Hideo Nomo end of the year, Nomo returned to the Dodgers, in , and ended up having his best season since 1996, finished with a 16–6, 193 K, and 3.39 ERA. The following year, he had another great season, going 16–13 with 177 K and a 3.09 ERA. During September , however, he began showing signs of injury and fatigue. Nomo began to struggle again in . After undergoing shoulder surgery in October 2003, he was benched after going 4–11 with an 8.25 ERA for the Dodgers (the worst ERA in the history of baseball for a player with at least 15
Hideo Nomo brought in to start the seventh inning of a game while the Yankees were leading 4-1. Nomo loaded the bases, but was able to retire his native countryman, Hideki Matsui, to strand all three runners. However, he later surrendered back-to-back homers to Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada in the ninth inning. On April 20, Nomo was designated for assignment. The Royals released him on April 29, 2008. On July 17, 2008, Nomo officially announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. Prior to the 2016 season, the San Diego Padres hired Nomo as Advisor, Baseball Operations, to assist the club with