Hideo Nomo's best pitch

One night, I was lying in bed in my bedroom at home, watching the DVD of the very funny American comedy movie "Liar Liar" (1997). Then, I was so startled by a certain scene that I sat up.　The scene was a father giving his son baseball stuff as a gift for his fifth birthday. The son put on the glove and said, "Cool!  Can we play?  I’ll be Nomo. You can be Jose Canseco. Can we play? " As a Japanese person, I am very happy that a five-year-old boy loves Hideo Nomo , the Japanese pitcher in Major League Baseball.

DVD of the movie “Liar Liar” (Japanese version)

American movies often use the real names of major leaguers. However, most of the time, it is to explain the outcome of a famous game in the past, or as a casual reference. It is rare to see a boy admire a player like Hideo Nomo in this movie. It is an honor given only to a very limited number of superstar players. As a Japanese person, I was truly surprised to see Nomo being treated like this in an American film, but at the same time I was very happy.

I should also mention that there are few American films in which the images or names of Japanese major leaguers appear. As far as I know, at this point in time, there are only two other films besides "Liar Liar".

First, "Moneyball" (2011). There is a scene in which Athletics GM Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, stares intently at a television screen at the airport, showing Ichiro, who is now a runner on first base. The film also features the name of another Japanese major leaguer. In a scene where sheets containing data on many players are introduced one after another, the name Shigetoshi Hasegawa appears on the sheet, albeit for just a moment. It's a scene that you would miss unless you were watching very carefully. The other film is "Fever Pitch"(2005). In this movie, the announcer who is broadcasting the New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox game loudly announces that Hideki Matsui has hit a home run.

DVD of the movie “Moneyball” (Japanese version)

DVD of the movie “Fever Pitch” (Japanese version)

If there are any other American movies featuring Japanese major leaguers besides the ones mentioned here, please let me know.

The first Japanese major leaguer was Masanori Murakami. Murakami was sent to the US  by his Japanese professional baseball team, the Nankai Hawks, to train in the minor leagues, but his skills were recognized and he played as a relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants for two years in 1964 and 1965. After that, no Japanese major leaguer was born, but in 1995, 30 years after Masanori Murakami played in the major leagues, Hideo Nomo became the second Japanese major leaguer. Nomo decided to leave the Japanese professional baseball world and move to the US, joining the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nomo's performance was so outstanding that fans went crazy, leading to the term "Nomomania" being coined.

During his 12 years as a major leaguer, Nomo was the strikeout leader twice (once each in the National League and the American League) and threw two no-hitters, once each in the National League and the American League. Inspired by Nomo's success in the major leagues, many Japanese players went to the US to play as major leaguers. Nomo is widely known in Japan as the pioneer who created the opportunity for many Japanese players to become major leaguers. Furthermore, from his playing days to the present, Nomo's taciturn personality continues to be loved by many Japanese people.

Now, let's go back to "Liar Liar."

There is another scene in this very funny comedy that surprised me. The father says to his son, "Who else is gonna hit that famous Nomo slider."  Nomo's best pitch was not a slider but a forkball. This must have been famous not only in Japan but also in the US. So why did they make Nomo's best pitch sound like a slider? It's strange. Incidentally, in the Japanese dub, they must have thought that this line was bad, so they changed it to "forkball."

I think that "Liar Liar" is a thoroughly entertaining, brilliant comedy worth seeing. I have no intention of criticizing "Liar Liar" for Nomo's best pitch. I am truly happy that they treated Nomo as an object of admiration for a five-year-old boy. The matter with Nomo's best pitch isn’t really worth making a fuss about. …However, I would be even happier if the movie accurately depicted the best pitch of Nomo, who is a hero to us Japanese people.

（If I've made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.）