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
Philip Humber's perfect game the Mets to go on to throw a no-hitter for another team. The other six are Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Mike Scott, Dwight Gooden, Hideo Nomo, and David Cone. The New York Mets, at the time of Humber's perfect game, had never had a no-hitter thrown by a player in the 50-year history of the franchise (Johan Santana has since accomplished this feat). The Mariners went hitless for the third time in franchise history and this was the first time that no Mariner reached base. However, they went on to pitch two no-hitters in 2012, both of which took place