{"id":933,"date":"2009-10-05T21:30:03","date_gmt":"2009-10-06T01:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/?p=933"},"modified":"2009-10-05T21:30:03","modified_gmt":"2009-10-06T01:30:03","slug":"owning-brad-lidge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/?p=933","title":{"rendered":"Owning Brad Lidge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pujols-lidge\" <\/a><\/p>\n

In 2005 Brad Lidge had 42 saves in the regular season, that’s one more than he had in the magical run that lead him to his first and only World Series ring last year. \u00a0In 2005, Lidge also had more strikeouts (103 vs 92) and fewer walks (23 vs. 35) compared to 2008. \u00a0By all accounts, Brad Lidge had a pretty good season in 2005. \u00a0He wasn’t perfect (4 blown saves) but he was a lot better than solid. \u00a0He was the kind of closer that gives confidence to every other member of the team. \u00a0The kind of closer that makes the other team think that, if they’re down (even by one run) in the 9th inning, they can not win.<\/p>\n

But now, there is only one pitch for which Brad Lidge will be remembered in 2005, only one at-bat that matters. \u00a0Because on a warm October night in Houston, at the end of game 5 of the NLCS, Albert Pujols owned Brad Lidge.<\/p>\n

That probably should have been the end of the story. \u00a0I certainly thought I would never here from Lidge again.<\/p>\n

And then he ended up in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Baseball is unrelenting. \u00a0Baseball goes on forever. \u00a0In Baseball, the ‘modern’ era includes things that happened a hundred<\/strong> years ago<\/strong>. \u00a0So first Lidge should have been done-in by Pujols’ gargantuan 3-run shot in 2005. \u00a0But that wasn’t the end. \u00a0Then I would have expected him to gently ride off into the sunset, perhaps fading to age or injury, after the electric perfection he conjured in 2008. \u00a0But that was not the end.<\/p>\n

Like Baseball itself, the story goes on and on.<\/p>\n

And now, in Philadelphia and Colorado, the next chapter will be written. \u00a0Lidge was not just good last year – he was perfect. \u00a0Every time he tried to get a save – he saved it. \u00a0Every time the team was leading at the end of the game and he was on the mound, his team won. \u00a0No closer has ever performed better in a single season for the Phillies. \u00a0Not. \u00a0Ever.<\/p>\n

And what has happened in the recently completed 2009 season? \u00a0The one in which the Phillies return to the playoffs as division champs for the third year in a row? \u00a0The season when four members of the Phillies everyday lineup have thirty or more homeruns?<\/p>\n

Brad Lidge has turned in the worst performance by any relief pitcher on any<\/strong> team in baseball this year. \u00a0He is, statistically, Baseball’s worst relief pitcher.<\/p>\n

We are well beyond any worthwhile investigation into why this is the case. \u00a0The only relevant statement is that he is not injured. \u00a0Which means that the cause of his dizzying, dazzling fall from perfection is a true mystery, especially to Lidge himself. \u00a0Anyone who says they know what’s going on is wrong. \u00a0The nature of closing baseball games is such that these horrors happen.<\/p>\n

So, really, the only question is, “What do we do now?”<\/p>\n

In mere hours, the playoff rosters will have to be set, and while skipper Charlie Manuel is mulling some players on the bubble, one of them is not Brad Lidge. \u00a0He will be on the team, not necessarily because he has earned it with his performance this season, but because he is still better than Escalona and other truly marginal major leaguers.<\/p>\n

And he won’t be on the roster to play shortstop. \u00a0Or even come in for the 6th or 7th inning. \u00a0There is only one thing that Lidge is here to do, arguably only one thing that he is prepared and able to do – close games. \u00a0Will he be able to flip a switch and feed off the intensity of a playoff situation? \u00a0Not likely. \u00a0Not when he’s been so off all year.<\/p>\n

But there is no solution or alternative. \u00a0And this is not assured failure, not with home-field advantage in the first round and an offense that can produce runs in bunches. \u00a0Even if that solid fastball (thrown for a strike) and that magical, disappearing slider don’t come back in full force, Lidge will still be able to get batters out. \u00a0And he has the confidence and love of his manager – that’s a factor that may not fix the problem, but it can only help.<\/p>\n

And we Phillies fans will bite our nails and sit on the edge of our seats and try to remember that Lidge was successful during 74% of his save attempts (I would have been happy with a 74 for some of my first-year law school classes).<\/p>\n

But, as we get ready to go into the playoffs, this is where we live.\u00a0 Because, in a very different way from Albert Pujols on that night four years ago, we all own Brad Lidge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2005 Brad Lidge had 42 saves in the regular season, that’s one more than he had in the magical run that lead him to his first and only World Series ring last year. \u00a0In 2005, Lidge also had more … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41],"tags":[863,47,347,864,865],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mpomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}