Don Nomura
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is a
sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...
who primarily represents Japanese baseball players. He is best known for convincing
Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...
players
Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a ...
and Alfonso Soriano to retire from the league to sign with
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
in the 1990s, as well as negotiating for Hideki Irabu to be sent to the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
like he requested instead of the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
, which led to the NPB dissolving the
reserve clause The reserve clause, in North American professional sports, was part of a player contract which stated that the rights to players were retained by the team upon the contract's expiration. Players under these contracts were not free to enter into ano ...
and paved the way for Japanese Baseball players playing in the MLB.


Life before and during his baseball career

Nomura was born Donald Engel at St. Luke's International Hospital in
Chūō, Tokyo is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyōbashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. C ...
, to a Japanese mother, Yoshie Itō and a Jewish American father, Alvin George Engel. His mother left the family when Don was six, leaving his father to care for him and his younger brother Kenneth. He attended St. Mary's International School, a private, English-speaking Catholic school in Tokyo, until he was kicked out for fighting at the age of 16. Nomura then attended Chofu High School, then transferred to Zama High School, where he played baseball and graduated in 1975. During this time, he began visiting his mother, who had changed her name to and married NPB
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
and
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
Katsuya Nomura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was award ...
.Whiting 2004, p. 123 After completing high school, Nomura enrolled at
California State Polytechnic University California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a public polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the largest of the three polytechnic universities in the California State University syst ...
in
Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...
where he studied and played baseball from 1975–77. In 1977, at the age of 21, the Japanese Home Ministry would no longer allow Nomura to hold a US-Japan
dual citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...
, requiring him to choose one. He chose Japanese citizenship. Nomura's decision was influenced by a NPB restriction that allowed only two foreign players per team at the time. He then assumed the name until his stepfather adopted him that same year, at which time he took the name Don Katsuki Nomura. Commenting on his new Japanese name, Nomura remarked, "It helped me get into places and meet people". He began playing on a minor league team affiliated with the
Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...
the next year as a
utility infielder In baseball, a utility player or utility man is a player who has the ability to play more than one position in the field and is primarily used as a substitute. The term super utility player may be used to refer to a player who can play all or mos ...
.


Life after his baseball career

In 1981, he was released after playing four seasons with the team because of poor performance. That same year, Nomura's 62-year-old father, Alvin Engel, committed suicide in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
via
carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...
. Nomura traveled to Hawaii to pick up his father's ashes and returned them to Japan. In December of the same year, Nomura moved to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
with his new wife. There he worked a series of odd jobs including a non-paying scout for the
Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...
,
travel agent A travel agency is a private Retailing, retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related Service (economics), services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel supply chain, suppliers to offer different kin ...
,
janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...
,
waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...
, driver,
liquor store A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors (typically in bottles), wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom ...
clerk, tour coordinator,
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
and so on. For a time, Nomura was forced to send his wife and infant daughter back to Japan while he lived in his car in Los Angeles because of his poor financial state. By 1985, he had saved enough money to rent an apartment and bring his family back to L.A. Nomura then converted $1,000 to $41,000 while playing
baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game. It is now mainly played at casinos, but formerly popular at house-parties and private gaming rooms. The game's origins are a mixture of precursors from China, Japan, and Korea, which then gained popularit ...
in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. The money helped him to buy an apartment building in L.A. for $250,000 that he later sold for $400,000. In 1989, Nomura borrowed money to buy 50% of the Salinas Spurs, an unaffiliated Class-A baseball team in the
California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...
. NPB teams sent their high school draftees to Nomura's Spurs for training. As a teenager, baseball player Mac Suzuki worked in the team's clubhouse until he began playing with the Spurs in 1992. That year, Suzuki became Nomura's first client when he signed him to a personal representation contract. Nomura then negotiated with the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
and later earned Suzuki a million-dollar
signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...
. In 1992, Nomura sold the Spurs to a group in
San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...
.Whiting 2004, p. 127 He founded the Los Angeles-based company KDN Sports, Inc. and became a full-time
sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...
. In 1994 Nomura discovered a loophole in the NPB player contract and working agreement between MLB and NPB. According to the 1967 working agreement between MLB and NPB, NPB players could not sign a contract with an MLB team until they reached free agency after 10 years of service or unless their team sold their contract to an MLB team. However, a player who "voluntarily retired" from NPB was no longer bound to their NPB team outside Japan and was free to sign overseas without violating the working agreement. After the 1994 season Nomura assisted star NPB pitcher
Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a ...
in testing the loophole. After failing to reach a contract agreement with the
Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Sta ...
, Nomo retired from NPB and signed with the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
in 1995. In 1998 he represented Hideki Irabu, whose contract was sold by the
Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings, Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific Le ...
to the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
. Irabu stated that he would only play for the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
, and refused to sign with the Padres. The Padres traded the rights to Irabu to the Yankees, where he finally made his MLB debut. Despite Irabu's refusal to sign with the Padres, other teams were unhappy that they didn't get the chance to bid on Irabu. In 1998, the NPB contract loophole was tested again when Nomura advised
Hiroshima Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...
player Alfonso Soriano of the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
who wished to move to MLB. Although NPB had amended the player contract to prohibit retired players from signing overseas, they had inadvertently failed to notify MLB of the change as required by the working agreement. After failing to reach a contract agreement with the Carp, Soriano declared his retirement as Nomo had three years before. This decision resulted in the Carp management suing Nomura for $100,000 in damages as well as threatening legal action against any MLB ball club that negotiated with Soriano. However, MLB eventually ruled that Soriano could be classified as a free agent. The Carp gave up pursuing legal action, and the suit with Nomura was later settled. Soriano signed with the New York Yankees for $3.1 million over four years, a vast improvement over the $40,000 a year he was offered from the Carp. The incidents with Nomo, Irabu, and Soriano motivated NPB and MLB to abolish the working agreement and replace it with the current
posting system The is a baseball player transfer system that operates between Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). Despite the drafting of the United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement, unveiled in 1967 to regulate ...
. This led to a wave of star players leaving NPB during their prime to play in the United States, in addition to the dozens of players who moved to the US after becoming free agents.


Personal life

Nomura's half brother is former NPB player and current
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...
coach Katsunori Nomura. He attended and afterwards played under a coach named Scott Thompson. One of his mentors, practice player at , Yoshio Toyoda, is another important person in Nomura's life.


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nomura, Don 1957 births Living people Japanese people of American-Jewish descent Japanese baseball players Yakult Swallows players Sports agents People from Chūō, Tokyo