Brewers Get Maximum Out of Nomo Deal

An interesting aspect of Hideo Nomo’s 4-1 resurgence with the Milwaukee Brewers is that he could be pitching his way back into a pennant race. The 30-year-old right-hander, released by the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs and rejected in a tryout with the Cleveland Indians earlier this season, is making the minimum of $200,000, but that will go up considerably next year if he continues to pitch well, and the budget-conscious Brewers, while moving into a new park in 2000, may be inclined to trade him for prospects when the contenders come calling before the July 31 trade deadline.

Nomo’s effectiveness is particularly painful to the mound-strapped Cubs. Nomo made three starts for their triple-A Iowa team but balked when asked to make a fourth, turning down a possible $2.8-million salary with the Cubs to eventually sign for the minimum with the Brewers. On Wednesday, Nomo rubbed it in, giving up only two runs and four hits in seven innings of an 11-4 victory over the Cubs.

“The problem,” he said through the ever-present interpreter, “was that they asked me to pitch three times in the minors, and I did it. Then they said twice more, and if I had pitched twice more, I wasn’t sure what the Cubs would say. There was no assurance I would go back to the majors, and that was a problem. The Brewers assured me that by pitching once more in the minors, I could come back to the majors. I feel needed and appreciated here.”

The Cubs are a little touchy about the subject. A Japanese reporter asked Manager Jim Riggleman after Wednesday’s game if he would like to have Nomo back. Riggleman forced a laugh and said, “How would you like to eat that microphone? How can I answer that? He pitches for them now.”

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Another former Dodger pitcher on the road back is Pedro Astacio. The right-hander is 6-2 in his last nine starts with the Colorado Rockies and has pitched at least six innings in all nine. The two losses: a 3-2 complete game at Atlanta and a 3-1 defeat at Houston. Astacio has picked up the slack for Darryl Kile, who was bombed out of a 15-2 loss to San Francisco at Coors Field on Wednesday and is 6-10 with a 6.46 earned-run average and 11-11 with a 4.19 ERA on the road since signing a three-year, $24-million contract as a free agent before the 1998 season. Kile tries to downplay the Coors Field factor, but teammates know Kile doesn’t downplay anything.

“If we can get him to relax and go out and not worry, everything would be fine,” center fielder Darryl Hamilton said. “He puts so much pressure on himself, sometimes I think that he thinks he has to pitch a no-hitter. He’s just too hard on himself.”

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Right-hander Greg Hansell, who made a brief appearance with the Dodgers in 1995, passed through Los Angeles last week with the Pittsburgh Pirates, his contract having been purchased from triple-A Nashville on June 9. Hansell is challenging Mike Morgan as baseball’s most-traveled man. The difference is that Morgan is 39 and Hansell is 28 and has already been with 10 organizations in 11 pro seasons.

“I like to get on the Internet and check out how teams are doing, both at the major and minor league levels,” he said at Dodger Stadium. “I’m always able to find a former teammate. It’s doubtful there’s too many players who have more ex-teammates than I do.”

Has he ever considered quitting?

“Never,” he said. “I’d rather stay in this fantasy world of pro baseball for as long as I can before I have to go out into the real world and get a job. Any level of baseball is better than any job I could find in the outside world.”