Jose Lima lived over the top on and off the baseball field. The free-spirited pitcher could deliver a song as well as a fastball, leaving a trail of fun and laughter known as "Lima Time" wherever he went.

The All-Star right-hander who spent 13 years in the major leagues died yesterday, according to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was 37.

Lima, who pitched the Dodgers to their first playoff win in 16 years in 2004, died of an apparent heart attack in Los Angeles, according to the Aguilas Cibaenas, a winter ball team that Lima had played for in the Dominican Republic.

"Lima was an exceptional man. This is a great loss for Dominican baseball and the country," team president Winston Llenas said.

Lima posted his best season with the Houston Astros in 1999 when he was selected to the All-Star game. He went 21-10 with a 3.58 ERA in 35 starts for the NL Central champions.

"It saddened me greatly to hear of Jose's passing," Astros owner Drayton McLane said. "He was truly a gifted person both on the field and off of it. He could dance, he could sing, but his best gift of all was that he was an extremely happy person."

The Dominican pitcher was 89-102 with a 5.26 ERA in 348 games in the majors.

BASKETBALL

REPORT: CAVALIERS FIRE COACH BROWN

The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired Mike Brown, according to an ESPN report yesterday.

The Cavaliers had a midnight deadline yesterday to fire the coach or pay him his full $4.5 million salary for next season, ESPN reported.

Cleveland was eliminated from the playoffs two weeks ago by the Boston Celtics, who upset the NBA's top regular-season team in six games.

Brown led Cleveland to the postseason in each of his five seasons. He was 272-138 with the Cavaliers.

AUTO RACING

KANAAN CRASHES, MAKES INDY FIELD

Tony Kanaan overcame a second crash to qualify for this year's Indianapolis 500.

The former IndyCar Series champion made it onto the starting grid, posting a four-lap average of 224.072 mph with 30 minutes left in qualifying yesterday. That was good enough to bump rookie Sebastian Saavedra out of the 33-car starting field.

Brazil's Bruno Junqueira, the 2002 Indy pole winner, was the fastest qualifier of the day at 225.662.

AND WHAT'S MORE ...

Michael Rogers of Australia won the Tour of California cycling race at Thousand Oaks, Calif., emerging from a talented field to capture a race yesterday overshadowed by a doping scandal. ... Jamaica's Usain Bolt won the 200 meters at the Diamond League meet in Shanghai with a time of 19.76 seconds yesterday. ... Jorge Lorenzo of Spain beat defending world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy to win the French Grand Prix for the second straight year and extend his overall lead in the MotoGP category yesterday in Le Mans, France. ... Chris Bocklet scored three goals and set up two others to lead top-seeded Virginia past upset-minded Stony Brook, 10-9, yesterday in the NCAA men's lacrosse quarterfinals at Stony Brook, N.Y.