Nippon Professional Baseball players like the Lee brothers, Leron Lee and Leon Lee, Greg "Boomer" Wells, Randy Bass, and Ralph Bryant playing key roles on their NPB teams. In 1995, star pitcher Hideo Nomo "retired" from the Kintetsu Buffaloes and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nomo pitched over the span of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues before retiring in 2008. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1995. He twice led the league in strikeouts, and also threw two no-hitters (the only Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball until Hisashi Iwakuma achieved the feat in
Sri Lanka national baseball team Sri Lanka national baseball team The Sri Lanka national baseball team is the national baseball team of Sri Lanka. Baseball was introduced to Sri Lanka in the mid 1980s. American Baseball coach Jim Dimick was the first official coach to teach the game to the players. The team represents Sri Lanka in international competitions. Sri Lanka took part in the first ever Asian Baseball Cup, which was held in Philippines in 1995. Twenty four countries belong to the Baseball Federation of Asia. In May 2009, Sri Lanka qualified for the Semi-finals of the Asian Baseball Championship for the first time.