy at age 36, and right out of the gate Nomo surrendered a solo home run to leadoff hitter Brady Clark. The Brewers added another in the second to put Nomo in a 2-0 hole.

But Nomo continued to fight, and he got a little help from his teammates -- and Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks.

Kevin Cash homered in the second -- in his first at-bat of the season after being recalled from Triple-A Durham -- to cut the lead to 2-1. Weeks then made the first of his two errors, allowing Nick Green to reach base leading off the fourth. Two batters later, Alex Gonzalez doubled home Green to tie the score. Weeks' error in the fifth allowed the go-ahead run to score and the Rays padded the lead in the seventh with an RBI double by Julio Lugo and a sacrifice fly from Green to make it 5-2.

"It was [Nomo's] game," Piniella said. "I was going to basically let him go as long as he wanted. And when he came out after the seventh, he said he'd had enough and we brought in our bullpen."

Nomo gave way to Franklin Nunez, who pitched an immaculate eighth before Danys Baez took over in the ninth, and despite surrendering a run, picked up his ninth save on the season.

In addition to paying tribute to Nomo after the game, players in the Rays clubhouse seemed to genuinely appreciate the opportunity to be part of Nomo's accomplishment.

"It just shows what a pro he is and what a great career he's had," Cash said. "It was exciting, something that was nice to be a part of."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/