Shocking: Beloved, Outgoing Former Major League Pitcher Jose Lima, Age 37, Dies from Heart Attack… R.I.P. (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 23, 2010
Former major league pitcher Jose Lima has died in Los Angeles from a heart attack... he was only 37 years old
Tragic and shocking — beloved, irreverent former major league pitcher Jose Lima has died of an apparent massive heart attack while sleeping at his home in Los Angeles last night. He was only 37 years old.
No one was like Lima back in his glory days of baseball, and no one will likely ever be like him in the future. He was a funny, outspoken, one of a kind carpe diem example of a man who loved and lived life more deeply and fully than most. A talented athlete from the Dominican Republic, he was never predictable, always upbeat and friendly, and one heck of a ballplayer.
Rest in peace, Jose. My prayers go to your family, friends, and fans who are mourning your premature death.
Associated Press: Jose Lima Dead at Age 37
From MLB FanHouse, Jose Lima Dies From Apparent Heart Attack at 37:
Former major league pitcher Jose Lima died early Sunday morning of an apparent heart attack in his home in Los Angeles. Lima was 37 years old.
News of Lima’s death was first reported by ESPNDeportes.com.
Lima’s wife, Dorca Astacio, said Lima began complaining during the night, and she originally thought he was having a nightmare. She soon called paramedics, but Lima was suffering a massive heart attack and passed away.
“He was a man full of life, without apparent physical problems and with many plans and projects on the agenda,” Astacio told ESPNDeportes.com.
Lima spent 13 years in the majors, pitching for the Tigers, Royals, Astros, Mets and Dodgers, going 89-102 with a 5.26 ERA in his career. His best season came in 1999 when he went 21-10 with the Astros.
Still, the right-hander was best known for outlandish antics and garish celebrations on the mound — gesticulations that prompted him to call each of his outings “Lima Time.”
“He could dance, he could sing, but his best gift of all was that he was an extremely happy person,” Astros owner Drayton McLane said.
Lima was an All-Star in ’99 and finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting that season, but he never reached the same heights on the mound again, surrendering a league-leading 48 home runs the next year with Houston.
From Zimbio, Dorca Astacio Finds Jose Lima Dead at 37:
Dorca Astacio found her husband, 37-year-old former MLB pitcher Jose Lima, dead this morning. He died of an apparent heart attack, according to TMZ.
Astacio is quoted as saying her husband woke up in discomfort, but she thought he was having bad dreams.
He apparently had a massive heart attack, according to updated reports. This morning Astacio said: “Jose was complaining while sleeping and I just thought he was having a nightmare … I called the paramedics, but they couldn’t help him.”
Since retiring from professional baseball in 2006, he had kept up with the sport and had been playing on a winter league in the Dominican Republican. “He was a man full of life, without apparent physical problems and with many plans and projects on the agenda,” Astacio said.
From LAist, Teammates Remember Jose Lima:
October 9, 2004 is a day most Dodger fans will never forget.
After the team had won the NL West title for the first time since 1995, they had yet to win a postseason game since winning the World Series against the Oakland Athletics in 1988. And just like in 1988 when they had Kirk Gibson to be the emotional leader for the team, “Lima Time” was instrumental in the Dodgers’ run to the postseason in 2004.
“Everybody who knew him had fun with him,” Dodgers’ reliever Jeff Weaver said. Weaver was a teammate of Lima’s in 2004 and in 2002 with the Detroit Tigers. “He was the life of the clubhouse and kept everyone entertained and having fun. People who knew him are going to miss him.
And on that October day in Game 3 of the National League Divisional Series against the St. Louis Cardinals with the Dodgers trailing two games to none, Lima was out there facing off against Matt Morris. Against a hard hitting Cardinals team that had crushed the Dodgers 8-3 in each of the first two games in St. Louis, all Lima did was pitch a complete game five-hit shutout for the Dodgers 4-0 victory.
