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MONTHLY NEWS December 1996 Nomo Offers Clinic to Japanese Little Leaguers |
Two Major League stars, pitcher Hideo Nomo and catcher Mike Piazza of the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with three leading Japanese professional baseball players provided a clinic for 225 Japanese children under 15 years old on November 3 at the Tokyo Dome.
To the delight of young ball players, they played catch with and received advice from Nomo and Piazza during the two-hour baseball clinic organized by a sporting goods company. "He threw the ball so lightly, but it still had a lot behind it," said one thrilled youngster who played catch with Nomo. |
"Piazza is like a god to me," commented a junior high school participant. "I never dreamed he'd offered me advice in such a friendly way." This year's clinic was the second held, following a similar program last year.
At the end of the clinic, participating youngsters showered the two Major Leaguers with questions, such as how a fork ball should be thrown and what was Piazza's first impression of Nomo. The two star players from the Dodgers were in Japan for the eight-game U.S.-Japan Super Major Series, held between November 1 and 10. Series of exhibition games between Japanese and American players have been held off-and-on since 1908, and nearly every other year since 1986.
Photos: Nomo (top) and Piazza (above) of the Los Angeles Dodgers offer baseball tips to Japanese youngsters. (Asahi Shimbun) 
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