Hideo Nomo to active status. This led to him heading to the U.S., where in February 1995, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed him. Nomo made his U.S. pro baseball debut with the Bakersfield Blaze on April 27, 1995, against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Placed on a 90-pitch limit, and throwing mainly fastballs, Nomo pitched 5⅓ innings, taking the 2–1 loss against the 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 major league game since Masanori Murakami in . He was also the first Japanese-born
Hideo Hashimoto Hideo Hashimoto Hashimoto is an Osaka City University graduate and he played for Gamba's junior youth team and youth team before signing for them as a professional player. He started to break into the first team in 2002 and established himself as a mainstay in Gamba's midfield in 2005, contributing to the club winning the J. League Championship that year. His first cap as a full international came when he substituted Keita Suzuki on 1 June 2007 in a friendly against Montenegro. He was a member of the Japan team for 2007 AFC Asian Cup and played one game as