It was a special time. It was an emotional time. It was a glorious time.

It was “Lima Time.”

In the grand scheme of things, extremely popular right-hander José Lima‘s time with the Dodgers was little more than a flash in the pan of the (then) 46-year history of the Los Angeles Dodgers and (then) 121-year history of baseball’s most storied franchise. But for as brief as it was, only one season to be exact, it was tremendously impactful.

Lima was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent on January 28, 2004 with 10 years of major league experience already under his belt; none greater than the 1999 season with the (then) National League Houston Astros. That year, the (then) 26-year-old Santiago, Dominican Republic native, who was initially signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1989, made a MLB-most 35 starts, posted a 21-10 record and 3.58 ERA, was selected to the 1999 NL All-Star team, and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young award voting, which was won by some guy named Randy Johnson.

Prior to arriving in LA, Lima had spent all or part of five seasons with Detroit, five with Houston, and two with Kansas City before landing in L.A. As luck (and irony) would have it, there was a unique and somewhat popular adult beverage out at the time that just so happened to bear José’s last name. That beverage – a concoction that fell somewhere between a lime-flavored beer, wine, and champagne – used the phrase “It’s Lima Time” as its advertising slogan.

It was a match made in Heaven.

During his brief stint with the Dodger, Lima appeared in 36 games, starting 24 of them and posting a 13-5 record with a rather pedestrian 4.07 ERA. In his combined 170.1 innings pitched (which included three complete games), the crafty and eccentric 6′-2″ / 170-pound right-hander struck out 93 while walking 34. He also allowed 33 home runs.

Although “Lima Time” lasted through the entire 2004 season, it absolutely flourished in the 2004 postseason, when the Dodgers made it to the National League Division Series against the highly favored St. Louis Cardinals.

Down two games to none, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy gave the Game-3 start to Lima in front of a sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd of 55,992.

It was “Lima Time” at its absolute finest.

The extremely animated Dodgers right-hander (which the Cardinals undoubtedly characterized as ‘showboating’), allowed no runs and only five hits while striking out four and walking only one. He also pitched all nine innings for the complete game / 5-0 shutout. Among his strikeout victims was Hall of Famer Larry Walker (twice), Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds. He made a total of 109 pitches (74 strikes) to the 32 Cardinals batters he faced.

After recording the final out in the top half of the eighth inning on an unassisted ground out to Dodgers first baseman Shawn Green by Walker, a visibly emotional Lima walked off the field to a standing ovation; reason being that everyone in the house thought that Dodgers star closer Eric Gagne would most certainly pitch the ninth … everyone except Jim Tracy, that is.

When José took off his jacket and emerged from the Dodgers’ dugout to pitch the ninth, the place went nuts. Ten pitches later, our beloved José Lima was swarmed by his teammates after collecting what would end up being the Dodgers only 2004 NLDS victory. It was indeed “Lima Time” and a memory that ever Dodger fan will cherish forever.

Although Lima would return to Kansas City in 2005 and pitch for the New York Mets in 2006, he went 5-16 and 0-5 respectively. It was painfully obvious that “Lima Time” was over and the popular former Dodger hung up his spikes after his final game on July 7, 2006.

But Lima knew where the love was and occasionally graced the jumbotron screen at Dodger Stadium, where he would occasionally stop by to catch a game.

And then disaster struck.

In the early morning hours of May 23, 2010, just two days after attending a game at Dodger Stadium, Lima was rushed to Huntington Memorial Hospital in nearby Pasadena, California, where he was pronounced dead.

He was 37 years old.

Although the subsequent autopsy report did not list the exact cause of death, it did indicate that due to a known pre-existing heart condition, Lima’s premature death was most likely the result of cardiac arrhythmia.

On July 12, 2010, Lima’s lifelong friend and countryman David Ortiz paid tribute to him by dedicating his 2010 All-Star Home Run Derby win to his dear friend.

Although José Lima is gone, his memory and legacy shall forever be in the hearts of Dodger fans around the world.

…where it will always be “Lima Time.”

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