People often call baseball the great American pastime. Although invented in the United States, many countries throughout the world play baseball. Baseball is a very popular sport in Japan, but before 1995 only one Japanese player, Masonori Murakami, had ever appeared in an American major league game. That was before Hideo Nomo signed to play with the Los Angeles Dodgers. An All-Star in Japan, "The Tornado" took the National League by storm. Nomo earned the right to be the starting pitcher in the 1995 All-Star Game and won Rookie of the Year honors. Along the way his skill and unusual pitching motion helped make him one of the most popular players in the major leagues.

Growing up

Superman

Hideo (He-DAY-o) Nomo was born August 31, 1968, in Osaka, Japan. Nomo is the oldest son of Shizuo and Kayoko Nomo. His father is a postal worker in Osaka. Nomo's first name means "a...