Hideki Irabu, 1969-2011

Hideki Irabu had some good days
after coming to the States, and
some bad ones. Thursday, we can
assume, was a bad one.

Hideki Irabu was found dead Thursday, an apparent suicide.

He was a big star in his native Japan, and, as detailed here by Matthew Pouliot, an above-average starter in the U.S. for a couple of seasons. He was the fifth starter on the 1998 Yankees, a team I believe was the greatest team ever assembled.

But what Irabu is remembered for, and as, was George Steinbrenner's characterization of him during spring training 1999 as "a fat, pus-sy toad." The insult was too memorable; it clung to Irabu the rest of his life.

It is beyond my ability to know what effect Steinbrenner's public display of contempt had on Irabu's psyche, but it probably didn't help. I have never had to look for reasons to dislike Steinbrenner; the reasons just come, even after his death.

Irabu's U.S. pitching career was neither long nor brilliant, but he helped the Yankees win a couple of World Series. I'll try to keep
that as my primary memory of him.

Catching up on the past week

So many things I didn't get around to commenting on, for medical and other reasons:

The George Steinbrenner plaque
dwarfs all others in Yankee Stadium's
famed Monument Park.

* The bigger-than-life George Steinbrenner plaque unveiled last week at Yankee Stadium is a fitting memorial to him. How else to mark a life of mindless excess and ego? Let no one imagine that he had any sense of humility, or that anybody close to him has good judgment.

* Speaking of the Yankees: I was really hoping, as I watched the game Sunday night, that the Red Sox would win and raise at least the specter of a New York collapse. Alas, Mariano Rivera's blown save was matched by Jonathan Papelbon, and the Yankees clinched at least a tie for the wild card.

But the big takeaway from it for me: When Ryan Kalish and Bill Hall can each steal second and third off the Rivera-Posada battery, the rest of the playoff field should take notice. And duplicate. (Assuming that they can get anybody on base against Rivera.)

* Josh Hamilton didn't celebrate with his teammates when the Rangers clinched their division title. Good move, given his notorious problems with addiction.

* Of more recent vintage: Check out the size of the Rangers' new TV deal.

*Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban defector now pitching for the Reds, hit 105 mph on a stadium radar gun. Wow. We don't know what Bob Feller or Walter Johnson would have hit on a modern gun, but it's difficult to imagine throwing at greater velocity.

Unless you buy into the legend of Steve Dalkowski. Which I do.

Thoughts on King George III

George Steinbrenner III died today, and while I won't celebrate his death, I also will not celebrate his life.

Steinbrenner was a liar and bully. He was born on third base and not only thought he'd hit a triple but that he was being cheated of home as well. He dealt with his insecurities by belittling all around him. He bore all his life the aura of a spoiled, petulant child.

I'm sure he was a more complex man than that description admits. Most humans are. Yet it is amply supported by the public record, and it is a persona he appeared to not only accept but revel in.

He assembled the consortium that purchased the Yankees in 1973, and the team won seven World Series between then and now. An impressive record, yes — but the foundations for all those championship teams were laid during his two lengthy suspensions, when he was officially banned from active participation in running the franchise.

He will, I'm sure, someday have a plaque in the Hall of Fame. That plaque, no matter how carefully worded, is unlikely to affect my long-distance assessment of the man: He may not have been the biggest cavity of a horse's behind in baseball history, but he was in the running.