José Lima

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**José Lima**

New York Mets — No. 17
Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 20, 1994 for the Detroit Tigers
Selected MLB statistics (through September 30, 2006)
Wins-Losses	89-102
Earned Run Average	5.26
Strikeouts	980
Teams
Detroit Tigers (1994-1996, 2001, 2002) Houston Astros (1997-2000, 2001) Kansas City Royals (2003, 2005) Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) New York Mets (2006)

José Desiderio Rodriguez Lima (a.k.a. "Lima Time") (born September 30, 1972 in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is a right-handed pitcher who last pitched for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.

[edit] Career

He made his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers on April 20, 1994 at age 22. After three lackluster years in Detroit, he was traded to the Houston Astros, where he played for four and a half seasons before being traded back to Detroit in 2001. He gained recognition for winning 21 games in 1999 with the Astros, earning a trip to the All Star Game that year. He helped to increase his profile by flamboyantly celebrating his victories in the face of opponents. His dominance on the mound gave rise to the phrase "Lima time" whenever he pitched. A year later, however, Lima surrendered a league-leading 48 home runs and lost 16 games.

Since his stellar 1999 season, Lima has generally struggled to recapture his former success while playing for several different teams. He was released by Detroit during the 2002 season, proclaiming at the time, "If I can't pitch on this team--the worst or second-worst team in baseball--where am I going to pitch? If I can't start on this ballclub, I must be the worst pitcher on Earth." Thereafter, he played for the Kansas City Royals in 2003, the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004, and in 2005, he returned to Kansas City. With the Dodgers, Lima was 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA, his best performance since 1999, including a 4-hit shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 NLDS.

Lima's 6.99 ERA in 2005 was the highest single-season total in baseball history for a pitcher with 30 or more games started. [1]

On February 14, 2006, Lima was inked to a minor-league deal by the Mets and pitched for the Mets' AAA affiliate Norfolk Tides. He was called up to the Mets on May 7, 2006, and went 0-3 with an 8.79 ERA in three starts before being designated for assignment on May 20, 2006.

On July 4, 2006, José was again called up to the Mets, while Heath Bell was optioned back to the Norfolk Tides. [2]

After another terrible pitching outing on July 7, 2006 against the Florida Marlins, Lima was designated for assignment back to the Norfolk Tides for the 2nd time during the 2006 season. Lima's 2006 stint with the Mets gave him a 0-4 record with a 9.87 ERA in 4 total starts.

[edit] Personal life

In December 2004, Lima was successfully sued by a woman who claimed she had contracted genital herpes from him. Faced with counts of assault and negligence, Lima may owe the woman as much as $950,000. He claims to have contracted the incurable disease while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. He has also made statements in his native country Dominica republic that after his baseball career is over, he would possibly like to pursue a career as a singer; specifically in the genre of bachata [3].