Former Rangers Pitcher Hideki Irabu Found Dead
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - Former Texas Rangers pitcher Hideki Irabu was reportedly found dead at a home in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb of an apparent suicide Thursday afternoon.
Irabu, who spent his final days pitching with the Rangers in 2002 also played for the NY Yankees and Montreal Expos.
Irabu earned World Series rings with the Yankees in both 1998 and 1999, but he fell short of expectations and drew the ire of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner who famously nicknamed him the "fat toad."
The Yankees traded him to the Expos after the 1999 season where he lasted only two seasons. He came to the Rangers for only one season before retiring in 2002.
Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Arriaga says the 42-yeara-old Irabu was found dead at 4:25 p.m. Pacific Wednesday at a home in Rancho Palos Verdes. Arriaga says it was an apparent suicide but other details haven't been released.
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