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Hideki Irabu (Japanese: 伊良部秀輝), born in Hyogo, Japan on May 15, 1969, is a former professional baseball player.

Irabu pitched for the Lotte Orions, who later became the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League from 1988 to 1996.

In 1997, the San Diego Padres purchased his contract. For the negotiating rights to Hideki Irabu the Yankees offered the Padres a choice of one from a list of players Brian Boehringer, David Weathers, Chris Cumberland, Andy Fox, and Matt Luke. The Padres would eventually include him as a player-to-be-named-later trade that involved Homer Bush and Irabu traveling to the New York Yankees in exchange for Rafael Medina and Ruben Rivera. The Yankees signed him to a $12.8 million, four-year contract and after only 8 minor league games the Yankees put him in their rotation.

He played with the Yankees from 1997 through 1999, winning two World Series rings, despite only pitching in one postseason game, and having no postseason decisions. George Steinbrenner publicly expressed disgust at his weight, at one point calling him a "fat toad." 1998 was his best season in MLB, featuring career bests in games started (28), complete games (2), innings pitched (173), wins (13), and ERA (4.06).

In 1999, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Ted Lilly, Christian Parker, and Jake Westbrook. He became a relief pitcher and saw increasingly limited action and even pitched in the minor leagues again. In 2002 he signed as a free agent to pitch for the Texas Rangers as a closer. At the end of the year Irabu moved back to Japan to pitch in the Hanshin Tigers starting rotation for the 2003 season, helping the team win the Central League pennant for the first time since 1985. When Major League Baseball opened the 2004 season in Tokyo, he pitched against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although former Yankee teammate Tino Martinez said his pitching had improved, Irabu never pitched for MLB again and remains retired from baseball.

Over the course of six MLB seasons, Irabu's career totals are 34 wins, 35 losses, 16 saves, 405 strikeouts, and a 5.15 ERA.

External links

• MLB.com: Hideki Irabu
• ESPN.com: Hideki Irabu
• Baseball-Reference.com: Hideki Irabu
• Baseball-Cube.com: Hideki Irabu

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