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1. Swedish Chef Posted: May 23, 2010 at 05:03 PM (#3540474)That's two guys from the 2006 Mets that have died recently. Puts things in perspective.
Sudden deaths like this are scary; no time or inclination to prepare. The person probably thinks they have decades to live.
Seems like yesterday I was watching him allow Sosa's 50th and 51st homers in an August '98 game (an Astro blowout); that was when he was still kinda good.
RIP. It's Lima Time! in heaven.
I doubt he cracks the starting rotation in either potential destination.
First death by wife mention: #11 I guess. Oh, make that #13.
RIP Lima Time. BELIEVE IT!
Sadly, we're going to be seeing lots of athletes dying before their time in the years ahead because of this awful epidemic.
You can't help insinuating #### about people with not a shred of evidence?
Sadly, we're going to be seeing lots of athletes dying before their time in the years ahead because of this awful epidemic.
You mean like Ruth and Gehrig?
I was debating whether to admit to my Jim Rome phase when I saw this. So I guess I'm in the company of friends and can do so. I was young, etc. But I always remember that he had Lima on and Lima vowed to win 20 games the next season. Then he did it, and then he sucked forever after. I always think of it as though he were some movie hero giving every last ounce of energy to save someone, then letting his guard down and getting killed by the bad guys.
RIP Jose. It sure seems you had a lot of fun while you were here.
[Technically a DiPerna joke, not a Lima joke- so I may not necessarily be going to hell]
My sentiments exactly. Jose Lima may not have been a great pitcher, but he was fun to watch, and always full of joy. For an ex-All Star, and 20-game winner, to go down to an Indy League and work his way back to the majors proves that he also had moxy and determination. He was good at times, he was bad at times, but anyone who followed baseball during his career will remember him with affection and respect. RIP, Jose...
The always quote-worthy Big Papi . . .
Babe Ruth was an obese alcoholic who was born in the 19th century, and he still managed to make it to 53. Lou Gehrig died of a horrible degenerative disease which the medical world is still fighting to learn how to cure.
Neither one of these non sequiturs has anything whatsoever to do with the question of whether Lima might have been a steroid user, and whether or not it might have played a role in causing him to die of a heart attack at 37 years old.
Yes, it is nothing but pure speculation, but believe me, this sort of thing is going to come up in the minds of many people for years to come every time a former pro athlete dies of a heart attack before the age of 50.
After that day, the girl and I both adopted Mr. Lima as a favorite player. When her birthday came up a few months later, I wrote letters to three favorite players of hers- David Justice, Bill Spiers, and Jose Lima- asking them to sign birthday cards for her. Spiers and Justice each did so, sending a card with a signature. Mr. Lima sent back a card completely filled with several hundred words, all in Spanish- jokes, a story, and most of all profusely thanking her for being a fan.
I am gutted to read of his passing. RIP, Jose Lima. You will be missed.
The point is -- you don't have to speculate about steroids. Simple bad genetics and maybe some lifestyle factors could have been the simplest explanation of all for what happened to Jose Lima.
Indeed. Lima was kind of a tubby tub. He looked like he never met a fried plantain he didn't like. As a fellow congenitally high cholesterol person, I think it's uncouth to speculate about steroids.
Of course, if he did take steroids, they didn't do much for him.
The world will be a lesser place without Lima Time. RIP, Jose, you were taken too soon.
Thank you for sharing this about Jose Lima. I confess I came here half hoping to be entertained by what ingenious, snarky comments would be made about his wife. It's at a minimum inappropriate to make them in a man's obituary thread.
So I prefer to leave this thread with much sober and positive thoughts of this man. The snarky comments can wait for a different thread, another day.
RIP.
Super perfundo, Lima Time!
Great story.
My Lima memory is of him doing a pre-game interview with Vin Scully while Lima was still with the Dodgers. At Scully's urging, lima burst into song, with Scully snapping along to the melody. Funny, the things you remember...
Lima was always one of my favorite players who never played for the Sox or the Mariners and never had any really spectacular seasons as a player.
Lima's 1999 wasn't "really spectacular," but it was pretty damn good.
I can't decide if reading that makes me more sad or less sad.
The speculation about steroids is, of course, silly, but aside from that the truth is that we really don't know anything about how this man lived his life, or what caused him to die so young.
RIP. He was a player who made an indelible mark on the game.
A former co-worker of mine dropped dead on Friday at 52. Even if you live to 90, your death awaits you all-too-soon. Live every day like it's Lima time.
