Jose Lima Tribute: His 5 Best MLB Seasons

The sports world is saddened this weekend with news of the death of former Major League pitcher Jose Lima at the age of 37 from an apparent heart attack. Lima was both a 20-game winner and an All-Star during a 13-year career in Major Leagues. According to Lima's wife, Dorca Astacio, Lima began experiencing some discomfort during the night. Sometime after, paramedics were called Lima suffered a massive heart attack and passed away.

Lima came into the league as a 22 year old in 1994 with the Detroit Tigers, going on to play 13 seasons for 5 different teams, A native of the Dominican Republic, Lima enjoyed his best season in 1999 when he was selected to the All-Star game while playing for the Houston Astro. During that year his record was 21-10 with a 3.58 ERA for the NL Central champion Astros and came in fourth in voting for the National League Cy Young Award. In all, Lima's career major-league totals were 89 wins against 102 losses.

After word of his passing spread throughout the sports world several major league players have expressed their thoughts on Lima. According to mlb.com, Craig Biggio, a former Astros teammate said, "A lot of people remember him for his actions on the mound, but he was a great teammate. He wanted everybody to be successful. He wanted to win and do his job, which we did, but he wanted everybody to as successful as he was. He was very genuine. The baseball family lost a good guy."

Players, owners and managers alike have been sharing stories, comments, and insights about Jose Lima throughout the weekend. Lima was known as a light-hearted, playful individual who had a personal flare for theatrics on the mound and a true dedication to teammates and fans alike.

Lima liked to refer to his starting assignments as "Lima Time" throughout his career. Besides the Detroit Tigers, he also played with the Houston Astros New York Mets, Kansas City Royals and LA Dodgers. In today's conservative culture of Major League baseball today dynamic personalities like Lima are simply underrepresented. His charismatic song and dance act sometimes performed on the mound brought smiles to many of our faces. He will be missed. Below is a compilation of what I believe are the 5 best years in the career of Jose Lima.

1. 1999 Team: Houston Astros, Record: 21-10, 3.58 ERA, 3 complete games, 246 innings pitched
During this year Lima was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.

2. 1998 Team: Houston Astros, Record: 16-8, 3.70 ERA, 3 complete games, 233 innings pitched
This was the year leading to his best. Lima was in his prime.

3. 2004 Team: Los Angeles Dodgers, Record: 13-85, 4.07 ERA, 170 innings pitched
Lima re-emerged as an above average pitcher.

4. 2003 Team: Kansas City Royals, Record: 8-3, 4.91 ERA , 73 innings pitched
Started out 7-0 that season.

5. 2001 Team: Detroit Tigers, Record: 5-10, 4.71 ERA, 2 complete games, 112 innings pitched
His record this year did not reflect his quality.

SOURCES
Huffington Post
Baseball-reference.com (1)
Baseball-reference.com (2)
Mlbfanhouse.com
Yahoo.com