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Hideki Irabu (伊良部 秀輝, Irabu Hideki^?, May 5, 1969 – July 27, 2011) was a Japanese professional baseball player of Okinawan and American mixed ancestry. He played professionally in both Japan and the United States.

Early life[link]

Irabu was born on May 5, 1969 in Hirara^[1], Okinawa, Japan then administered by the government of the United States. His father was an American service member whom Hideki never knew. Hideki's mother, Kazue, a native Okinawan, later married a restaurateur, Ichiro Irabu, from Osaka. Irabu raised Hideki as his son in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture.^[2][3]

Career[link]

Japanese Career (1988-1996)[link]

Irabu pitched for the Lotte Orions, who later became the Chiba Lotte Marines, of the Pacific League from 1988 to 1996. He was known as a high-speed pitcher and in 1993, he threw a 158 km/h (98 mph) fastball against Kazuhiro Kiyohara of the Seibu Lions. This was the fastest clocked pitch in all of Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) until 2005, when the record was broken by Marc Kroon of the Yokohama BayStars. It remains the Pacific League record.^[4][5]

Irabu led the Pacific League in wins in 1994 (15) and in ERA in 1995 and 1996 (2.53 and 2.40, respectively). He also led the Pacific League in strikeouts in 1994 and 1995 (239, 239 and 167 respectively).^[6]

American Career[link]

In 1997, the San Diego Padres purchased his contract from the Chiba Lotte Marines. The criticisms of this sale from other MLB teams, who wished to bid on Irabu, led to the creation of the posting system currently used by Japanese and MLB teams.^[7] Irabu, however, refused to sign with the Padres, saying he would only play with the Yankees. For the negotiating rights to Irabu, the Yankees offered the Padres a choice of one from a list of players including Brian Boehringer, David Weathers, Chris Cumberland, Andy Fox and Matt Luke. The Padres would eventually include him as a player-to-be-named-later in a trade that involved Homer Bush and Irabu going to the New York Yankees in exchange for Rafael Medina, Ruben Rivera and $3 million in cash.^[8] The Yankees signed him to a $12.8 million, four-year contract, and after only eight minor league games, the Yankees put him in their rotation.^[9]

New York Yankees (1997-1999)[link]

Irabu made his highly publicized debut on July 10, 1997, drawing almost twice as many fans that night as they averaged for weeknight games.^[10] 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. George Steinbrenner publicly expressed disgust at his weight, at one point calling him a "fat pussy toad" after he failed to cover first base on a ground ball during a spring training game. Steinbrenner refused to let Irabu accompany the team to Los Angeles, but two days later, Steinbrenner apologized and allowed Irabu to join the team.^[11]

1998 was Irabu's best season in MLB, featuring career bests in games started (28), complete games (2), innings pitched (173), wins (13) and ERA (4.06).^[12]

Montreal Expos (2000-2001) and Later Career[link]

After the 1999 season, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Ted Lilly, Christian Parker and Jake Westbrook.^[13] He started only 14 games for the Expos in 2000 and 2001, pitching 71⅓ innings with a 6.69 ERA and only 2 wins against 7 losses.^[12]

In 2002, he signed as a free agent to pitch for the Texas Rangers as a closer.^[12] At the end of the year, Irabu moved back to Japan to pitch in the Hanshin Tigers' starting rotation for the 2003 season, helping the team win the Central League pennant for the first time since 1985. When Major League Baseball opened its 2004 season in Tokyo, he pitched against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

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.^[12] 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.

