Hideki Irabu the former Yankees fastball pitcher was found dead on Wednesday by his friend at home near Los Angeles.

According to sources from TMZ, he committed suicide hanging himself.

He was well known as a fastball pitcher and in 1993; he threw a 158 km/h (98 mph) fastball against Kazuhiro Kiyohara of the Seibu Lions. It was the fastest pitch in Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) until 2005.

Irabu led the Pacific League in wins in 1994 (27 games, 207 1⁄3 innings, 15 wins, 10 losses, 239 strikeouts, ERA 3.04), and in ERA in 1995 and 1996 (1995 - 28, 203, 11-11-0, 239, 2.53; 1996 - 18, 157 1/3, 12-6-0, 167, 2.40).

Irabu joined the New York Yankees in 1997 by refusing to play for the Padres and moved to the Yankees. He said the only American team he would play for was the Yankees.

He played with the Yankees from 1997 through 1999, winning two World Series rings (1998, 1999) despite only pitching in one postseason game and having no postseason decisions.

However, his under-performance provoked his team owner George Steinbrenner to once call Irabu a "fat toad."

Over the six MLB seasons, Irabu played a total of 126 games, 514 innings, 34 wins, 35 losses, 16 saves, 405 strikeouts, and a 5.15 ERA. His career totals in the Japanese league 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.

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