The Long Beach Armada are a team in some shitty independent league in California. They recently signed 40 year old Hideki Irabu to round out their starting rotation. Said rotation also includes Jose “Lima Time” Lima. Lima was made famous not by his pitching, but after he was done a woman successfully sued him for 950 grand for giving her genital herpes. Fun. Are they trying to have the crappiest/most STD filled rotation in the league? If so, the Armada are doing a bang up job.
Irabu was made famous by being one of the first high priced Japanese players to come to the states. The Padres purchased his contract, a transaction that created the “posting” system in the Japanese leagues. Irabu refused to play for anyone but the Yankees, so the Padres gave him up for a bunch of cash and spare parts. George Steinbrenner gave him nearly 13 million dollars before he threw a major league pitch. Smart.
This particular team also employed Jose Canseco at one point. I believe he tried to be a knuckleball pitcher for them as well as resident freak show.
So now I have given you a reason to watch the Long Beach Armada “play” baseball. As if you needed anymore reasons.
