37 years old. Such a young age to pass away. I hope his family finds comfort amidst this tragedy. RIP

but I can’t believe I’m not the only one who is grateful to Jose for introducing the world his wife.

Lima was a fun pitcher to watch. Best wishes for his wife and kids.

We’ve had too many former MLB pitchers in recent years that haven’t lived to see the age of 40. Look, I know none of the deaths are related. None of the three cases involved an automobile accident. It’s just a reminder that tomorrow is promised to no one.

When I worked as a producer for a cable station in Orlando (their version of CLTV), I had the fortune to interview then Astro Jose Lima during spring training 2002. I was putting together a special series on spring training baseball in Central Florida.

His on field persona was a match with his off field personality. He was very nice and funny – before, while, and after the camera light was on.

He was perfectly accommodating to a TV crew he knew was unlikely to be seen again.

When we were done with his interview, he asked “is that it? Do you need to talk to anybody else?” When I said we’d like to grab another player, but knew we were running up against practice time (early, early March before games began), he pulled us along into the locker room, waiving off security’s efforts to check our credentials (remember – spring ‘02, baseball’s first ST after 9/11), and set us up with Billy Wagner.

When we were done talking to Wagner, Lima came over and thanked US for coming by and wished us a good day. Most of the players we met during filming were cordial and many were nice. But Jose was the topper.

So, as far as I’m concerned, baseball has lost one of its best.

RIP, Lima Time.