nwasianweekly.com
July 26, 2008

Hideo Nomo is known for his signature pitching style, involving an elaborate wind-up earning him the nickname “Tornado.”

The ‘Tornado’ retires

By Staff

Northwest Asian Weekly

Ichiro Suzuki’s first success — the first home run of his professional baseball career — came from Hideo Nomo’s pitch in a 1994 Japan game.

In the coming years, when Ichiro stands as the first Japanese-born player inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, first on his thank you list would be Nomo, but not for the reason listed above. Nomo,1995 NL Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers and one of only four pitchers to throw no-hitters in the AL and NL, is widely considered to be the pioneer for Japanese-born players in baseball. Without Nomo’s trailblazing, there might not be an Ichiro in American baseball.

Nomo announced his retirement this year on July 17, ending a long and successful career. Though he wasn’t the first Japanese player in the MLB — Masanori Murakami pitched for the San Francisco Giants in 1964 and 1965 but ended up being called back to Japan due to contractual obligations — Nomo was the first Japanese major leaguer to permanently relocate to the MLB in the States. He had exploited a loophole in his Japanese contract and gained free agency, opening himself up to be picked up by the Dodgers in 1995.

He was taking a risk. Had he not been successful with his 1995 lead in NL strikeouts and gone 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA, Major League teams would have waited years before they considered trying out another Japanese player.

Ichiro was acquired by the Mariners on Nov. 9, 2000, as the first Japanese position player to play regularly for an MLB team. At the time, many questioned his size and strength. Like Nomo before him, Ichiro blew away his dissenters with an extraordinary 2001 season, accumulating 242 hits (a rookie record, and the most of any player since 1930), leading the league with a .350 batting average and 56 stolen bases.

Recently, when Seattle Post-Intelligencer sports columnist Jim Moore suggested trading Ichiro, it prompted an outcry from fans.

Most fans came out in favor of Ichiro, and many were aghast that Moore would even speculate about trading him. Fans bantered about whether Moore’s claims that Ichiro was a mediocre player were true, but few denied that his presence helped fill seats at Safeco Field.

Judge Kiyo Matsumoto second Asian American female on federal bench

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced July 17 that the full United States Senate has unanimously confirmed Kiyo Matsumoto to be the next federal judge in the Eastern District of New York.

Matsumoto currently serves as a federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District and will be only the second woman of Asian descent ever confirmed to the federal bench.

Her father and mother spent time in an internment camp during World War II.

“Judge Matsumoto’s life and career show the greatness of those who believe in America and push our nation to its best potential: The woman whose family was subject to the worst injustice under law, now — as a result of her own talent — has a seat of legal power and influence to judge others with rigor, intellectual excellence and fairness,” said Schumer.

Matsumoto is not only the second Asian American woman to serve as a federal district court judge, she is only the third Asian American federal district court judge outside of California and Hawaii. She is the eighth Asian American federal Senate-confirmed judge currently active out of approximately 850 nationwide.

Outsourcing … from India

In a telling demonstration of reverse outsourcing, a recent study announced 12 Indian companies have invested billions of dollars in the United States, creating and retaining more than 30,000 American jobs.

According to an assessment by the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Indian employers and their American workers contribute billions of dollars to federal, state and local coffers by way of wages, corporate taxes, payroll taxes and income taxes.

By far, the largest Indian company operating in the U.S. is the Tata Group. It arrived in the U.S. in 1939 and has invested more than U.S. $3 billion in the U.S. economy. The Tata Group operates 16 businesses and employs 19,000 in America.

Another company is Essar, with a presence in nearly a dozen states. Its American operations generated more than $110 million in revenues last year. Essar employs 7,200 and expects to increase staff to 8,500 by 2009. Fewer than 30 of its employees in the U.S. are Indian nationals; its U.S. team is almost exclusively born and raised here.

Essel-Propack came to the U.S. in 2002. It has created 287 new jobs in Virginia and generated $55 million in U.S. sales by an American workforce that produced 800 million tubes and 500 million caps and closures.

HCL technologies has helped develop safety and navigation equipment for Boeing’s new 787 “Dreamliner” jet aircraft. In America since 1989, HCL employs 3,000 in 21 U.S. locations and serves clients in 200 U.S. cities.

The USIBC-FICCI report notes that ITC Kitchens of India, the New Jersey-based company, is doing more than just stimulating appetites; it’s stimulating the U.S. economy, too. With a presence in 29 states, this $25 million food category is creating an economic ripple effect. The company has notched $5 million in sales and $2 million total U.S. payroll.

Other companies mentioned in the report are Jet Airways (120 employees, $36 million to the U.S. market), Mahindra USA, Inc. (125 employees, $35 million) and Satyam (5,000 employees, $800 million).