Fourth in a four-part series
It is doubtful that Hideo Nomo and Don Nomura realized the full significance of what they were doing back in 1995 when they defied Nippon Professional Baseball and migrated to the United States. But many of the changes that followed in the wake of their actions may never have taken place or at the very least might have been delayed had they not opened the particular door that they did.
Without Nomo and his agent, one could argue, the "voluntary retirement" clause would not have been discovered, and the "posting system," which subsequently replaced it and led to the signings of Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka, among others, by Major League Baseball teams, would not have been created.