In April 2009, Irabu had come out of retirement and made a contract with Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden Baseball League. He posted a 5–3 record in 10 starts, with an ERA of 3.58. In 65 innings Irabu struck out 66 batters while walking just 19. In August, he announced his intention to return to the Japanese professional leagues,^[14] and began playing for the semi-professional Kōchi Fighting Dogs.^[3]

Personal life[link]

On August 20, 2008, Irabu was arrested on the suspicion of assaulting the manager of a bar in Umeda, Osaka. He was upset that his credit card was not accepted in the bar. At the time of the suspected assault, Irabu had consumed at least 20 glasses of beer. Irabu admitted to the assault, the bartender sustained no injuries, and Irabu paid the bill with another credit card.^[15]

Irabu was arrested for DUI on May 17, 2010, in Redondo Beach, California.^[16] The press release of his arrest states he resided at the time in Rancho Palos Verdes.^[17]

Death[link]

Irabu was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on July 27, 2011, in an apparent suicide. He was reported to have hanged himself.^[18] He left behind his wife and two children.^[19] Irabu, who an autopsy showed was inebriated at the time of his death, was reportedly despondent because his wife and children were leaving him.^[20]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• MLB.com: Hideki Irabu
• ESPN.com: Hideki Irabu

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2010)

Travis Alan Pastrana Pastrana at the 2009 Lake Superior Performance Rally Born (1983-10-08) October 8, 1983 (age 28) Annapolis, United States Achievements 2000 AMA Motocross 125cc Champion 2001 AMA Supercross 125cc Champion Awards 10-time X Games gold medalist NASCAR Nationwide Series career 4 race(s) run over 1 year(s) Car no., team No. 99 (RAB Racing / Michael Waltrip Racing) First race 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond) Last race 2012 History 300 (Charlotte) Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0 Statistics current as of May 26, 2012. Sport Sport Rally, Motocross, Supercross, Freestyle Motocross, Base Jumping, NASCAR, monster truck freestyle Event(s) X Games, Red Bull X-Fighters, Dew Tour, Rally America

Travis Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. He runs a show called Nitro Circus with some of his friends. For 2011, Pastrana has partnered with NASCAR team owner Michael Waltrip to form Pastrana-Waltrip Racing. He planned to drive the #99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry for 7 races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series,^[1] but after an accident, his Nationwide Series debut was delayed until 2012.

Early life[link]

He was born on October 8, 1983 at 12:20 p.m. in Annapolis, Maryland to parents Robert and Debby Pastrana.^[2] His uncle, Alan, played as a quarterback from 1965 to 1968 at the University of Maryland,^[3] which Travis Pastrana also attended.^[2] On June 11, 2003, 19-year old Pastrana was seriously injured when he crashed his Corvette into a tree in Davidsonville, Maryland.^[4]

Motocross/Supercross[link]

Pastrana has won two motocross racing championships: the 2000 A.M.A. 125cc National championship, the 2001 125cc East Coast Supercross Championship, and the 125cc Rose Creek Invitational. Pastrana also raced in the 2000 Motocross des Nations. He moved up to the 250cc class in 2002. His stand-up style, ability to spot jump combinations and great speed through the whoops make him easy to spot on the track. Although Pastrana has never won a 250cc race, his kindness to the fans and love of the sport still makes him one of the most popular riders of all time. Pastrana has always raced and competed on Suzuki motorcycles, and remains fiercely loyal to the brand. He races with Team Cernic's Suzuki. All of his motorcycles and rally cars carry the number 199. He even sponsors a Monster Jam truck called Pastrana 199, and Nitro Circus after the TV show on MTV.

Team Puerto Rico[link]

Robert Pastrana, Travis' father, is a native Puerto Rican, which made Travis directly eligible to represent Puerto Rico in international competition.^[5] On February 27, 2008, the Asociación de Motociclismo de Puerto Rico (Motorcycling Association of Puerto Rico) provided him with a license to represent the island, which was accepted by the Unión Latinoamericana de Motociclismo, the relevant sanctioning body in Latin America.^[5][6] His debut with the team took place on March 15, 2008. Here he qualified to the finals by defeating Erick Vallejo of Mexico. In the finals he finished third, behind local Costa Rican racer Roberto Castro and Vallejo.^[6]

X Games[link]

• 1999 – Pastrana wins the first ever MotoX Freestyle event at the X-Games. He also scores the highest ever run of 99.00 points.

