First in a four-part series
The history of the Japan-America baseball relationship can be divided into two eras: Pre-Nomo and Post-Nomo.
Younger readers may find it difficult to believe but before Hideo Nomo went to the United States to become a star for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, most Americans did not even know baseball was played in Japan. Those few who did know about the Japanese game viewed it with a kind of bemused condescension.