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23-554: Irabu may refer to: Hideki Irabu , a Japanese baseball player Irabu Island , an island in Okinawa Okinoerabujima , an island in Kagoshima Prefecture, natively called Irabu Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Irabu . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

46-488: A "fat pussy toad" after he failed to cover first base on a ground ball during a spring training game. Steinbrenner refused to let Irabu accompany the team to Los Angeles, but two days later, Steinbrenner apologized and allowed Irabu to join the team. 1998 was Irabu's best season in MLB, featuring career bests in games started (28), complete games (2), innings pitched (173), wins (13), and ERA (4.06). Despite his inconsistency, Irabu

69-585: A $ 12.8 million, four-year contract, and after only eight minor league appearances, the Yankees put him in their rotation. Irabu made his highly publicized debut on 10 July 1997, drawing almost twice as many fans that night as they averaged for weeknight games. He played with the Yankees from 1997 through 1999, winning two World Series rings (1998, 1999) despite only pitching in one postseason game and having no postseason decisions. George Steinbrenner publicly expressed disgust at his weight, at one point calling him

92-504: A 5–3 record in 10 starts, with an ERA of 3.58. In 65 innings, Irabu struck out 66 batters while walking just 19. In August, he announced his intention to return to the Japanese professional leagues, and began playing for the semi-professional Kōchi Fighting Dogs . On 20 August 2008, Irabu was arrested for assaulting the manager of a bar in Umeda, Osaka after his credit card was declined. Irabu

115-751: A mini-playoff to determine its champion. Beginning in 1975, the Pacific League began using the designated hitter (DH), as in the American League in Major League Baseball . During interleague play (adopted in 2005), the DH is used in Pacific League teams' home games. After the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season and, the Orix BlueWave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged to form

138-547: A woman in the United States at the time. Thompson, who had been redeployed to Vietnam before his son's birth, briefly visited young Hideki and his mother a year later, but they would not again meet until after Irabu reached the U.S. major leagues. Hideki's mother, Kazue, a native of Miyako, later married a restaurateur, Ichiro Irabu, from Osaka . Irabu raised Hideki as his son in Amagasaki , Hyōgo Prefecture . Irabu pitched for

161-578: The Mainichi Orions to form the Daimai Orions . This enabled the Pacific League to shrink from the ungainly seven-team arrangement to six teams. Fujio Nakazawa , a former player and television commentator, became the PL's first full-time president in 1959, serving through 1965. From 1973 to 1982, the Pacific League employed a split season , with the first-half winner playing against the second-half winner in

184-533: The Orix Buffaloes . A franchise was granted to internet shopping company Rakuten and the city of Sendai , forming the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to fill the void caused by the merger. Also since 2004, a three-team playoff system was introduced in the Pacific League (Pacific League Championship Series). The teams with the second- and third-best records play in the three-game first stage, with

207-656: The Texas Rangers as a closer. At the end of the year, he was released. At the end of the 2002 season, Irabu moved back to Japan to pitch in the Hanshin Tigers ' starting rotation for the 2003 season, helping the team win the Central League pennant for the first time since 1985. Before the 2004 season, he pitched in the 2004 MLB Japan Opening Series exhibition games against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays . Over

230-714: The Lotte Orions, who later became the Chiba Lotte Marines , of the Pacific League from 1988–1996. He was known as a high-speed pitcher and in 1993, he threw a 158 km/h (98 mph) fastball against Kazuhiro Kiyohara of the Seibu Lions . This was the fastest clocked pitch in all of Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) until 2005, when the record was broken by Marc Kroon of the Yokohama BayStars . Irabu led

253-552: The Marines through the 1996 season. Desiring to play in MLB, the Marines sold Irabu to the San Diego Padres , with whom they had a working arrangement, despite Irabu's desire to play for the Yankees. When Irabu refused to play for San Diego, they traded him to the Yankees, and the aftermath of the deal led to the development of the posting system . Irabu was a member of the Yankees' World Series -winning teams in 1998 and 1999, becoming

