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
Hideo Hashimoto a substitute. "Updated to 23 February 2018". 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