Although the Dodgers lost 6-2 the next day giving the Cardinals the series win, Lima went down in Dodger history as the pitcher who gave the team their first playoff victory since 1988.
“He went out there, won a ballgame for us and did everything he could to help the team win,” Weaver recalled.
From New York Times, Jose Lima, Former All-Star Pitcher, Dies at 37:
Jose Lima, who pitched for five teams during a 13-year career, died on Sunday at his home in Los Angeles of an apparent heart attack. He was 37.
Lima played for the Detroit Tigers, the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Mets during his career. In 1999, while with the Astros, he won 21 games and made the National League All-Star team. His last stop was with the Mets in 2006, when he went 0-4 in four appearances.
While Lima certainly enjoyed some success on the field, he was also well know for his outgoing personality. He often referred to his pitching appearances as “Lima Time.” When he joined the Mets in 2006, Ben Shpigel of the Times described him as “the national anthem-crooning, towel-waving merengue singer who moonlights as a right-handed pitcher.”
From USA Today:
…Ten years later, the Los Angeles Dodgers got off the team plane from St. Louis at 4 a.m. after losing the first two games of a best-of-five playoff series. The bleary eyed players dragged themselves onto the bus when, suddenly, cranked-up salsa music jolted everyone.
“Yeah, he always wakes us up,” teammate Eric Gagne said of Lima. “He’s the one that gets everything going. He changed the mood. Everyone was down a little bit. He came in, started dancing, started singing. He’s always positive, always optimistic.”
And Lima went out and pitched a five-hit shutout that night, the Dodgers’ only victory of the series and their first playoff victory since the 1988 World Series.
[...]
Gagne and other teammates along the way learned that Lima — against all prevailing logic — was for real. Whether it was promoting his own salsa recordings. Whether it was calling the Astros’ move from the spacious Astrodome to their current hitter-friendly digs “a joke,” or any other of scores of honest but ruffled-feathers-be-damned comments. Whether it was buttoning up a yellow suit after a ’99 playoff game in Atlanta all the while making fun of teammate Derek Bell’s lime green outfit.
He made no apologies for who he was. He knew who talked about him, all the way back to that day in Toledo when he clearly heard his teammates but shrugged. He knew who in the news media made fun of him and who accepted him without judging, which was all he asked.
His self-proclaimed “Lima time” was a decade-earlier version of “Manny Being Manny.” His next-to-last spring in the Royals clubhouse at Surprise, Ariz., Lima held court. His voice filled the room as it always did. He gesticulated as much making a point in conversation as he did after a crucial strikeout. Bemused veterans chuckled as they walked by. Younger players watched, not quite sure what to make of a man even bigger than life in person than the guy they’d seen on TV.
From Sun-Sentinel, Marlins’ Nunez stunned over death of friend and countryman Jose Lima:
Ronny Paulino gave Leo Nunez the news. Jose Lima died of a massive heart attack Sunday morning in his Los Angeles home at age 37.
“Everything hurt,” Nunez said, of his reaction.
Nunez and Lima, both natives of the Dominican Republic, were teammates on the 2005 Royals. Lima took Nunez under his wing, housing him during spring training so the young pitcher could save money and again for two months when the Royals promoted him.
“We were like this,” said Nunez, putting his two index fingers together. “He helped me so much. He gave me advice, told me I had a lot of talent and needed to take advantage of it. We treated each other like brothers.”
The last time Nunez crossed paths with Lima was about two weeks before reporting to spring training at a Julian Tavarez charity game in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Nunez also got to know Lima’s parents, saying, “I hope God gives them strength to withstand that. It’s has to be an unbelievable heartache.”
Lima last played in the majors with the Dodgers in 2006, the last of his 13 big-league seasons. He won 21 games for the 1999 Astros and was named an All-Star that season. Lima was best known for his gregarious manner on and off the field.
“Everybody loved him,” Nunez said. “He was always happy.”
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Rest in peace Jose.