Mattie T’s Tribute to Jose Lima (1972-2010)
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on May 23, 2010
Major League Baseball is in mourning today, as 13-year veteran pitcher Jose Lima passed away Sunday morning in Los Angeles from an apparent heart attack.
Lima grew up in the Dominican Republic & made his major-league debut on April 20th, 1994 for the Detroit Tigers.
After three seasons in Detroit, Lima was traded to the Houston Astros where he spent the majority of the 1997 season as a reliever.
He was then promoted to a full-time starter in 1998, as he responded with 16 wins (2nd highest total of career) in 233 1/3 innings of work, pitched 3 complete games & struck out 169 batters (2nd highest total of career).
Lima was even better in 1999, as he won a career-high 21 games while pitching in 246 1/3 innings & struck out 187 batters with a 3.58 ERA, which earnede him his 1st & only All-Star Game selection.
However, he would struggle following his career 1999 season as he lost 16 games (Also allowed 48 home runs, which is the 2nd highest single-season total in MLB history) in 2000 & had an injury-plagued 2001 season, which ended his 4-year run in Houston.
After Lima’s release by Detroit in 2002, he quoted that “If i can’t start on this ballclub, i must be the worst pitcher on Earth.”
He had a strong bounceback season with Los Angeles in 2004 as he went 13-5 in 24 starts with a 4.07 ERA, but lost 16 games the following year with the Kansas City Royals.
Lima then finished out his career with the New York Mets, as his final major-league game was on July 7th, 2006 against the Florida Marlins.
His only career postseason start was a dandy, as he pitched a 5-hit shutout for Los Angeles in a 4-0 win over St. Louis on October 9th, 2004 during Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Current Rockies manager & former Dodgers manager Jim Tracy had this to say about Lima after his masterful performance:
“I don’t know that you can do it much better. That’s not bad for someone who came to spring training not guaranteed a job.”
Jose Lima was 37 years old and is survived by his wife Dorca, son Jose Jr & younger brother Joel.
