Irabu

When I started this blog a year and a half ago, I did so with the intent of talking hockey and baseball.  However, as time and things go along, this blog has become more of a hockey blog, with everything else that interests me coming in as it happens.

Today, I get to talk some baseball.  Unfortunately, it isn't about trade talks or anything related to the actual game going on right now.  In fact, it's actually sad news.  Coming across the news wires, former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu was found dead yesterday afternoon.  Early reports say suicide, which adds a sad end to what was a star-crossed career.  Irabu was the second Japanese player to make it to the MLB after Hideo Nomo.  Like Nomo, Irabu came in with some considerable hype.  However, he never lived up to the billing, being called a "fat toad" by then-Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.  A 34-35 record with a 5.15 ERA in his time with the Yankees, Expos, and Rangers marked his six years in Major League Baseball.

His numbers in the US were nothing special, but his lasting legacy is being one of the first Japanese players to make it in the Major Leagues, which now include the likes of Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, Koskue Fukudome, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka.