The emigration started during the strike-shortened season of 1995. The team that had brought us Fernandomania 14 years earlier introduced us to another foreign flavor.

	After going 13-6 as a rookie in '95, Hideo Nomo is 48-43 over the last four years.

The same year Nomo burst onto the L.A. scene by winning the NL Rookie of the Year award, Bobby Valentine managed the Chiba Lotte Marines to a second-place finish in the Japanese Pacific division. Upon his return to the United States, Valentine talked about the high level of talent in Japan, particularly the pitching.

We were all preparing for baseball's version of a Japanese invasion.

Five years later, we now know that the Japanese are far better at making cars and computers than they are at producing major-league pitchers. Others have followed Nomo's lead to the United States, but none of them have duplicated his initial success.

"I think Nomo's success made us all believe that there were a number of quality guys available over there," Arbuckle said. "But we haven't seen that overall quality. We have seen flashes from a guy like (Hideki) Irabu, but we haven't seen anything consistent. The bar was set with Nomo and the subsequent guys have not performed up to that level. Maybe the expectations were too high because of what Nomo did when he first came to the country."

The Japanese pitchers who have worked in the big leagues have not been a flop -- they just have failed to dominate hitters here the way they did in their own country.

For proof, we offer the combined statistics of the seven Japanese pitchers who worked in the big leagues last season. They had a respectable record of 44-38, but an elevated earned run average of 5.02. The lowest of the seven ERAs belonged to the Mets' Masato Yoshii, who checked in at 4.40.

"I think what we're seeing is that because of an extraordinary amount of usage, some of these guys are breaking down before they even become free agents," Arbuckle said. "The pool is not as great as we thought it would be because some of these guys are losing their velocity before they become free agents. You see guys over there better than Nomo, but they're not close to being free agents and you're not going to get them over here."

Japanese players cannot become free agents for nine years after signing with their original team. Although they play fewer games in Japan, the training regiment is fierce.

"They literally throw every day," Arbuckle said. "I think because of their belief in their training methods, they start losing their stuff at an earlier age."

Of course, a major problem with one of the most heralded Japanese imports is a lack of those same training methods that are so sacred in Japan. The Expos can only hope that Irabu will discover fitness in his new country. "That was the one reason the Japanese were so willing to let him go," Arbuckle said. "The one thing they demand is conformity to the rules. He was viewed as a malcontent and an outlaw over there. You heard the same thing about Nomo, but not nearly to the same extent."

The latest phenom to come to America is Kazuhiro Sasaki, a 6-foot-3 right-handed closer with a nasty forkball. The Mariners secured the 31-year-old's services with a three-year deal worth $9.5 million, a bargain if he is the second coming of Mariano Rivera.

"From everything I've heard about him, he's legit," Arbuckle said.

Skepticism sent home the other Japanese hurler who peddled his services to major-league teams this offseason. Kimiyasa Kudo had a 162-89 record in Japan and was twice the league's MVP. His agent, Alan Nero, described him as "the Greg Maddux of Japan" and promised he'd win 15 games even on a losing team.

Nobody was willing to pay Kudo top dollar and he has returned to Japan. Perhaps the big-league buyers were leery after hearing Irabu described as Japan's Nolan Ryan. Such off-base comparisons may be made because the pitchers in Japan aren't facing the same sort of competition they encounter in North America.

"I think the overall level of the position players over there is a decent Triple-A caliber in the United States," Arbuckle said. "You can see a lack of size and lack of strength in the position players. The hitting approach is also very different. They all get out on their front foot. I just don't think the pitchers face the same quality of hitters over there."

There is concrete proof for that theory. You've probably never heard of Rod Pedraza and for good reason. He bounced between Double-A and Triple-A when he pitched on this side of the Pacific. In Japan, he compiled 23 saves and had a 2.19 ERA as the star closer for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks last season.

In the next decade, Arbuckle believes Korea could surpass Japan in supplying major-league pitchers. The Dodgers' Chan Ho Park is living proof of how good Korean pitchers can be.

"The Korean Professional League is something relatively new," Arbuckle said. "The Korean kids are stronger and bigger physically. Down the road, because of their size and strength, I wouldn't be surprised to see Korea pass Japan as more fertile ground for the type of players we're looking for."

In the meantime, major-league teams will continue to scout in Japan.

"You never know if the next guy coming out is another Nomo," Arbuckle said. "It's just like the draft. I'm hoping every year to get another second-rounder like Scott Rolen."

"It took quite a while," Rolen said. "I started going to rehab right after the season and for 2½ to three weeks it was still hurting me. I took it upon myself to take two or three more weeks off and when I went back after that, I was fine."

Rolen said his mind has also healed this winter.

"Last year was as tough a season as I've ever had," he said. "I let things get to me that I hadn't in the past. I had always left the game at the ballpark before and I didn't do that last year. One day this winter I just woke up and told myself, 'This isn't you.' I was driving myself crazy and, for the first time, baseball wasn't fun. I needed to take a step back and think."

Camp told school officials his name was Bill Jones and volunteered to bring some of his teammates to the school. But when he didn't show up with any players or Billy the Marlin and couldn't answer many of the questions asked by the children, a school official grew suspicious and called the Marlins.

"He seemed a little dense," principal Joel Armstrong said. "But, you know, that's not unusual with some ballplayers."

"It's got to change," he said. "I want them to be nice guys off the field, but on the field you've got to ... do what needs to be done ... Throw it in the ribs. Throw it in the butt. Throw it in the back. It won't hurt. Our batters have got to be protected."