“Nomo blazed a trail for Japanese MLB players…” Musings hachiyorenge
John Steinbeck (1902-1968), a U.S. writer known for such works as “The Grapes of Wrath,” reportedly said, “Genius is a little boy chasing a butterfly up a mountain.”
I learned this quote from the book “Sugoi Kotoba” (Great Words) written by Yoichi Hareyama and published by Bungei Shunjyusha as part of the Bunshun pocketbook library.
“Look down, and you can see what a distance you’ve climbed”–even if the boy was praised like this, he might simply say, distractedly, “But all I did was chase a butterfly.”
Swap the butterfly for a baseball, and the boy could be hurler Hideo Nomo, 39, who has just announced an end to his career. Nomo blazed a trail for Japanese pro baseball players, including Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui, to climb the peak of U.S. major league baseball. Never have we heard emotional, let alone boastful, words from Nomo about his achievements.
Nomo won the rookie of the year title, posted 123 wins and recorded a no-hitter game twice during his major league career. After leaving several great footprints in the major league history, Nomo announced his retirement Thursday.
He said he had some regrets, indicating that he has no interest in the view from a mountaintop and is still chasing an imaginary butterfly.
Let me introduce a work from Hikaru Koike’s anthology of poems “Teki Teki Shu.” It reads:
Nomo’s hips as they turn toward us
Sticking right out
What a breathtaking posture
No longer will we be able to see his “tornado” pitching style that sent winds tearing through the minds of spectators.
The Yomiuri Shimbun. Musings. The following is a translation of the Henshu Techo column from The Yomiuri Shimbun.
日本人メジャーリーガーの開拓者… 編集手帳 八葉蓮華
「怒りの葡萄(ぶどう)」などで知られる米国の作家ジョン・スタインベックは語ったという。「天才とは、蝶(ちょう)を追っていつのまにか山頂に登っている少年である」と。晴山陽一さんの著書「すごい言葉」（文春新書）に教えられた◆遥(はる)か眼下を見おろしてごらん。何とまあ、高い所までのぼったね。そう褒められても少年はぽかんとし、「ぼくは蝶を追ってきただけで…」と戸惑うのみだろう◆蝶を白球に変えれば、少年は野茂英雄投手（３９）の姿に重なる。日本人メジャーリーガーの開拓者が切り開いた登山道があればこそ、イチロー選手や松井秀喜選手の今があるのだが、その人の口から自慢はおろか感慨めいた言葉さえ聞いたことがない◆新人王、１２３勝、２度の無安打無得点…大リーグに数々の偉大な足跡を刻み、野茂投手が引退を表明した。「悔いが残る」という。頂上からの眺望は眼中になし、少年の目は今も幻の蝶を追っているのだろう◆小池光さんの歌集「滴滴集」から。〈野茂の尻こちらむくときつき出せる量塊の偉(ゐ)は息のむまでぞ〉。見る者の胸に風を呼ぶ、あのトルネード（竜巻）はもう見られない。
