Hideki Irabu's Death Ruled "Self-Inflicted"

Not that there were any questions surrounding the death of former big leaguer Hideki Irabu, but the death certificate confirmed what we already figured out.

The 42-year-old hurler died due to "hanging"..."self-inflicted with rope".

Irabu played for the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos and Texas Rangers...last pitching in the Majors in 2002.  He won World Series rings with the Bombers in 1998 and 1999.

And for you sickos...here's the death certificate courtesy of the Thirty Mile Zone.  Click to read!  Sicko.

Hideki Irabu (1969-2011)

Wow. Is a lead line really all that necessary when it comes to a story like this?

This, from the fine folks over at the Thirty Mile Zone.

Former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu was found dead yesterday in his California home and law enforcement sources tell TMZ, it appears he committed suicide by hanging himself.

L.A. County Coroner is still trying to locate next of kin.

Hideki played for the Yankees, Expos, and Rangers, last pitching in the big leagues in 2002. He won World Series rings with the Yanks in 1998 and 1999.

Irabu was 42.

Yikes.

And here's the part where you include the obligatory career re-cap...courtesy of Wikipedia!

Over the course of six MLB seasons, Irabu's career totals are 126 games, 514 innings, 34 wins, 35 losses, 16 saves, 405 strikeouts, and a 5.15 ERA. His Japanese totals for eleven seasons are 273 games, 1,286 1/3 innings, 72 wins, 69 losses, 11 saves, 1,282 strikeouts, and a 3.55 ERA.

Thankfully, the memory of Irabu will live on through re-runs of "Seinfeld".