Say thank you, Ichiro. You too, Fukudome.

Without Hideo Nomo, you may not be where you are today.

The aging right-hander retired Thursday, but not before blazing the trail for Japanese players to come play in Major League Baseball, most with great success.

Granted, if it hadn’t been Nomo, it might have been someone else, but chances are it would have taken more time.

If you can still remember the massive collapse that was Hideki Irabu, you know what I mean.

Instead, Nomo blew into the league as a force to be reckoned with, winning the Rookie of the Year in the National League in 1995.

It wasn’t really a competition. With his high wind-up and its lengthy pause, ever the ire of opposing managers early in Nomo’s career, batters were flummoxed at the plate against him, netting him 236 strike outs that inaugural year.

He finished that season at 13-6 with an ERA under 3.00, he started that year’s All Star Game, and he helped the Dodgers make the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 1988.

After a sophomore season which was also dominant enough to earn him a fourth place finish in the Cy Young race for the second straight year, things quickly went downhill.

While there have been moments of brilliance, such as the two no-hitters, one in each league, or the way he returned to some of his former glory in 2002, going 16-6 with a 3.39 ERA, the fervor that overtook baseball with his arrival long since departed.

His most meaningful contribution to the game was succeeding early on. He helped to set the stage for the wave of Japanese players who have transferred their skills to the Major League level.

It is not a Hall of Fame feat, but rather one that deserves some recognition, and perhaps from a team that he never even played for.

The Seattle Mariners owe a debt of thanks to Nomo. Without him, there is no Ichiro, there is no Kenji Johjima.

No team has benefitted more from the influx of Japanese players, increasing a struggling fan base who saw its best three players walk out the door, and opening its market to an entirely new country.

The Boston Red Sox also might want to send a fruit basket Nomo’s way. Besides being a stop-gap measure for the team as its young pitchers matured, he is also the reason that there is a Daisuke Matsuzaka and a Hideki Okajima.

Again, Nomo isn’t the sole reason they are here today, but his early success had a big impact on the prejudice against Japanese players playing, and playing well in the U.S.

Nomo will likely never have a plaque in Cooperstown, but his effect on the game for the long term has been more important than his career numbers. And that is something to be celebrated.