Out on a Lidge

The best move Ruben Amaro Jr. made in the beginning of his tenure, was signing Brad Lidge. The guy basically throws a fastball, and much like White Castle, a nasty slider. He was unstoppable with 41 out of 41 saves in the regular season and continued through the playoffs. The Phillies were undefeated when taking a lead into the 9th inning. That year, there was never a doubt in my mind that the Phils were going to lose in the 9th. Lidge could load the bases with no outs, and I still knew he would find a way. He was so clutch, I'm pretty sure he could beat Contra without the whole "Up, up, down, down. . ." deal (The Konami Code for you super dorks).

Then the unthinkable happened. He won the World Series, and apparently got injured when the team piled on him. I blame Eric Bruntlett. He seemed like a boney guy. Lidge came in to 2009 with the injury and it just seemed to rattle him for the rest of the year. He was no longer perfect, and very shaky at times.

The Phils got to the World Series, but in my mind their major weakness all season came shining through. Johnny Damon worked a long at bat against Lidge and walked. On the next batter, Damon stole 2nd, and as he reached the plate he took off toward 3rd. I yelled, "Where the heck is he going?" I said,"heck," because I always try to speak as if ladies are present. Turns out, no one was on the 3rd because of an over shift. I didn't pay too much attention to my Tee Ball coach as a child, so I don't know much about defense, but I'm fairly sure that often when there is field position mistake, it's usually because the pitcher got lazy. If Lidge covers 3rd, I think we win that game, we shake the confidence of the Yankees, and I can gloat to all of my Yankee fan friends, instead of avoiding all contact with them to this day.

Let me start by saying, I think Lidge was better in 2010 then 2009, but the best way to describe this past season, is to share a Text interaction with my father-in-law. After a Phillies win where Lidge won but was shaky, I got a text from my father-in-law that said, "LOL." I commend my father-in-law for being a man in his 50's and not shying away from technology, but this was a little much. I called him right away, seeking answers. He told me that "LOL," stood for "Lights Out Lidge," because it's laughable how many pitches he'd throw and base runners he'd allow, yet still pull out these wins.

This year is the first year, in Lidge's Phillies career where I don't think the season should have to rely on how well Lidge does. With our starting rotation and bats, there shouldn't be too many close games. Now, that all depends on our pitchers' health (more on Cliff Lee's armpit tomorrow), and hopefully our batters don't all forget how to hit at the same time, as was the case for long stretches last year. If everyone does their jobs, Lidge's job becomes much easier, like handing him the controller with 99 lives (see 1st paragraph). Apparently, he's coming in this year pretty healthy, so all should be well. We'll see and hopefully the only "LOL" texts I get from my father-in-law are when he sees a wacky video on YouTube.