It was a fun time. It was an exciting time. It was an improbable time.

It was “Lima Time.”

On Sunday morning, Jon Weisman – the genius behind Dodger Insider magazine – tweeted out that it was the 12 year anniversary of former Dodger right-hander Jose Lima‘s unexpected and improbable win over the St Louis Cardinals in Game-3 of the 2004 National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium – a day that will forever be known as “Lima Time.”

On this day 12 years ago, the then 31-year-old Santiago, Dominican Republic native did something that no other Dodger pitcher had done since Orel Hershiser‘s emotional 1988 World Series-clinching Game-5 victory – he won a postseason game for the Dodgers. Not only did Lima beat the highly-favored Cardinals in Game-3 of the 2004 NLDS, he did so by throwing a complete game shutout, allowing only five hits while striking out four and walking one.

Like I said, improbable.

Lima was acquired by the Dodgers as a free agent on January 28, 2004, signing a one-year contract which, at the time, drew very little attention or fanfare. But during that magical 2004 season in which the Dodgers won the National League West title on the final day of the regular season on Steve Finley’s historic walk-off grand slam home run against the hated Giants, Lima posted a respectable 13–5 record and 4.07 ERA, his best season since 1999 when he went 21-10 with the Houston Astros to earn his only All-Star appearance. But it was his 4-0 complete game shutout of the mighty Cardinals on October 9, 2004 that etched his name in Dodger history forever, giving the Dodgers their first postseason victory in 16 years.

Although Lima was anything but a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher during his 13-year MLB career, he would be at the head of the line if there were a fan-favorite Hall of Fame … and it had absolutely nothing to do with his pitching. In fact, when it came to career numbers, Lima barely rose to the mediocre level, with a career mark of 89-102 and a career ERA of 5.26. But Jose Lima possessed something that you won’t find on any baseball stat sheet or analytics page – charisma. In fact, he personified the very definition of the word.

This photograph of Jose Lima with (then) seven-year-old Ian LeRoy of Bakersfield, California was taken in May of 2009. Lima would always make it a point to stop and visit with fans – especially kids.
(Photo courtesy of Kendrea LeRoy)

While Lima’s frequent animated displays of emotion on the mound and in the dugout often drew ire and criticism from opposing players, anyone who ever played with him will tell you that he never did these things to show anyone up or belittle them, this is just who he was and proof of how much he loved the game.

On the morning of May 23, 2010 the baseball world awoke to the devastating news that Jose Lima had died of a sudden heart attack while he slept – only two days after he received a standing ovation at Dodger Stadium when shown on the jumbotron. He was only 37 years old. And like only he could do, Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully had this to say about Jose Lima on that tragic day:

Even though Jose Lima was taken from us way too soon, “Lima Time” will be with us forever.