This brings us to Jose Lima, the fans, and the media. The more we think we learn about baseball, the less we know. Jose Lima has a lifetime ERA of 5.00. He has pitched just under 1400 innings and has allowed 1539 hits. Last night, he pitched a magnificent game against one of the best offensive teams we have seen in the last few years.
Lima faced a St. Louis Cardinals line up that included Larry Walker, Albert Pujols, Jim Edmunds, Scott Rolen, and Edgar Renteria, a line up that scored 5.3 runs a game and hit 214 home runs. Lima pitched a complete game five hitter in shutting out the Cardinals to stave off elimination in the best of five playoff series that the Dodgers now trail, two games to one.
At the start of spring training, Jose Lima was a non-roster invitee. No one except Lima expected him to make the team but he did and he had one of his better seasons, which doesn't take much considering his lifetime record. Lima won 13 while losing only 5 with a 4.07 ERA, which is about a run lower than his lifetime ERA. On September 13, Sean Burroughs hit a ball up the middle that Lima tried to stop with his bare hand. He continued to pitch but two days later, X-rays revealed Lima had a hairline fracture of the outside knuckle of his thumb. It hampered his effectiveness for a while but not last night.
Lima insists he is no fluke, whatever that means, but if the Dodgers can upset the Cardinals to advance to the next playoff series, he will get the chance to continue proving he is for real. With Odalis Perez and Jeff Weaver scheduled to pitch the next game or two, if necessary, Lima's chances of pitching again this season appear to be slim and none, but let's not jump to conclusions.
Dodgers' general manager Paul DePodesta: "A pretty remarkable performance. If he gives you five or six innings like that, it's remarkable, but to finish the job, you can't explain it. That's the beauty of the game."
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