When did Jose Lima become a must-watch attraction? As soon as you met him.
Watch latest interview with Jose Lima on video here>>>
For me, it was 1994, when Lima was an effervescent (of course) 21-year-old who recently had pitched a no-hitter for Detroit's Class AAA farm team in Toledo, Ohio.
The story was supposed to be about this kid who came within one walk of a perfect game, then stayed on the field for 45 minutes signing autographs, finally showered and signed another couple hundred after leaving the clubhouse.
"These people cheer for me," he told me. "I could never say no."
Lima, it seemed, could never say nothing.
He was rewarded for it -- with far more attention than anyone with a 89-102 career record could expect, especially when nearly a quarter of the wins in his 13-year career came in one magical 21-10 season for Houston in 1999.
He also took his share of heat for it. These were my published impressions of that meeting in a cramped clubhouse at Toledo's since-replaced relic of a ballpark:
"He signs and chats every day. He wants to catch every ceremonial first pitch. It certainly hasn't gone unnoticed. Chatting with Lima in the Mud Hens clubhouse, it doesn't take rabbit ears to hear remarks muttered among a few teammates that this was some self-hype act, not what the seasoned pro would do."
Watch latest interview with Jose Lima on video here>>>
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."