• 2000 – Pastrana wins the gold medal for the second time, and attempts the first ever backflip on a motorcycle.

• 2001 – Pastrana wins his third gold, still the only person to win the event.

• 2003 – Pastrana claims his fourth gold and becomes the second rider ever to complete a 360 in competition.

• 2004 – Pastrana crashes while trying a 50 ft (15m) 360, sustaining a concussion, but is able to compete the next day and wins a silver medal. Nate Adams becomes the only rider to beat Pastrana at that time. Before this event, he had won Bronze in Best Trick, performing a One-Handed 360 and a Superman Seat Grab-Indian Air Back flip.

• 2005 – Pastrana wins his fifth gold in Freestyle and also attempts the first ever Backflip Barspin on a motorcycle, however the bike fails and he resorts to a regular bike and performs a Backflip Saran Wrap to take Silver in Best Trick.

• 2006 – Pastrana becomes the third athlete to win three Gold medals at a single X Games Event. He wins Gold in MotoX Best Trick, MotoX Freestyle, and Rally Car Racing. Pastrana also performs the first Double Backflip in competition, scoring a 98.60, the highest score in the Best Trick competition at X Games.

• 2007 – Pastrana takes bronze in Rally after sliding into the other drivers area while inside the Home Depot Center. He is disqualified but retains his medal. He also competes in the first MotoX Racing event at X Games, but does not achieve a medal after two false starts in the heat race and last chance qualifier.

• 2008 – Pastrana takes gold in Rally and competes in the Speed & Style event but does not place.

• 2009 – Pastrana attempts a rodeo 720 at X Games 15 in the Moto X Best Trick Event. He crashes on his first attempt and withdraws from his second after experiencing blurred vision. He places 4th for his efforts. He takes silver in Rally after being defeated by rookie and former Indy Car/Indy 500 champion Kenny Bräck. On November 8, Pastrana landed the famous Rodeo 720, and filmed it in his newest movie, Nitro Circus – Country Fried. Once he landed the trick, he named it the TP7, due to the fact that he was 20 degrees short of 720.

• 2010 – Pastrana wins Moto X Freestyle, landing yet another Double Backflip, the first one done at an X Games Freestyle. Travis also wins Moto X Speed & Style, beating silver medalist Nate Adams by a landslide. Travis had problems with his Rally Car during competition, costing him gold at Rally Car Racing and a chance to compete in the new event, Super Rally.

• 2011 – Pastrana launches "Pastranathon" which included Best Trick, a race at Lucas Oil Raceway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and then flying back to Staples Center in Los Angeles for RallyCross. However, Pastranathon seemed to be done when, in XGames Best Trick, Travis attempted the Rodeo 720, also known as the TP7, and failed, landing on his right leg. He had broken his foot and ankle, and was taken to a local hospital. Travis was thought to be done, and backed out of the NASCAR race. His team worked diligently to get Travis in the RallyCross event. A special hand-controlled device was made for the steering wheel, and Travis had to relearn to drive the car using the new controls. Travis won a qualifying event, then finished 4th in the final after a crash on the last lap.

Rallying[link]

Pastrana's Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

In 2003, Pastrana opened a rallying career in the Race of Champions, and began driving for the Subaru-backed Vermont SportsCar rally team in 2004. Starting in 2006, Pastrana was signed by Subaru to lead their new Subaru Rally Team USA, being paired once again with veteran co-driver Christian Edstrom. On August 5, 2006 Pastrana won the gold medal in the first rally car competition at the X Games, edging out rally legend Colin McRae by 0.53 seconds after McRae rolled his car through the last jump.

Pastrana and Edstrom clinched the 2006 Rally America National Series overall and open class championship on October 22, 2006 during day one of the Lake Superior Performance Rally. The team finished out the 2006 series with another first-place victory at the Wild West Rally in Olympia, Washington on December 31, 2006.

On December 16, 2006 Pastrana competed at the 2006 Race of Champions at the Stade de France in Paris. He represented the United States in the Nations' Cup by himself, after injuries forced teammate Jimmie Johnson and his replacement Scott Speed to withdraw.