RIP, you left the world much too soon.
This should be the Primate Oath. RIP.
I saw that game before we had to leave because of a member of our group getting ill. Lima had gotten knocked out in the fifth inning, and instead of going to the clubhouse he sat on the bench with a dazed expression. Even with a 85 mph fastball and a roundhouse curve that got to the plate via Beloit it was clear Jose felt he should have handled the Brewers.
But the guy competed with little more than machismo and guile. Once his home ballpark couldn't help he was defenseless.
The A's were just the opposite. I don't think Lima ever did not get shelled in an appearance versus Oakland.
And yes, versus Oakland his ERA was 11.25
RIP to his loved ones.
I don't have an anecdote as awesome as the one in post 34, but I have been to a lot of batting practices in my life. And, I've never seen a player sign so many autographs and be as friendly with fans as Jose Lima was. And he was like that consistently during the several times that I saw him during batting practices.
I am sure that the longest I have ever seen a player sign autographs during batting practice/after BP finished was Lima. He spent so long signing autographs once that after he finished - when not a person left in the entire half of the stadium who wanted his autograph didn't have it - when he began to walk back towards the visiting dugout the two or three sections surrounding the area where Lima was signing began to applaud him vigorously, with several fans standing.
An absolute shame.
This brings a very big smile to my face.
This would make a great T-Shirt.
He gave that big hearty laugh, signed it, and gave me a high five.
Are you serious? I know (or at least knew) Pedro Astacio's ex-wife a little bit; our sons were on the same little league team. Very nice woman, if not quite up to the level of the erstwhile Mrs. Lima in certain assets.
This would have been about two years ago, and she lived here in Denver and was still unmarried at the time, so I suspect it may be someone else.
I'd like to...
I don't want to besmirch the man with rampant speculation, but to be completely honest, the first thing I thought when I heard he died was not PEDs, but recreational drug use.
The point is -- you don't have to speculate about steroids. Simple bad genetics and maybe some lifestyle factors could have been the simplest explanation of all for what happened to Jose Lima.
I knew an FBI agent in the early 90's who was also a part time civil war book dealer. Excellent physical shape, good family man, and mid-to-late 30's at the oldest. Just dropped dead one day of a heart attack. You never get any guarantees.
That's two guys from the 2006 Mets that have died recently. Puts things in perspective.
Who was the other one?
Lima had gotten divorced and remarried subsequently to the event that people are thinking of.
As far as I can tell he didn't have kids.
It is correct that he was divorced, although I think he did have a child. His ex-wife, Melissa, contacted Deadspin last year when she was trying to track down Jose, who she claimed owed her two years of back child support. There was also a child on the field with them the day that he sang the national anthem and she became an Internet sensation.
I'm guessing Julio Franco, since he is a obviously some sort of zombie.
He had at least the one son.
Very sad to hear.
Does anyone know where I can see video from his shutout of the Cardinals in the 2004 playoffs? Thanks to MLB's draconian Youtube policy, it doesn't seem to be there, and MLB.com doesn't seem to have anything either.
LA times obit has him with 5 kids too.
You do realize this makes Lima eligible for the next Hall of Fame ballot.
1998-1999: 37-18 .673 with a 3.64 ERA
1994-1997, 2000-2006: 52-84 .382 with a 5.98 ERA
Don Wilson
Joe Niekro
Darryl Kile
Dick Farrell
Vern Ruhle
Dave Roberts
Jose Lima
Aurelio Lopez
Brian Powell
Dave Smith
Edit: Google shows that Darryl Kile went on the ballot immediately. But Ken Caminiti didn't - last game 2001, died 2004, received votes in 2007.
BBWAA HOF Election Rule 3D:
EDIT: Caminiti died in October, less than six months before the voting. So he could not have been eligible for 2005, but could have been on the ballot in 2006. Now, getting on the ballot isn't strictly automatic; there is a screening committee that decides which of the eligible candidates should be listed. So maybe they decided not to invoke the rule due to the specific circumstances. Or maybe they just forgot.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/7030765.html
Revised to include only those who died at age 55 or younger:
Don Wilson
Darryl Kile
Dick Farrell
Vern Ruhle
Jay Dahl
Jeriome Robertson
Jim Umbricht
Jose Lima
Aurelio Lopez
Brian Powell
Dave Smith
I believe that now every Astros team from 1962-2003 has had at least one pitcher who is no longer living.
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