(Lima, above, left, shown with the late Jeremi Gonzalez)

In the wake of Jose Lima’s untimely passing this weekend, the late hurler has been recalled by friends and teammates far and wide, but there have been few stories about the 13-year veteran I’ve liked nearly as much as this one from former colleague C.J. Nitkowski.

In 1996, we were playing in Toledo. He and I were starters and it was our day to chart in the stands. He was on the radar gun and I had the pitcher’s chart. When we reached our seats, he popped open the radar gun case. There was no gun. Just a jar of mayonnaise, a loaf of bread, a butter knife and a note that said, “In case you get hungry”.  He was so angry. He refused to go back to the clubhouse to get the radar gun. He sat there for two innings fuming until he finally broke down and went and got it.  Of course, he filled out the entire chart, he just made up the velocity of the pitches for the first two innings.