Nomo Looks Just as Good as 16-K Gold : Baseball: Dodger rookie not having much trouble the second time around. Pirates fall, 8-5.

The curiosity and intrigue surrounding Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo has faded. Fans no longer show up in droves to watch him pitch. Many of the Japanese TV crews and writers have gone home.

Nomo no longer is considered a novelty merely because he’s the first Japanese player in 30 years to pitch in the major leagues.

These days, he simply is being recognized as one of the finest pitchers in the National League.

Nomo set a franchise rookie record with 16 strikeouts in eight innings Wednesday night in the Dodgers’ 8-5 victory over Pittsburgh, leaving the Pirates hoping they never see him again.

“I’d rather face Randy Johnson than Nomo,” said Pirate left fielder Al Martin, who struck out three times, “and I never even faced Johnson before. So that tells you what I think of Nomo.

“Everything he does makes you look real ugly.”

Pirate shortstop Jay Bell was asked if Nomo reminded him of anybody.

Bell, who has struck out six times in seven at-bats against Nomo, paused and finally came up with someone:

“Yeah, Cy Young.”

Most frustrating, Pirate catcher Mark Parent said, is all of the scouting reports on Nomo. The Pirates keep hearing about Nomo’s control problems. Well, in 15 innings, he has struck out 30 Pirates and walked four, including two walks Wednesday.

“We keep hearing how he’s wild,” Parent said. “What, because he hits a batter once in a while? Come on, this guy paints the corners as good as anyone in the game. And his forkball is the best in the game.

“This guy is good. I mean, real good.”

The most terrifying aspect of Nomo to the rest of the league is that he’s defying logic. It was supposed to be his funky, unorthodox delivery that made him so successful, remember? Once teams saw him a second time around, they vowed to light him up.

Nomo, 3-0 with a 2.84 earned-run average, has faced three teams a second time around--the Pirates, the New York Mets and the Montreal Expos. In those three repeat appearances, he is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA, yielding 14 hits, nine walks and striking out 26 batters in 24 innings.

So much for that theory.

“If I were you guys, I’d write about the quality of his pitching,” Bell said, “and not his delivery. He’s a good pitcher because he’s got good stuff, not because he has some trick.

“I heard people say his delivery is deceiving, but basically all he does is start, stop and start again. You can’t make any excuses.”

The Pirates and the paid crowd of 10,313 at Three Rivers Stadium were mesmerized by Nomo. The only time he struck out more hitters was the 17 strikeouts he had April 29, 1990, in his rookie season in Japan. This time, he was facing major leaguers and yielded only two of his six hits through seven innings.

Nomo, pitching with a 5-0 lead, opened the eighth inning by giving up three hits. The bullpen phone had barely rung before the Pirates cut the score to 5-3 and had runners on first and second with only one out.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda ignored his relief corps, the advice of his coaches and conventional wisdom, and stuck with Nomo.

“We talked about it, but he was still throwing the ball very well,” Lasorda said. “Besides, the way this guy gets out of jams, he reminds me a lot of Doc Gooden.”

Nomo, saying later that it was the first time in the game that he actually looked for a strikeout, fanned left-handed hitting Orlando Merced for the second out. Mark Johnson went down swinging for the record-breaking strikeout.

The 16 strikeouts, most in the major leagues this season, eclipsed Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Karl Spooner’s franchise rookie record 15 strikeouts, set Sept. 22, 1954, against the New York Giants. The 16 are two shy of Sandy Koufax’s record, tied by Ramon Martinez.

Nomo, whose strikeout total was flashed with “K” cards on the left-field railing by a small Japanese contingent, was unemotional when informed of the feat.

Someone asked, “Does the record mean a lot to you?”

Nomo: “No, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“Why doesn’t it matter to you?”

Nomo: “Why, does it mean a lot to you?”

OK, how about the idea that you were just two strikeouts shy of Koufax’s all-time franchise record? Come on, you know all about Koufax’s legacy, don’t you?

“I don’t have any knowledge of Koufax,” Nomo said.

Hmm, are you familiar with any of the Dodger all-time greats?

“Well, Fernando Valenzuela,” Nomo offered. “I know who he is.”

Said Dodger catcher Mike Piazza, who hit two homers for the seventh time of his career: “You know something, he doesn’t even know who he’s facing. But I guarantee everyone knows who he is now.”