Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Hideki Irabu, the former Yankees pitcher who struggled to live up to grand expectations after coming over from Japan, was found dead in Los Angeles on Thursday. He was 42. Police are investigating Irabu’s death as a possible suicide, according to various reports.



Irabu came to the United States in 1997 billed as one of Japan’s premier right-handed pitchers. The Padres owned his rights, but Irabu refused to play for any team but the Yankees. San Diego traded him to the Yankees, who signed him to a four-year, $12.8 million contract.



His career began with such promise, when he struck out nine and allowed two runs as the Yankees defeated Detroit in his major league debut, on July 10, 1997. That start proved the highlight of the season. He was banished to the bullpen and the minor leagues, and he finished the year 5-4 with a 7.09 earned run average.



In 1999, Steinbrenner erupted after Irabu failed to cover first base during an exhibition game, calling him a fat toad.



In three seasons with the Yankees, Irabu was 29-20 and pitched in only one postseason game, when he came out of the bullpen to allow eight runs to the Red Sox in Game 3 of the 1999 American League Championship Series. Two months later, Irabu was traded to Montreal, where he started 14 games over 2000 and 2001, before finishing his career with Texas in 2002. He retired in 2004 after pitching two seasons for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan.