By John Klima
Staff Writer

It had been nearly twelve years since and exactly one Daisuke Matsuzaka start since Hideo Nomo came to the major leagues in 1995. Much has changed in baseball in that time, and the arrival of a Japanese Major Leaguer to the American Major Leagues isn’t the anomaly that it once was.

From corner outfielders to third basemen, middle infielders and closers, the Japanese ballplayer has become a stable of Major League Baseball. Yet after 12 years, nothing quite creates the excitement that a starting pitcher does.

Matsuzaka’s first major league start, last Thursday, at Kansas City, produced this favorable pitching line: seven innings, six hits, one run (earned), one walk, 10 strikeouts, and one home run. He threw 108 pitches and 74 strikes.

Nomo’s first major league start was May 2, 1995, at San Francisco. He pitched five innings, gave up one hit, no runs, walked four, struck out seven and threw 91 pitches, 51 for strikes. In hindsight, Nomo’s first start showed you just about everything you needed to know about the kind of major league pitcher Nomo became.

Now to the question that will be answered by the years: will Matsuzaka’s start at Kansas City become, like Nomo’s debut, a game that showed us everything we needed to know about him?

Looking back at Nomo’s debut, one pattern is telling. Not one ball was hit on the ground. This was San Francisco, so if ever there was a ballpark to keep the ball on the dirt, this would have been it. He recorded all of his outs with strikeouts, seven fly balls and two pop-ups.

He battled his control in the first inning, walking the bases loaded before striking out Royce Clayton to end the inning. Nomo threw his heavy fastball and showed the erratic fastball command that, in Japan, had made him a version of a young, wild Nolan Ryan. He also showed the split-finger fastball that was his trademark out pitch long before America discovered him. Five of his seven strikeouts were swinging.

Matsuzaka’s line potentially offers a glimpse into the depth and differentiation of his method and stuff. Of his ten strikeouts, five were looking and five were swinging, a good indication of a combination of the overpowering and the confusing. Matsuzaka had four ground ball outs, three of which were hit back at him, and five fly ball outs. His only mistake was David DeJesus’s leadoff home run in the sixth inning.

Both Nomo and Matsuzaka arrived in the major leagues at age 26. If there’s one cause for concern, it’s the comparative innings workload. From 1990-1994, Nomo piled up 1,051 1/3 innings. From 1999-2006, Matsuzaka had thrown 1,402 2/3 innings. However, Matsuzaka pitched more than 200 innings only twice in eight years for the Seibu Lions, with a high of 240 1/3 innings in 2001. Nomo, by comparison, was an innings horse.

In succession, he pitched 235 innings, 242 1/3, 216 2/3 and 243 1/3 innings from 1990-1993 before throwing 114 innings in 1994. The saving grace for Matsuzaka’s long term major league success is likely going to be found in the efficiency he had in Japan. While Nomo was undoubtedly racking up pitch counts that perhaps might make even a pitch jockey like Tommy Lasorda cry, Matsuzaka had better command before he came to the Major Leagues.

A look at Nomo’s strikeouts to walk ratios in Japan show that his walks were as disturbing as his strikeouts were promising: 287/109, 287/128, 228/117, 276/148 and 126/86. By contrast, Matsuzaka had more strikeouts (1,355) than Nomo (1,204) and fewer walks (502/588).

For A’s designated hitter Mike Piazza, who caught Nomo’s first start and the majority of his starts with the Dodgers, watching Matzusaka has some sentimental value. Piazza has yet to face Matsuzaka, but has seen enough of him on TV to know that there are similarities and differences that can be found in the meaning of their arrivals and in their comparative stuff.

“I remember (Nomo’s) first start,” Piazza said. “He actually pitched five innings because of the strike. I do see similarities. I see a lot of excitement. It’s probably similar with Ichiro. I think (Japan) is proud of their players. They’re very happy and honored that their players are big league talent because for years they – I don’t want to say they were inferior – I think they just didn’t feel like they maybe measured up as big league talent.”

It’s difficult to imagine that a Japanese player has captivated audiences the way Matsuzaka has. Even the multi-talented Ichiro, who is a stoic position player self-obsessed with hitting in a way that is reminiscent of the approach that drove Ted Williams, did not bring this charisma when he arrived. Hideki Matsui brought a horde of cameramen with him to New York City, and became the power hitter he was expected to be, but few players have brought the same expectations as Matsuzaka.

A year ago, then Atlanta Braves General Manager Dayton Moore was discussing the talent level coming out of Japan’s major leagues. He ran off a handful of names, then paused, and said, “And of course, everyone knows about Matsuzaka.”

No player has been wanted more than Matsuzaka, but with historical hindsight, one could argue that no player meant more to the Japanese cause than did Nomo, who finished his career with very solid numbers: 123-109 and a 4.21 ERA.

“Nomo was a good personality to be the first Japanese player in the modern day to come here,” Piazza said. “He was very serious and focused on what he was doing.”

As for the future of Matsuzaka, the best we can do is guess. Piazza gave it his best prediction.

“I saw him on TV and he looks pretty nasty,” Piazza said. “He looks like he has great stuff. I’d say they’re similar but different. It seems like (Matsuzaka) throws harder. I don’t think Nomo threw as hard as he does, in the mid-to-high 90s. Nomo had that devastating split finger which he was able to get a lot of chases with.”

Matsuzaka volunteered a comment that resembled Nomo’s after his first start.

“Up to now, given all the expectations that have surrounded me, I’ve felt happy about those expectations, and at the same time, feeling like perhaps they were a little bit extreme,” he said. “Speaking for myself and all the fans that have supported me here, it’s great that I was able to come out here and record a victory in my first start.”

Nomo, who enjoyed dealing with the media as much as hitters loved missing his splitter, offered this after his game: “I’m so glad I got to pitch in a real major league game. This is what I always wanted. My dream was realized.”

The future of Matsuzaka has yet to be realized. But barring injury, there may come a time in the near future when the $103 million investment the Red Sox made to negotiate with and sign him may be considered a deal.