Nomura then converted $1,000 to $41,000 while playing baccarat in Las Vegas. The money helped him to buy an apartment building in L.A. for $250,000 that he later sold for $400,000. Career In 1989, Nomura borrowed money to buy 50% of the Salinas Spurs, an unaffiliated Class-A baseball team in the California League. NPB teams sent their high school draftees to Nomura's Spurs for training. As a teenager, baseball player Mac Suzuki worked in the team's clubhouse until he began playing with the Spurs in 1992. That year, Suzuki became Nomura's first client when he signed him to a personal representation contract. Nomura then negotiated with the Seattle Mariners and later earned Suzuki a million-dollar signing bonus. In 1992, Nomura sold the Spurs to a group in San Bernardino. He founded the Los Angeles-based company KDN Sports, Inc. and became a full-time sports agent. In 1994 Nomura discovered a loophole in the NPB player contract and working agreement between MLB and NPB. According to the 1967 working agreement between MLB and NPB, NPB players could not sign a contract with an MLB team until they reached free agency after 10 years of service or unless their team sold their contract to an MLB team. However, a player who "voluntarily retired" from NPB was no longer bound to their NPB team outside Japan and was free to sign overseas without violating the working agreement. After the 1994 season Nomura assisted star NPB pitcher Hideo Nomo in testing the loophole. After failing to reach a contract agreement with the Kintetsu Buffaloes, Nomo retired from NPB and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. In 1998 he represented Hideki Irabu, whose contract was sold by the Chiba Lotte Marines to the San Diego Padres. Irabu stated that he would only play for the New York Yankees, and refused to sign with the Padres. The Padres traded the rights to Irabu to the Yankees, where he finally made his MLB debut. Despite Irabu's refusal to sign with the Padres, other teams were unhappy that they didn't get the chance to bid on Irabu. In 1998, the NPB contract loophole was tested again when Nomura advised Hiroshima Carp player Alfonso Soriano of the Dominican Republic who wished to move to MLB. Although NPB had amended the player contract to prohibit retired players from signing overseas, they had inadvertently failed to notify MLB of the