Wake Up With Jose Lima Winning His 20th Game Of The Season (1999)
I used to fucking LOVE watching this guy pitch. You’d get a different dance every time he punched somebody out. In 1999, Lima threw 246.1 innings and didn’t even lead the league in innings because Randy Johnson is a psychopath and threw 271.2 innings that year. But Lima won 21 games that season, despite allowing 256 hits and 30 home runs. His 3.58 ERA was certainly respectable, but I’d be curious to see how many dudes gave up that many hits and still won 20 games. Can’t be very many. The very next year, he led the league in earned runs (145) and home runs (48). But ya know what? We won’t remember him for the hits and home runs allowed. We’ll remember him for that passion that he showed on the mound. RIP Jose Lima.