February 19, 2007 brought news that Pastrana's longtime co-driver Edstrom had announced a sabbatical to concentrate on his career and family. Although former McRae co-driver Derek Ringer is set to compete with Pastrana for the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri and Rally America, he has not announced a permanent replacement co-driver.

Pastrana driving a classic Ford Escort Mk1 at the 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages.

In September 2008, Pastrana took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. Derek Ringer was his co-driver and they entered in a historic Ford Escort RS1600. He was one of a number of celebrity drivers to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.

On August 29, 2009 Pastrana claimed the overall victory at Ojibwe Forests Rally, his fifth of the 2009 Rally America season. The victory sealed his fourth consecutive Rally America driver's title, the most in series history.^[7]

Complete Rally America results[link]

International competition[link]

Pastrana, Colin McRae and Ken Block at the X Games XIII.

On December 13, 2006, Subaru Rally Team USA announced plans to enter Pastrana in certain World Rally Championship events in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

In the 2007 season, he raced three P-WRC events in the Group N class, driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STI–based rally car. During March 9–11 2007, Pastrana competed in his first world rally at the 21º Corona Rally México. He finished fifth in the P-WRC (Group N) class (the best in-class finish by an American in a WRC event since John Buffum finished third in the Acropolis Rally in 1988), followed by a tenth place in Rally Argentina and an eleventh in Rally GB. Pastrana described his season as having gone "horribly".^[14]

Pastrana's 2008 season in the P-WRC was even less successful, with one retirement following a crash on stage one of Rally Argentina^[15] and one thirteenth place on the Acropolis Rally.

NASCAR and sports car racing[link]

Pastrana's 2012 Nationwide Series car

Pastrana made his debut in NASCAR competition by driving in the 2011 Toyota All-Star Showdown, finishing sixth. Plans to compete in 2011 in the Nationwide Series were cancelled as a result of his injuries at the X-Games in July of that year; currently, he plans to compete in the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race, as well as running a full season in the K&N Pro Series East and selected Nationwide Series races.^[16] On April 27th, 2012, Travis made his Nationwide series debut, finishing 22nd at the Richmond 250.^[17]

NASCAR Nationwide Series[link]

* Season in progress

Injuries[link]

“I don’t remember most of the injuries, there have been too many.” – Travis Pastrana

Injuries have often taken Travis Pastrana off the circuit for weeks or months at a time. His medical records include: a dislocated spine, he has torn his ACL, PCL, LCL, and MCL in his left knee, his bucket handle meniscus, broken his tibia and fibula, he’s had surgery on his left wrist twice, left thumb once, two surgeries on his back, one on his right elbow, nine on his left knee, six on the right knee, one shoulder surgery which left him with the only piece of metal he has in his body.^[18]

When Travis was 14-years-old, he was severely injured while competing in an FMX competition. He came up short landing on the top of the front side of the landing ramp and the motorcycle went from 50 mph (80 km/h) to 0 mph (0 km/h) in less than one second. The bike was stuck into the dirt ramp with the front wheel just over the top and the crank case smashed into the dirt deep enough to support the entire bike upright. Upon impact Travis froze in the upright riding position and his feet went straight out to the sides like he was trying to straddle a bull. As soon as his legs went outward he fell off the motorcycle and his father took off across the dirt course in fear of what everyone just witnessed. He was seriously injured; he separated his spine from his pelvis. It also left him in a wheel chair for three months.^[19]

“I was in and out of consciousness for about three days and had six blood transfusions,” says Pastrana. He also adds that according to doctors, only three people in the U.S. have ever lived after such an injury. It was a long and difficult recovery. Pastrana would routinely ride wheelies in his wheel chair, around the hospital and therapy areas. While in the wheel chair recovering he vowed to continue motorcycle jumping. He was also injured in July 2011 while competing at the X Games when his bike did not rotate to the landing position, crushing his ankle and causing a fracture. However, Travis was back in his Subaru Impreza and competing in the Rally Cross final where he overshot the corner, forcing himself into the wall, on board footage shows his leg in plaster being slammed against the wheel well, much to his discomfort. He will need an operation to repair his ankle in the near future.^[20]

