By Steven Booth
It’s been a long time.
For a respected franchise like the Dodgers, it is going on twenty-two years since they won a World Series. They usually do well and are competitive, but hit a wall come playoff time.
So we’re happy with even mere playoff wins, and that is where Jose Lima comes in.
In 2004, not even a win in the playoffs since 1988, and it looked like it would be more of the same. Our beloved Dodgers were on the verge of being swept by a Cardinal team with Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Larry Walker. Jose Lima”s start was an afterthought. The Dodgers looked totally out-gunned and out-classed, and let’s face, it, they were. Odalis Perez and Jeff Weaver got hammered in the first two games, so it looked like Lima was headed down the same route.
Little did everyone know, it was “Lima Time”. Lima shut out the Cards with a mix of cockiness, guile, and sheer competitiveness. He had no fastball at this stage in his career, and went by on wits alone to beat the eventual NL Champion. It was the first Dodger playoff win in nearly sixteen years, and while their playoff fortunes have slightly improved, Lima’s start ended a long, long drought.
This was a guy who had some great years in the 1990′s with the Astros, hurt his arm and more or less disappeared. The Dodgers picked him up as a fifth starter in 2004, not expecting much. he won thirteen games that year, with a respectable 4.07 ERA. Not legendary, but pretty good for a fifth starter. More importantly, he brought swagger, fun, and a love of the game to a clubhouse not normally known for such things.
Biggest of all, he brought that one big win. It shouldn’t be something to get all happy about and says tons about an under-performing franchise, but for us Dodger fans, it’s the most fun we’ve had since Gibson hit that homer in 1988.
Goodbye and thanks for the great memories. The game needs more guys like you.
