Posted on 07/28/2011 4:01:58 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Former Yankees pitcher Irabu dead in apparent suicide
New York Yankees starting pitcher Hideki Irabu throws against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning of their game at New York's Yankee Stadium, August 4, 1999. REUTERS/Mike Segar
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES | Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:36pm EDT
(Reuters) - Former Major League Baseball pitcher Hideki Irabu, who started for the New York Yankees for three seasons in the late 1990s, was found dead at his Los Angeles-area home of an apparent suicide, the coroner's office said on Thursday.
Irabu, 42, one of the first players to join the major leagues from the Japanese leagues, was discovered at his home in Rancho Palo Verde late Wednesday afternoon by a friend, said Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County.
"The case is being investigated as a suicide," Winter said, adding that an autopsy had yet to be performed. He declined to disclose any further details about the circumstances of Irabu's death.
The celebrity news website TMZ.com cited an unnamed law enforcement source as saying it appeared Irabu, who was famously disparaged for his weight by the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, had hanged himself.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
dang
Sad. He may not have been the pitcher everyone thought he’d be but I don’t recall him blaming others for his failures.
There was also a U.S. Olympic silver medalist who committed suicide the other day. Depression can be a terrible thing and there are so many reasons to feel that way right now.
RIP.
It is and I sympathize will all past and present poor souls who suffer or who have suffered from it..........
Sad news. I remember the excitement of Yankees fans when they got him. He was on a couple of World Series teams, too.
Oh no. Very sad. But I believe suicide is much more accepted in Japan. I wonder if that had anything to do with his decision to do this.
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