Other activities[link]

• A documentary story about Travis was filmed by ESPN in 2008, titled 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana Story
• is featured as a hidden surfer in the 2002 video game Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer.
• Travis lent his voice to the game Colin McRae: DiRT as himself, and the in-menu voice.
• Travis also has part ownership in Ethika, an underwear company specializing in products for athletes.
• Travis features as a driver in Colin McRae: DiRT 2 for Subaru Rally Team USA.

On September 26, 2007, Pastrana jumped out of an airplane over Arecibo, Puerto Rico, without a parachute in a carefully choreographed stunt. He met up in midair with another jumper, then latched himself into a harness to make a safe tandem landing.

On Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 10:00 PM, MTV Nitro Circus, his new television show that he is an executive producer, premiered on MTV. A spinoff of MTV's Jackass, the two shows shared producers, Jeff Tremaine and was partially created by Jackass frontman, Johnny Knoxville. It features Jolene Van Vugt, Erik Roner, Streetbike Tommy, Andy Bell, JD Larson, Jim DeChamp, among others doing dangerous stunts. Jackass' Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius and Steve-O; BMX freestylers, T. J. Lavin and Mat Hoffman; and actor, Gary Coleman have guest starred on various episodes. Nitro Circus was also featured on an episode of MTV's Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory and vice-versa.

Travis and the rest of Nitro Circus appeared in the music video for Spaceship by Puddle of Mudd.

On Friday, January 1, 2010, Travis officially set a new world record in a ramp-to-ramp car jump. He jumped his rally car off the Pine Street Pier onto a floating barge anchored in Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor, shattering the existing mark of 171 feet (52 m) and establishing a new world distance record of 269 feet (82 m). To celebrate, after getting out of his car, he performed a gainer from the landing ramp into the harbor below.^[21]

In September 2010, Travis set the world record for fastest ascent of Mount Washington in a car, using his Subaru WRX STi: 6min 20.47sec. In June 2011, David Higgins set a new record for ascent of Mt. Washington in a car, at 6:11.54, using the same model vehicle.^[22][23] Travis is featured in "X Games: The Movie"; Travis' work with motocross and rally cars is shown.

Pastrana 199/Nitro Circus Monster Truck[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2010)

Pastrana' 199 is a monster truck that races on the USHRA circuit. The truck is owned by Live Nation/FELD Motorsports and sponsored by Travis Pastrana. It was originally driven by Paul Cohen^{[disambiguation needed ]}, then driven by Chad Tingler, then driven by Courtney Jolly and now driven by Cam McQueen. Travis made his monster truck debut on October 18, 2006 in the Pastrana 199 monster truck at the 2006 Monster Jam. Also, on an episode of Nitro Circus, Travis attempts to backflip the Nitro circus themed monster truck. Though unsuccessful, he walked away without injury. In 2008–2009, the Pastrana 199 truck was driven by Pastrana's good friend Cam McQueen. McQueen was invited to the 2009 World Finals for his second appearance. Pastrana himself competed in the freestyle competition of the event, finishing in a three-way tie for 5th place in a field of 24 trucks. On February 27, 2010 in Jacksonville, FL Cam McQueen nailed successfully a backflip in the Nitro Circus monster truck during the freestyle competition, making Nitro Circus the first to do a backflip in competition.

Personal Life[link]

In June 4, 2011, during a live performance of Nitro Circus, he asked professional skateboarder Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins to marry him. On October 29, 2011 Hawkins and Pastrana were married.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana Story

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Travis Pastrana

• Official website
• Travis Pastrana at Racing Reference
• Travis Pastrana Fan Site
• Pastrana at EXPN (X Games) site
• Pastrana at WRC.com
• Nitro Circus
• Pastrana Waltrip Racing