Nobody in major-league baseball knows Hideo Nomo better than Dave Wallace. And not even Wallace knows for sure just what the Mets acquired when they traded for Nomo late Thursday night.
“Everything you do is a calculated risk,” said Wallace, an adviser to Mets General Manager Steve Phillips. “What is it they say? You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take? If Hideo can be the pitcher he can be, everybody will be very happy.”
Nomo, the 1995 NL Rookie of the Year, joined the Mets before Friday night’s game at Fenway Park. Scheduled to make his first start Tuesday night at Shea against the expansion Devil Rays, Nomo made no promise that he again could occupy the position he held for 2 1/2 years as one of the game’s most dominating pitchers. Nomo offered only hope that the trade itself would revitalize him.
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“I needed a change of scenery,” Nomo said through interpreter Tsumaki Odori.
By reuniting Nomo with Wallace, catcher Mike Piazza and his close friend Masato Yoshii, the Mets attempted to catch lightning in a bottle. Club officials spoke cautiously about a pitcher separated by almost a year from his last brush with greatness.
“We’re better when Hideo pitches than we were three days ago,” manager Bobby Valentine said. “And when Mike (Piazza) comes up, we’re better every at-bat he takes. (But) the key to our team is still the guys who were here pre-Dodger infiltration.”
The immediate impact of Nomo, whom the Mets acquired along with Brad Clontz for Greg McMichael and Dave Mlicki, could be felt mainly in the clubhouse, where players seemed emboldened by the club’s second big move in two weeks.
“The front office wants to win this year,” Carlos Baerga said. Baerga also said he was confident the rejuvenated Mets could make up the eight games separating them from the NL East-leading Braves.