words // Nick Engvall
In 1995, a Japanese pitcher named Hideo Nomo became the first Japanese-born player to play in the Major Leagues in over 30 years. Although his success in the Big Leagues was relatively short-lived, his impact was far beyond what any rookie of this day and age has had. Nomo’s first year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which came after about five years of pitching in Japan, was his best. His windup and delivery was something that seemed more appropriately placed in a video game than in the real world and had the capability to make even the greatest of opposing batters look like they were back in Little League.
On top of baffling batters, Nomo’s windup wowed the fans even more so. For me, personally, Nomo’s Major League debut is something I will never forget. In May of 1995, he took to the mound against the San Francisco Giants. His delivery, in its tornado-like spiraling motion, was like a music conductor that day. For each and every pitch, the thousands of fans who had traveled just to see Hideo Nomo would ooh and aah. Each pitch began with a crescendo of “ooh” in anticipation as Hideo spun almost completely backwards in his windup, and then simultaneously the crowd let out an “aah” of relief as he spun forward and threw to home plate. Even while cheering against his team, it was hard for me not to get into the whole spectacle, and I found myself “oohing and aahing” right along with the rest of the audience. Especially with all the Japanese media in attendance, broadcasting the game back to Japan live, even with its 4:35 AM Tokyo start time, it was an unforgettable game. Nomo finished with seven strikeouts and allowed only one hit in the five innings he pitched.
After becoming the starting pitcher for the National League All Star team and winning the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1995, Nomo quickly grabbed an endorsement deal with Nike. His popularity in the United States seemed to only be surpassed by his popularity in Japan, and his Nike Baseball Commercials only fueled the fire for the Nike Air Max Nomo that was originally released in 1996. Nomo’s second season, which included the first of two no-hitters in his career, did the same.
The Air Max Nomo signature line was short lived, but over the years has become one of the most recognizable sneakers from Nike Training. This was in part due to the midsole tooling, which most will quickly relate to the Nike Air Griffey Max 1, but also because it never made a return as a Retro, thus adding to its allure.
Check out the images in this week’s Eastbay Memory Lane from the early 1997 Eastbay catalog.
so sick, need them!
These do look very nice. I like the write-up, very nastagic
Definitely getting these.. but in the navy blue color way, what a perfect bday gift !
the bottem was copied from the griffeys -.-
Sweet!!!
Wow! gunna have to cop these. these are nice. i love griffeys so you already know im gunna love these because of the same midsole.
Sorry, but I won’t be buying any more 1990’s retros until they go back to the original size air units.
these are awesome to me.. most will say ugly..
weeeewwww so sick!! these are super thrash
LOVE EM LOVE EM LOVE EM LOVE EM LOVE EM LOVE EM.
cant m’fing wait!
I still have a pair of the originals
I wish they’d retro the Air Pro Streak in the Black/Silver colorway!
I agree with Bc, the 90’s retros dont look the same without the original size air units. Anyway, this issue takes me back to the golden years. Those were that days. Nike is still great, but it aint what it used to be.
My maroon and white pro streak max bubble burst on me about 3 years ago. Diesel training shoe.