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276-595: The Pacific League in wins in 1994 (15) and in ERA in 1995 and 1996 (2.53 & 2.40, respectively). He also led the Pacific League in strikeouts in 1994 and 1995 (239 & 167, respectively). In 1997, the San Diego Padres purchased Irabu's contract from the Chiba Lotte Marines. The criticisms of this sale from other MLB teams, who wished to bid on Irabu, led to the creation of the posting system currently used by Japanese and MLB teams. Irabu, however, refused to sign with

299-614: The Padres, saying he would only play with the Yankees. For the negotiating rights to Irabu, the Yankees offered the Padres a choice of one from a list of players including Brian Boehringer , David Weathers , Chris Cumberland , Andy Fox and Matt Luke . The Padres eventually included him as a player-to-be-named-later in a trade that involved Homer Bush and Irabu going to the New York Yankees in exchange for Rafael Medina , Rubén Rivera , and $ 3 million in cash. The Yankees signed Irabu to

322-427: The course of six MLB seasons, Irabu's career totals are 126 games, 514 innings, 34 wins, 35 losses, 16 saves, 405 strikeouts, and a 5.15 ERA. His Japanese totals for eleven seasons are 273 games, 1,286 1 ⁄ 3 innings, 72 wins, 69 losses, 11 saves, 1,282 strikeouts, and a 3.55 ERA. In April 2009, Irabu came out of retirement to sign with Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden Baseball League . He posted

345-544: The first Japanese-born player to win a World Series. Irabu pitched in the major leagues through 2002 and returned to Japan with the Tigers in 2003 and retired after the 2004 season. Irabu died by suicide in 2011. Irabu was born on 5 May 1969, in Hirara (present: Miyakojima ), Okinawa , Japan (then administered by the government of the United States ). His father was a U.S. Air Force meteorologist named Steve Thompson, married to

368-518: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irabu&oldid=1214717927 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Japanese-language surnames Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Hideki Irabu Hideki Irabu ( 伊良部 秀輝 , Irabu Hideki , 5 May 1969 – 27 July 2011)

391-559: The other Pacific League teams, the Unions struggled from the outset and finished in the second division every season. In 1957, the Unions were merged with the Daiei Stars to form the Daiei Unions (and again bringing the number of Pacific League teams down to seven). In their first season, the Unions finished in last place, 43 + 1 ⁄ 2 games out of first. In 1958, the Unions merged with

414-807: The previous iteration, the Japanese Baseball League —the Hankyu Braves , the Nankai Hawks , the Daiei Stars , and the Tokyu Flyers —and three new teams—the Kintetsu Pearls , the Mainichi Orions , and the Nishitetsu Clippers . In 1954, an eighth Pacific League team was founded, the Takahashi Unions , to increase the number of teams to eight. Although the team was stocked with players from

437-542: The winner advancing to a best-of-six final against the top team (the Pacific League pennant winner is granted a 1 game advantage in the Final Stage). The winner becomes the representative of the Pacific League to the Japan Series . Since the Pacific League won every Japan Series after introducing this system, an identical system was introduced to the Central League in 2007, and the post-season intra-league games were renamed

460-517: Was a Japanese professional baseball player of American and Japanese mixed ancestry. He played professionally in both Japan and the United States. Irabu played for the Lotte Orions / Chiba Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and for the New York Yankees , Montreal Expos , and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Irabu debuted in NPB in 1988 and played for

483-636: Was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol on 17 May 2010, in Redondo Beach, California . The press release of his arrest stated he resided at the time in Rancho Palos Verdes . Irabu was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on 27 July 2011. He was reported to have hanged himself . He left behind his wife and two children. Irabu's autopsy showed he was inebriated at the time of his death with both alcohol and Ativan in his system. He

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506-471: Was reportedly despondent because his wife had taken their two daughters and left him. Pacific League The circuit was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union (太平洋野球連盟, Taiheiyo Yakyu Renmei ) in 1949 (the name changing to its current form in 1980). Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata was the first president of the Pacific League. The league began with seven teams: four holdovers from

529-671: Was twice named the American League's Pitcher of the Month: in May 1998 and July 1999. After the 1999 season, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Ted Lilly , Christian Parker , and Jake Westbrook . He started only 14 games for the Expos in 2000 and 2001, pitching 71 + 1 ⁄ 3 innings with a 6.69 ERA and only two wins against seven losses. In 2002, he signed as a free agent to pitch for

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