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 Fujimoto the Giants defeated the Hawks for the championship for the third year in a row. After his playing career, he coached for the Giants and managed in the Japanese minor leagues, Later, he managed in the industrial leagues. He also worked as the Los Angeles correspondent for "Yomiuri Shimbun". Fujimoto/Nakagami was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Hideo Fujimoto Fujimoto was born in Busan, Korea, moving to Japan at age eight. He attended Shimonoseki Shogyo High School and Meiji University. In 1943, he enjoyed one of the greatest seasons ever by a pitcher in Japan. He