The Yankees left him off that year’s postseason roster. Hideki Irabu was a Japanese professional baseball player of American and Japanese mixed ancestry. The Yankees would finish the 1997 two games back of the Orioles. In all, his post-Yankees career consisted of a 5-15 record with a 6.31 ERA in 118.1 innings over three injury-plagued seasons.Irabu returned to Japan after that and had a nice 2003 campaign for the Hanshin Tigers, going 13-8 with a 3.85 ERA before knee pain shut him down early in the 2004 season and, eventually, causing him to retire with a career record of 72-69 and a 3.55 ERA in Japan. He was a pretty damn big deal.And he wanted to a big deal in America. All I can say for now is that I have told this to my agent and that there has been no change in my wishes.”San Diego Padres president Larry Lucchino was not worried. We think that when we have a chance to speak with him, we’ll be able to adjust his perspective. In 1997, he joined the New York Yankees to much fanfare; however, he was ultimately unsuccessful in the MLB.
Lucchino caved and, on this date in 1997 he agreed to trade the rights to Irabu to New York in exchange for minor leaguers Ruben Rivera and Rafael Medina plus $3 million in cash.In light of the attention given to Irabu during his Padres holdout and given the fact that Rivera was, at the time, considered the Yankees’ top prospect, there were considerable expectations of the young man. Due to the money and players spent to get him, and his eventual lack of success, Yankee fans sometimes joked his name was I-rob The story of how Irabu was saddled with his infamous nickname is often mangled — and the nickname itself is often misstated — so let’s go to the original source. A trade was finally worked out, Irabu eventually signed with the Yankees and made his debut on July 10 against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium. Hideki Irabu, the infamous Japanese pitcher signed by the Yankees in 1997, was found dead in a suburb outside Los Angeles yesterday.Police said Irabu’s body was found at 7:25 p.m. EST Wednesday night.“He was found dead of an apparent suicide,” Los Angeles county sheriff’s Sgt. His response:“I’m not surprised, and we’re fully prepared to advance the Padres’ interest no matter who from New York or elsewhere wants to take issue with us . Growing up, this caused him to be taunted, making Japan something less than home for him. Irabu pitched for the Lotte Orions, who later became the Irabu led the Pacific League in wins in 1994 (15) and in ERA in 1995 and 1996 (2.53 & 2.40, respectively). He also led the Pacific League in strikeouts in 1994 and 1995 (239 & 167, respectively).Irabu made his highly publicized debut on July 10, 1997, drawing almost twice as many fans that night as they averaged for weeknight games.1998 was Irabu's best season in MLB, featuring career bests in games started (28), complete games (2), innings pitched (173), wins (13), and ERA (4.06).At the end of the 2002 season, Irabu moved back to Japan to pitch in the Before the 2004 season, he pitched 2004 MLB Japan Opening Series exhibition games against the Over the course of six MLB seasons, Irabu's career totals are 126 games, 514 innings, 34 wins, 35 losses, 16 saves, 405 strikeouts, and a 5.15 ERA.In April 2009, Irabu had come out of retirement and made a contract with On August 20, 2008, Irabu was arrested on the suspicion of assaulting the manager of a bar in Irabu was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on July 27, 2011. After meeting his father upon arriving in America, the two would not become close.
He was 6’4″ and 250 pounds and pitched at a time when most Japanese… Nobody ever said it was going to be easy.”And it wasn’t. He was 42 years old. He later pitched for Montreal and Texas. That’s above average and, in any event, the 114-win 1998 Yankees and 98-win 1999 Yankees — World Series champs both years — did not feel like they had better options.